The Central line is a London Underground line that runs through central London, from Epping, Essex, in the north-east to Ealing Broadway and West Ruislip in west London. Printed in red on the Tube map, the line serves 49 stations over 46 miles (74 km), making it the longest line on the Underground. It is one of only two lines on the Underground network to cross the Greater London boundary, the other being the Metropolitan line. One of London's deep-level railways, Central line trains are smaller than those on British main lines.
The London Underground 1973 Stock is a type of rolling stock used on the Piccadilly line of the London Underground. It was introduced into service in 1975 with the extension of the line to Hatton Cross, followed by a further extension to Heathrow Central in 1977. A total of 86 six-car trains were built.
The 1959 Tube Stock was a type of London Underground tube train constructed in the late 1950s. They were intended for use on the Piccadilly line, but also saw use on several other tube lines. It was the first production tube stock to have unpainted aluminium alloy bodywork.
The London Underground 1938 Stock was a London Underground tube stock design. A total of 1,121 cars were built by Metro-Cammell and Birmingham RC&W. An additional 173 cars were added to the fleet by the end of 1953, comprising 91 new builds, 76 conversions from Pre-1938 Tube Stock or 1935 Tube Stock, and six unconverted cars of 1935 Tube Stock, and the stock was used on the London Underground until 1988. During their long lives they worked on the Bakerloo, Northern, Piccadilly, East London, Central, and Northern City lines. Ten sets were refurbished and ran on the Isle of Wight as Class 483, making them the oldest passenger rolling stock operating timetabled services on the National Rail network at the time of their withdrawal in January 2021. The trains represented a major technical advance, as all the electrical equipment was located under the floor for the first time. All previous tube stock had large equipment compartments behind the driving cabs in motor cars, which reduced the space available for passengers by about a third.
The Standard Stock title was applied to a variety of Tube stock built between 1923 and 1934, all of which shared the same basic characteristics, but with some detailed differences. This design is sometimes referred to as 1923 Tube Stock, 1923 Stock, or Pre 1938 Stock. Most of the Standard Stock was built to replace the first generation of "Gate Stock" Tube trains or to provide additional trains for extensions built in the 1920s and early 1930s. Standard Stock cars consisted of motor cars, with a driver's cab, behind which was a "switch compartment" occupying approximately one-third of the length of the car, plus trailer cars and "control trailers", with a driving cab but no motor. All were equipped with air operated sliding doors. The guard's door on the earlier trains was a manually operated, inward-opening hinged door.
The Epping Ongar Railway is a heritage railway in south-west Essex, England, run by a small number of paid staff and a team of volunteers. It was the final section of the Great Eastern Railway branch line, later the London Underground's Central line from Loughton via Epping to Ongar, with intermediate stations at North Weald and Blake Hall. The line was closed by London Underground in 1994 and sold in 1998. It reopened between 2004 and 2007 as a preserved railway, offering a volunteer-run Class 117 DMU service between Ongar and Coopersale. A change of ownership in 2007 led to the line being closed for restoration to a heritage steam railway, which opened on 25 May 2012.
The London Underground R Stock electric multiple units were used on London Underground's District line from 1949 to 1983. Composed of new cars and converted Q38 Stock trailers, the cars were built and converted in three batches between 1949 and 1959. The cars were driving motors (DM) or non-driving motors (NDM), there being no unpowered trailers. The second batch, introduced in 1952, was constructed from aluminium, saving weight and one train was left unpainted as an experiment. Considered a success, trains were left unpainted or painted white or grey to match in 1963–68. Originally designed to operate in trains with six off-peak and eight cars during peak hours, the trains were reformed as fixed seven-car trains in 1971. R Stock trains were replaced by the D78 Stock and withdrawn between 1981 and 1983.
The Q Stock consisted of various District line trains, built from 1923 until the mid-1930s, originally built with manually operated sliding doors. Following conversion to air operated doors, the trains became collectively known as Q Stock. Given that five different types of rolling stock were converted to Q Stock, the resulting hybrid trains looked bizarre - with the older carriages having flat sides and clerestory roofs, whilst the Q38 had flared sides at floor level.
The London Underground O and P Stock electric multiple units were used on the London Underground from 1937 to 1981. O Stock trains were built for the Hammersmith & City line, using metadyne control equipment with regenerative braking, but the trains were made up entirely of motor cars and this caused technical problems with the traction supply so trailer cars were added. P Stock cars were built to run together with the O Stock cars now surplus on Metropolitan line Uxbridge services. The trains had air-operated sliding doors under control of the guard; the O Stock with controls in the cab whereas the P Stock controls in the trailing end of the motor cars. The P Stock was introduced with first class accommodation, but this was withdrawn in 1940.
