London Underground D78 Stock | |
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![]() Refurbished D78 Stock train at West Ham in 2014 | |
![]() The interior of a refurbished D78 Stock car | |
Stock type | Subsurface |
In service | 28 January 1980 – 21 April 2017 (London Underground) 1 November 2021 – present on Island Line (as Class 484) |
Manufacturer | Metro-Cammell |
Built at | Washwood Heath, England |
Replaced | O and P Stock R Stock |
Constructed | 1978–1981 |
Refurbished | Bombardier (at Derby Litchurch Lane Works) 2004–2008 |
Number built | 75 sets (450 cars) |
Successor | S7 Stock |
Formation | 3 cars per unit, 2 units per train |
Capacity | 821 per train |
Lines served | District |
Specifications | |
Car length | DM 18.37 m (60 ft 3 in) UNDM/T 18.12 m (59 ft 5 in) |
Width | 2.85 m (9 ft 4 in) |
Height | 3.62 m (11 ft 11 in) |
Maximum speed | 72 km/h (45 mph) |
Weight | DM 27.46 tonnes (27.03 long tons; 30.27 short tons) UNDM 26.11 tonnes (25.70 long tons; 28.78 short tons) T 18.40 tonnes (18.11 long tons; 20.28 short tons) |
Traction system | Pneumatic single camshaft (GEC Traction) |
Traction motors | LT118 DC motor (Brush Traction) |
Seating | 280 per train |
The London Underground D78 Stock, commonly referred to as D Stock, was a type of sub-surface rolling stock which operated on the District line of the London Underground, except on the Wimbledon to Edgware Road service. The first units were withdrawn in January 2015 with the last withdrawn on 21 April 2017.
The D stock was ordered in 1976 to replace the pre-war CO/CP Stock and post-war R Stock on the District line. [1] Seventy-five six-car trains were built by Metro-Cammell, Washwood Heath, the first entering service on 28 January 1980 [2] with last delivered in 1983. [3]
The D Stock consisted of six-car trains, as opposed to the seven-car trains of CO/CP and R Stock, whose cars were shorter: under normal operation, each train consisted of two 3-car units, and 20 of the units are double-ended to allow 3-car operations under exceptional circumstances. [4]
The traction motors were the same LT118 type as on 1973 Tube Stock, and the bogies are same, unlike other subsurface rolling stock. With single-leaf doors and transverse and longitude seating, the style is very similar to 1983 stock on the Jubilee line. The D stock and 1983 stock trains were the only trains on the underground to have their headlights positioned under the train body; many trains on the underground had only their tail lights under the body.
The trains brought many innovations. The Metalastik rubber/metal "Chevron" primary springs and 'diabolo'-shaped rubber/metal secondary springs suspension meant a smoother ride for passengers. The driver's cab is more ergonomic, the seat swiveling to move forwards, backwards, up or down. The dead man's handle is replaced by a joystick that needs to be twisted for the dead man feature, and moved fore and aft for motoring and braking. There is a Train Management System replacing the original Train Equipment Panel that highlights faults to the driver.
The most noticeable difference between the stock and earlier trains is that the doors are single leaf. Originally, passengers pressed door-control buttons to open them. Posters explaining how to operate the doors were put up around Tube stations in English, French and German when the stock was introduced. The stock had a "POGO" switch (Passenger open/Guard's open) that could switch control of the doors from passengers to the guard (when the stock was introduced, the guard controlled the doors from the rear cab).
While this function proved useful at above-ground stations and termini (especially in winter), station dwell time was significantly increased, and passengers had trouble getting used to the new system, not knowing how to open the door. By the late 1990s, the control of the doors went to the driver. The buttons remained, but they were covered up during refurbishment between 2004 and 2008.
At over 18 metres (59 ft), the cars were the longest on the Underground. The windows had to be modified because of overheating when new, with pull-down opening windows were installed in each car.
The stock was used on the District line, except the High Street Kensington to Edgware Road section, because the platforms are not long enough for D Stock.[ citation needed ]
Between April 1985 and May 1987, the stock operated the East London line service in three-car formations, there being enough stock spare because of reduced services on the District line. This allowed A60/62 Stock to be sent for One Person Operation (OPO) conversion. The A60/62 stock took over the service again in 1987. The class received the Class 499/0 designation on British Rail's TOPS system to operate on the Richmond and Wimbledon branches. [5]
The stock started being replaced by S Stock in 2016. [6] It was replaced about 15 years short of its intended lifespan, as a consistent new fleet will allow for frequencies to be increased and will reduce maintenance costs.
