 |
 | This article's lead section contains information that is not included elsewhere in the article.(April 2019) |
| London Underground coaching stock | |
|---|---|
 Sarah Siddons with a rake of four 4TC coaches and one Mk1 coach at Amersham | |
| Stock type | Deep-level tube |
| Notes/references | |
 London transportportal | |
The London Underground coaching stock is the coaching stock of the London Underground in London, United Kingdom.
In 1989, the first 'Steam on the Met' event took place, and London Underground, hired British Rail coaching stock for the excursions. It was found that it was actually cheaper to buy the coaches instead of hiring them. Thus, London Underground has acquired numerous former British Rail coaching stock for these special excursion trains on the Metropolitan line, usually hauled by either steam locomotives, or the preserved electric locomotive No. 12 "Sarah Siddons".
The fleet consisted of several Mark 1 and Mark 2 vehicles, and eight former British Rail Class 438 electrical multiple unit trailer set vehicles. The two coaches bought in the late 1980s were initially painted in red, white and blue of LUL. [1] [2] After the acquisition of more coaches in 1992, all vehicles were painted in the maroon livery of the Metropolitan Railway. They were normally based at West Ruislip depot. [3]
Even though the last 'Steam on the Met' event took place in 2000, the fleet remained in use until 2003, when all vehicles were stored. In 2005, Metronet decided to dispose of its coaching stock. The Mark 2 vehicles and one four-car trailer set have been sold for preservation, and the rest remained advertised for sale. However, after the refurbishment of 'Sarah Siddons' by Metronet in 2007, the remaining coaching stock is now being used on occasional specials with the Met loco. [4] They are now painted in London Transport Maroon.
The full list of vehicles is given below.
| Key: | In service | Preserved |
|---|
These are former Class 438 4TC vehicles, and were purchased in 1992.
| Number | Unit number | Vehicle type | Year acquired | Year withdrawn | Year sold | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70823 | 8012 | TBSK | 1992 | - | - | - |
| 70824 | 8013 | TBSK | 1992 | 2003 | 2005 | Sold for preservation |
| 70855 | 8012 | TFK | 1992 | 2003 | 2005 | Sold for preservation |
| 71163 | 8030 | TFK | 1992 | - | - | - |
| 76297 | 8015 | DTSO | 1992 | - | - | - |
| 76298 | 8015 | DTSO | 1992 | 2003 | 2005 | Sold for preservation |
| 76322 | 8027 | DTSO | 1992 | 2003 | 2005 | Sold for preservation |
| 76324 | 8028 | DTSO | 1992 | - | - | - |
Between 1992 and 2003, one vehicle, TFK no. 70855 was used as a support coach for locomotives. The remaining seven vehicles were marshalled into two coaching sets. The three-car unit was formed of 76298+70823+76322, whilst the four-car unit was formed of 76297+70824+71163+76324.
These vehicles were used as standard locomotive-hauled coaching stock. Mark 1 BSK 35011 and Mark 2 3152, prior to purchase by London Underground, were used as brake force runners, and numbered 977588 and 977547 respectively. [5]
| Number | Vehicle type | Year built | Year acquired | Year withdrawn | Year sold | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3152 | Mk.2C | FO | 1969 | 1989 | 2003 | 2005 | Sold for preservation |
| 5458 | Mk.2B | TSO | 1969 | 1995 | 2003 | 2005 | Preserved at Didcot Railway Centre |
| 5495 | Mk.2B | TSO | 1971 | 1995 | 2003 | 2005 | Preserved at Didcot Railway Centre |
| 5497 | Mk.2B | TSO | 1971 | 1995 | 2003 | 2005 | Preserved on Mid-Norfolk Railway |
| 35011 | Mk.1 | BSK | 1957 | 1988 | - | - | - |
The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between Aldgate in the City of London and Amersham and Chesham in Buckinghamshire, with branches to Watford in Hertfordshire and Uxbridge in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line is 41.4 miles (66.7 km) in length and serves 34 stations. Between Aldgate and Finchley Road, the track is mostly in shallow "cut and cover" tunnels, apart from short sections at Barbican and Farringdon stations. The rest of the line is above ground, with a loading gauge of a similar size to those on main lines. Just under 67 million passenger journeys were made on the line in 2011/12.
The British Rail Class 488 are unpowered trailer sets, converted from Mark 2F coaches for the Gatwick Express service from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport.
London Underground rolling stock includes the electric multiple-unit trains used on the London Underground. These come in two sizes, smaller deep-level tube trains and larger sub-surface trains of a similar size to those on British main lines. New trains are designed for the maximum number of standing passengers and for speed of access to the cars.
