Canada's Bombardier has been awarded a £1 billion (US$1.63 billion) contract to supply trains to the London Crossrail rolling stock project.

The contract between Transport for London (TfL) and Bombardier covers the supply, delivery and maintenance of 65 new trains and a depot at Old Oak Common. TfL will run Crossrail as part of its integrated transport services for London, including ticketing and customer travel information.

Last year, the government scrapped plans to procure the Crossrail rolling stock as a private finance initiative (PFI) and instead decided to finance it fully on Transport for London's balance sheet.

Bombardier beat out opposition from Japan's Hitachi and Spanish firm CAF to land the contract. The company lost out to Germany's Siemens in 2011 for a £1.6bn deal to provide trains for the north-south Thameslink scheme. Bombardier has confirmed that the new trains will be manufactured and assembled at their plant in Derby.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, stated:

The Crossrail project is now rolling on full-steam ahead. The manufacture of these new trains will not only revolutionise rail travel in London, they will deliver jobs and economic growth in their birthplace in Derby and across the UK. With a firm on board to deliver a fleet of 21st century trains and the tunnelling more than halfway complete, we're on track to deliver a truly world-class railway for the capital.

Crossrail will boost London's rail-based capacity by 10% connecting Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west and Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. It is connecting people and places, providing faster journey times and up to 24 trains per hour between Paddington and Whitechapel during the peak.