In July 2011, Harrogate Chamber of Commerce proposed to use the stock on the Harrogate line from York to Leeds via Harrogate to increase capacity. [7] Stations in the Harrogate and Leeds urban areas are close together: the superior acceleration of the stock over the Class 150 diesel multiple units used at the time was intended to cut journey times. It was proposed that the line would be electrified with third rail, similar to the Docklands Light Railway, as opposed to the London Underground or the Southern Region network.
On 24 July 2012, car 7007 was designated as the Olympic 2012 Train with London Underground Chief Operating Officer Howard Collins carrying the Olympic Torch from Wimbledon to Wimbledon Park. [8] This is the only London Underground train to be an Olympic Torch train.
In March 2017 the first D stock RAT (Rail Adhesion Train) was designated to replace the A60/A62 Stock trains which were currently working as Rail Adhesion Trains. The A stock units were 50+ years old at that point and were ageing rapidly. There are two 5-car sets formed 7010-8123-17010-8010-7123 and 7040-8107-17040-8040-7107. [9]
Formation | Upminster (D) → | Notes | ||||||
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7xxx (DM) | 17xxx (T) | 8xxx (UNDM) | 8xxx (UNDM) | 17xxx (T) | 7xxx (DM) | |||
Facilities | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
Numbers | 7000 ∥ 7128 | 17000 ∥ 17128 | 8000 ∥ 8128 | 8001 ∥ 8129 | 17001 ∥ 17129 | 7001 ∥ 7129 |
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De-icing equipment was fitted to trailers 17000 to 17048 (evens).
The mid-life refurbishment was the first to be carried out under the public–private partnership (PPP), by Metronet, and was delayed until contract negotiations were completed. A prototype unit of three cars (7008/17008/8008) was prepared by London Underground's Train Modification Unit at Acton Depot in 2001. [10] [11] This had some detail differences from the eventual refurbishment, and was later brought up to the standard of the rest of the stock. The refurbishment programme began in summer 2005 with the work undertaken by Bombardier Transportation's Derby Litchurch Lane Works. [12] [13] The programme was completed in 2008. [14]
The refurbishment consisted of:
The refurbished D Stock were the first Underground trains to have electronic dot-matrix information displays on the sides of the cars; some pre-war trains had slot-in or reversible destination or non-stopping plates. It was also the first type in the subsurface fleet to sound buzzers even when the door opens. The rest of the refurbished sub surface stock only had buzzers when the doors closed.
The refurbished D Stock also had the London Underground roundel painted on the sides of all the cars; previously, only the DM cars had the roundel on them.
Around 2014, the emergency cords were fitted with flap coverings as a safety measure so that passengers only pull the cords in case of emergency.
Withdrawals commenced on 19 January 2015 when the first full 6-car train, formed of units 7510 and 7058, was withdrawn from service at Ealing Common Depot and loaded onto trucks for Long Marston for the driving motors to be converted into 230s and the other cars to be either scrapped or stored for future use. The last train, formed of units 7007 and 7032, ran on 21 April 2017. [15]
A farewell heritage tour took place on 7 May 2017 operated by units 7007+7032.[ citation needed ]
In February 2016, four redundant D78 cars were used by the emergency services in a mock tube accident staged at Littlebrook Power Station. [16]
One car 7012 is preserved by the London Transport Museum Depot at Acton.[ citation needed ]
Car 7027 is preserved at Coopers Lane School, Lewisham for use as a library. [17]
In 2014 Vivarail purchased 156 driving motor cars and 70 trailer vehicles for conversion to diesel–electric multiple units. [18] 75 two or three-car units proposed. [19] [20] Under TOPS they are designated as Class 230. [21]
A prototype was produced for testing and accreditation in August 2015, with introduction to service in 2016. [22] The first Class 230 service to carry passengers operated on 19 July 2017 when a unit was used to operate a shuttle service from Honeybourne to the Rail Live exhibition at the Quinton Rail Technology Centre. [23]
The first customer for production Class 230 units was West Midlands Trains, which ordered three two-car DMUs in October 2017. Subsequently Transport for Wales Rail ordered a total of five three-car sets, to be built as bi-mode multiple units (BMMUs), in June 2018. [24] [25]
In September 2019 South Western Railway announced that it would be leasing five two-car Class 484s for use on the upgraded Island Line on the Isle of Wight from 2020. These continue to be powered by electricity drawn from the third rail. [26] The first units arrived on the Isle of Wight on 19 November 2020, and entered service on 1 November 2021 once upgrade works on the island line were completed. While the 484s are considerably taller than the 483s they replaced, a survey of the line prior to the commencement of upgrade works confirmed that the new units would be able to traverse Ryde Tunnel, a requirement for any stock to run on the Island Line. [27]
Pacer was the operational name of the British Rail Classes 140, 141, 142, 143 and 144 diesel multiple unit railbuses built between 1980 and 1987. They were inexpensively developed using a passenger body based on the Leyland National bus on top of a chassis based on the HSFV1 research vehicle. The railbuses were intended as a short-term solution to a shortage of rolling stock, with a lifespan of no more than twenty years. As modernised replacements were lacking, the Pacer fleet remained in service on some lines until 2021, 37 years after their 1984 introduction.