The British Rail TC multiple units were unpowered fixed formations of 3 or 4 carriages with a driving position at each end of the set, converted by BR's Holgate Road carriage works from locomotive-hauled Mark 1 carriages in 1966-1967 and 1974. The units built on experience gained from the prototype 6TC unit. In time the 3 car units were reformed into four car units to match the rest of the fleet and later classified as Class 442. This was later changed to Class 491, under which they spent the majority of their working lives. Shortly before withdrawal they were reclassified Class 438 and the units were renumbered to 8001-8034.
British Railways Mark 1 is the family designation for the first standardised designs of railway carriages built by British Railways (BR) from 1951 until 1974, now used only for charter services on the main lines or on preserved railways.
The Mark 2 family of railway carriages are British Rail's second design of carriages. They were built by British Rail workshops between 1964 and 1975. They were of steel construction.
The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger carriage developed in response to growing competition from airlines and the car in the 1970s. A variant of the Mark 3 became the rolling stock for the High Speed Train (HST).
A wide variety of diesel and electric multiple units have been used on Ireland's railways. This page lists all those that have been used. Except with the NIR Class 3000, the numbers given by each class in the lists below are those allocated to the coaches that make up the units in that class, otherwise, unit numbers are not used in Ireland.
A wide variety of hauled coaches have been used on the railways of Ireland. This page lists all those since 1945.
Diesel locomotives have seen limited use on the London Underground, largely because exhaust gases cannot be discharged when the vehicles are working in tunnels. A prototype diesel engine numbered DEL120 was built in 1939 from two 1915 stock motor cars, which was expected to be part of a batch of ten, but experience with battery locomotives showed that these were a better alternative. Three 0-6-0 diesels (DL81-DL83) were obtained in 1971, to replace the last steam engines, but were too short to operate the signalling system, and too heavy for some of the bridges. In 1996, fourteen diesels were supplied by Schöma of Germany, which were used during the construction of the Jubilee line tunnels. They were fitted with exhaust scrubbers, to enable them to work in the tunnels. To speed up track renewals on the subsurface lines, Class 66 locomotives have been hired in since 2006 to handle permanent way trains, but again suffer from being too heavy for some of the bridges. Because they are not fitted with tripcock safety devices, and pull trains much longer than the signalling system is designed for, they are restricted to slow speed running.
The London Underground 1972 Stock is a type of rolling stock used on the London Underground. The 1972 Stock was originally ordered to make up the shortfall in trains on the Northern line's 1959 Tube Stock fleet, but is nowadays used on the Bakerloo line. Following the withdrawal of the British Rail Class 483 EMUs in 2021, these trains are the oldest EMUs in passenger service in Britain. A total of 63 seven-car trains were built in two separate batches.
The British Rail Class 432 (4-REP) electric multiple unit passenger trains were built by BR at York Works from 1966 to 1967 and in 1974. The units were built to power the TC trailer units on services on the South West Main Line. Fifteen four-car units were eventually built. The motor coaches were new build, but the trailers were converted from Mk1 hauled stock. They were initially classified as Class 441 and numbered 3001–3015. This was later changed to Class 430, under which they spent the majority of their working lives. Shortly before withdrawal they were reclassified Class 432 and the units were renumbered as 2001–2015. The fleet had a lifespan of 26 years.
Push–pull is a configuration for locomotive-hauled trains, allowing them to be driven from either end of the train, whether having a locomotive at each end or not.
London Underground battery-electric locomotives are battery locomotives used for hauling engineers' trains on the London Underground network where they can operate when the electric traction current is switched off. The first two locomotives were built in 1905 for the construction of the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, and their success prompted the District Railway to buy two more in 1909, which were the only ones built to the loading gauge of the subsurface lines. Following this, a number of battery vehicles were built by converting redundant motor cars, with the batteries placed in the unused passenger compartment. One exception to this was made by the City and South London Railway, who used a trailer car to hold the batteries, and wired them to a separate locomotive.
Electric locomotives were first used on the London Underground when the first deep-level tube line, the City and South London Railway (C&SLR), was opened in 1890. The first underground railways in London, the Metropolitan Railway (MR) and the District Railway (DR), used specially built steam locomotives to haul their trains through shallow tunnels which had many ventilation openings to allow steam and smoke to clear from the tunnels. It was impractical to use steam locomotives in the small unvented tubular tunnels of the deep-level lines, and the only options were rope haulage or electric locomotives.
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