The London Underground 1960 Stock was a class of electric multiple unit for the London Underground Central line. Twelve motor cars were supplied by Cravens, and pairs were made up to four cars by the addition of two converted standard stock trailers. A production run of 338 motor cars was shelved, due to the time needed to assess the new features and the cost of converting the trailer cars. Some of the pre-1938 trailers were later replaced by 1938 stock trailers.
The London Underground 1983 Stock was a class of electric multiple unit built by Metro-Cammell for use on London Underground's Jubilee line.
The London Underground C69 and C77 Stock, commonly referred to as the C Stock, was a type of sub-surface rolling stock used on the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines of the London Underground between 1970 and 2014. They were replaced by the S7 Stock.
The London Underground 1935 Stock was an experimental train design by Metropolitan Cammell in London. Twelve two-car units, marshalled into four six-car trains, were built. They served as the prototypes for the later 1938 Stock.
The 1920 Tube Stock consisted of forty cars built by Cammell Laird in Nottingham, England. These cars were the first new tube cars to be built with air operated doors. The batch consisted of twenty trailer and twenty control trailer cars, which were formed into six-car trains by the addition of twenty French motor cars built in 1906 and modified for air-door operation. They initially ran on the Piccadilly tube, but in 1930 were considered to be drab, compared to new stock being delivered at the time. The motor cars were therefore replaced by Standard Stock units, built in 1927, and the 1920 cars were refurbished. They were transferred to the Bakerloo line in 1932, and continued to operate until 1938.
The Central London Railway Stock were electric multiple units composed of trailers that had been converted from carriages designed to be hauled by electric locomotives with new motor cars. The Central London Railway opened in 1900 with electric locomotives hauling wooden carriages, but the heavy locomotives caused vibrations that could be felt in the buildings above the route. It was found that conversion to electric multiple units solved the problem, so new motor cars were bought and replaced all the locomotives by June 1903. Trains normally ran with six-cars, four trailers and two motor-cars. Some trailers were equipped with control equipment to allow trains to be formed with three cars.
The London Underground 1956 Stock consisted of three prototype units built before mass production of the 1959 tube stock. These units were tested on the Piccadilly line and remained in service after production trains were introduced. Later they were transferred to the Northern line, but in 1995 they were replaced as non-standard by 1962 Stock cascaded from the Central line.
District Railway electric multiple units were used on London's Metropolitan District Railway after the lines were electrified in the early 20th century.
Ruislip depot is a London Underground traction maintenance depot on the Central line, and is situated between the stations of Ruislip Gardens and West Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The depot is accessible from both ends, and was built for the Central Line extensions under the 1935-1940 New Works Programme. It was nearly completed by 1939, when the outbreak of the Second World War prevented further work. It was used as a factory for anti-aircraft guns during the war, and was finally opened in 1948. The main car shed has 16 tracks, and there is also a three-track car cleaning shed.
Hainault depot is a traction maintenance depot in Ilford on the London Underground Central line, between Hainault and Grange Hill stations, now in the London Borough of Redbridge, England. Until boundary changes in 1998, part of the depot was in Epping Forest District. Construction began in 1939, but was delayed by the onset of the Second World War, and was not completed until 1948. It has stabled three generations of trains, Standard stock, 1962 stock and 1992 stock. It has also housed trains of the experimental 1960 stock, both when it was conventionally controlled and during trials of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) in preparation for the construction of the Victoria line. Some of the 1967 stock destined for the Victoria line was also stabled at the depot while its ATO equipment was tested and commissioned on the Woodford to Hainault Branch.
Acton Works is a London Underground maintenance facility in West London, England. It is accessed from the District line and Piccadilly line tracks to the east of Acton Town station, and was opened in 1922. It was responsible for the overhaul of rolling stock, and gradually took on this role for more lines, until the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, when all major overhauls of underground vehicles were carried out at the works. By 1985, when rolling stock had become more reliable and maintenance intervals had increased, this function was devolved to depots on each line. Subsequently, Acton continued to overhaul major items after they had been removed from trains at the depots, and tendered for work, which included the conversion of the A60 Stock to One Person Operation. It is likely to be reorganised and expanded to house the departments displaced from Lillie Bridge Depot which is being demolished as part of the redevelopment of Earls Court Exhibition Centre.
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