A near £11m programme of street light improvements in London will aim to cut energy use by 40% over the next three years.

In the largest single investment to modernise main road street lighting in the capital, Transport for London (TfL) has agreed on a series of improvements to help reduce the cost of illuminating its road network and improve reliability.

A Central Management System (CMS) will be introduced to remotely monitor and control London’s illuminations, while 35,000 street lamps will be fitted with Light Emitting Diodes (LED).

New LED technology will be rolled out to the majority of TfL’s 52,000 street lights over the next ten years.

By 2016, the programme aims to have cut CO2 emissions by 9,700 tonnes a year through reduced electricity consumption and have contributed to £1.85m annual savings for TfL.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: ‘With tens of thousands of lights marking the way on our road network it makes complete sense to focus energy and resources on bringing them up to 21st century standards.

‘This is the largest investment to modernise street lighting on major roads in our capital’s history and will not only cut carbon emissions and save money but it will also lead to even better and safer roads for Londoners.’

Director of asset management at TfL, Dana Skelley, said: ‘Our aim is to provide assets fit for the future and this programme to upgrade lighting on the capital’s busiest roads is a simple, yet hugely effective way to not only reduce carbon emissions but to also reduce costs whilst providing better lighting of our road network.’