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.
Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the Greater Western passenger railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city services along the Great Western Main Line to and from the West of England and South Wales, inter-city services from London to the West Country via the Reading–Taunton line, and the Night Riviera sleeper service between London and Penzance. It provides outer-suburban services in West London; commuter services from its London terminus at London Paddington to the Thames Valley region, including parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire; and regional services throughout the West of England and South Wales to the South coast of England. Great Western Railway provides and maintains the Electrostar Class 387 fleet for Heathrow Express.
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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 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 A60 and A62 Stock, commonly referred to as A Stock, was a type of sub-surface rolling stock which operated on the Metropolitan line of the London Underground from 12 June 1961 to 26 September 2012, and on the East London line from 1977 until 22 December 2007, when it closed to be converted into London Overground.
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.
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The London Underground S7 and S8 Stock, commonly referred to as S Stock, is a type of passenger train running on the London Underground's subsurface lines since 2010. Manufactured by Bombardier Transportation's Derby Litchurch Lane Works, the S Stock was ordered to replace the A60, A62, C69, C77 and D78 stock on the Metropolitan, District, Hammersmith & City, and Circle lines, which all dated from the 1960s and 1970s.
Island Line is a brand of South Western Railway which runs the 8.5-mile (13.7 km) Island Line on the Isle of Wight. A stand-alone franchise from 1996 until 2007, it then became part of the South Western franchise operated by South West Trains until August 2017 and since by South Western Railway.
Vivarail was a British rolling stock manufacturer, founded in 2012 and based in Southam, Warwickshire. Vivarail's main project was the conversion of retired London Underground D78 Stock into two new classes for National Rail services. It was led by former Chiltern Railways chairman Adrian Shooter; the American Railroad Development Corporation was a shareholder.
The British Rail Class 230 D-Train is a diesel-electric multiple unit, diesel-battery electric multiple unit or battery electric multiple unit built by rolling stock manufacturer Vivarail for the British rail network. The units are converted from old London Underground D78 Stock, originally manufactured in 1980 by Metro-Cammell, and have been assigned the designation of Class 230 under TOPS.
Although the railway network in Great Britain has some of the smallest loading gauges in the world, the vast bulk of it is still capable of operating full sized vehicles. However, British Rail, together with its predecessors and successors have, on occasion, been required to operate passenger trains to an even smaller loading gauge and have, as a consequence, obtained rolling stock identical to that of the "deep tube" lines of London Underground; these are lines built using the tunneling shield method, that were, by necessity, smaller than those lines built using the cut-and-cover method. In 1892, a Parliamentary Committee headed by James Stansfeld recommended that such lines be in tunnels with a minimum diameter of 11 ft 6in. Two routes operated by British Rail required the use of such deep-tube rolling stock, the Waterloo & City Line in London, and the Island Line on the Isle of Wight.
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The British Rail Class 484 D-Train is a class of electric multiple unit built by rolling stock manufacturer Vivarail which operates on the Island Line on the Isle of Wight. Based on the British Rail Class 230 diesel multiple unit, the units are part of the Vivarail D-Train family, converted from London Underground D78 Stock originally manufactured in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Metro-Cammell.
The Vivarail D-Train is a family of multiple units remanufactured by Vivarail for the British rail network. They are converted from London Underground D78 Stock, originally manufactured between 1978 and 1981 by Metro-Cammell. Two versions have been produced: the Class 230 diesel electric multiple unit and the Class 484 electric multiple unit.