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Londoners will reap the benefits of a vastly improved service across a swathe of three major Tube lines from 2018 as a £5.4 billion transformation is rolled out.

Transport for London is installing a new computer-based signalling system that will eventually mean smoother journeys across almost half the London Underground network.

And from early summer, commuters using the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines will enjoy a more reliable service and better customer information between Hammersmith and Euston Square.

Passengers on the Metropolitan line also will see an improvement between Finchley Road and Euston Square.

The new system – created by innovative French transport company Thales – will ultimately meaning more frequent trains and create space for hundreds of thousands more people.

Over the next five years, changes will be implemented across the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, encompassing 113 stations and involving 192 brand new S stock trains, with a new control centre operating from Hammersmith.

Trains will eventually run closer together resulting in shorter waiting times and allowing more people to be carried, TfL said.

Between 28 and 32 trains will run on each line per hour in central London.

During peak times, this will create space for 17,500 more people every hour on the Circle and Ham & City, 10,000 on the District and 9,000 on the Metropolitan line.

TfL said the Four Lines Modernisation project, which has now been successfully tested, will enable it to reduce delays and improve reliability.

Mark Wild, the Managing Director of London Underground, said of the trial: “The completion of this testing is a fantastic step forward in the vital programme to modernise nearly half of the Tube network.

“The new signalling system will provide our customers with more frequent trains and quicker journeys, as well as improving reliability and improving customer information.

“We are making improvements for our customers all over the network and this programme represents a hugely significant part of that work.”

The four lines are among some of the oldest sections of the Underground network, with parts dating back to 1863. They make up 40 per cent of the Tube network, with around a million passenger journeys each day.

TfL said old and worn out track and points will also be replaced, meaning journeys will be quieter and smoother.

It added that a new drainage system, which will make the track less likely to flood so that there are fewer signal failures and closures for repair work, will make the network more reliable during bad weather.

The first section of the network to experience benefits from next year will be between Hammersmith and Edgware Road where testing has recently been completed.

The project will continue until 2023, with more frequent services being introduced in central London from 2021.