First trains for London's new Jubilee line arrive four months late

The first of a pounds 250m fleet of Tube trains that will run on the multi-billion pound Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) pulled into passenger service yesterday.

Built to run on the one of the most fiendishly complicated engineering projects in decades, the first of the 59 trains arrived four months late. Despite the delay, passengers should welcome the new carriages - which are air conditioned and fitted with security cameras.

The pounds 2.8bn JLE has proved more difficult to deliver than its designers imagined. The 10 miles linking east London to the West End was due to have been completed in 53 months, to open in March 1998. But now it will only manage a limited service when it starts in September.

Instead of a seamless journey from Westminster to Stratford, travellers will only be able to take trains from Waterloo to Docklands.

The JLE will be the main artery for the Millennium Dome - whose lifeblood, paying punters, will not be able to drive to the North Greenwich site.