Page 71 - Rail Express - September 2019

Christopher Westcott &Piers Connor LU WORLD

Private sale for‘Green’ 1986 Stock

The LondonTransport
Museum is seeking a
buyer forits prototype
vehicle No. 16 or it may

have to be scrapped.

AFTER being offered to the museum
sector with no takers, the London
Transport Museum has made the
difficult decision to dispose of its
prototype 1986 Tube Stock car No. 16,
which wasacquiredin1996.
Currentlyhoused at the Museum’s
Acton Depot, the decision has been
taken due to the lack of space across
the six four-car roadsinsidethe depot
buildingand on thetrack fanthat leads
to Ealing Common Depot.
CarNo. 16 became part of the
Museum’scollectionfollowing its The exteriorofcar No. 16 at LTM’s Acton Depot on September 25, 2016.
withdrawal, and has been stored in Christopher Westcott
controlled conditions for20years.It
joined the museum’soriginalexhibits– agenuine representativeofthe Being an Arts Council‘accredited
such as thefour-car 1938 Stock unit, Underground. It onlyoperated in museum’ comes with responsibilities
four ‘Q’ Stock cars, andformer District passenger service on the Jubilee Line andacodeofconduct when disposing he interior o ‘Green train’ car No. 16,
Line ‘R’ Stock carNo. 22679– but the fora little overayear between May5, of artefacts. The LTMthereforehas which passengers said theyfavoured
collection hasexpanded significantly 1988 and July17, 1989. Examples of adutytocomplywith the ‘ethical when compared to the alternative‘red’
since thentoinclude representative cars the ‘Blue’ and ‘Red’ prototype 1986 disposal’ of items within its collection. and ‘blue’ (eventuallychosen) interiors.
from the ‘A’ Stock (No. 5034), ‘C’Stock Stock trains operated foramonth In addition, being part of Transport for Christopher Westcott
(No. 5721)and ‘D’Stock(No. 7012). longer.Whilst it is unique, with its London, the museum has to follow TfL’s
Additional cars have also been interior being favoured by passengers, policyregarding vehicle disposal. like to have the space within the depot
saved, including the former Waterloo andalsobeing the first type of car to Using comparisons from across as soon as possible. Anyinterested
&City car No. 61 from the National have externallymounted doors, it was the museum sector when items have party must submit what theywilldo
Railway Museum and StandardStock the ‘Blue’ train constructed by BREL been disposed of,the LTMhas sought with the car,how theywillcarefor
DM No. 3327, which previouslyresided that mechanicallybecame the 1992 to identify suitable technology and it, as well as howmuch moneythey
at the Science Museum. Stock fleet that continue to operate on transport museums or preservation would be willing to pay. The LTMisalso
As aresult, severalhistorically the Central Line today. railwaysthat might want to accept the mindful that long term storageoutside
valuable cars arenow having to be stored car into their collection. Unfortunately, is not suitable due to the doors being
in the open, exposedtothe weather, COVENTRYPLAN such talkshave come to nothingand mounted externally on the car.
albeitsheeted over. With limited It wasannounced in 2016 that car therefore the LTMisnow seeking to Whoeveriswilling and able to purchase
options available to extend the building, No. 16 wasdue to go to theElectric ‘privatelydispose’ of car No. 16 to any the car,must have the facilities to
the onlychoice left forthe LTMhas Railway Museum near Coventry.These responsible party.Funds obtained from suitablyprotect it.
been to prioritise what representative planswerethwarted, however, when anyprivate sale will be used forthe If no worthwhile interested party
cars it should keep in the collection. a‘Notice to Quit’ wasservedupon the benefit of the collection. canbefound, sadlythe car will be
Based upon its historical value, ERM by the landowners and so the The museum does not have afirm physicallydisposed of,probablyatCF
the‘Green Train’ car has neverbeen LTMhad to consider other options. deadline to work to,howeveritwould Booth, Rotherham.

LIGHT RAIL ROUND-UP Wi-fi rollout across the Underground

HS2 has unveiled designs fora driverless circuit, according to areport by the WITH wi-fi having been introduced station platforms and within
people movertoconnect its Birmingham Rail AccidentInvestigation Branch. at 54 Underground stations within tunnels. If this trial is successful,
Interchangestation with the nearby His actions followedacontrol system zones 1-4, cabling has nowbeen Transport forLondon intends to
airport, International station, and overload, likely caused by faults installed into asectionof tunnel on awardacontract to one of four
National Exhibition Centre. Twenty- elsewhereonthe train, but RAIB found the Jubilee Line to test the feasibility already-identified bidders to install
metrevehicles will depart every three contributing factors to be the sudden of introducing 4G wi-fi services across the infrastructurethat will include
minutes overa1.5-mile route entirelyon increase in the operator’s workload after the entireUnderground. 5G services.
aviaduct, the system being capable of running automatic mode; fatigue from Trials of 2G, 3G and 4G services The current approximate
carrying up to 2100 passengers per hour his sleeping pattern; and lowblood- arebeing undertaken on the completion date is ‘mid-2020s’ across
in each direction. sugarlevels from aprolonged period eastern end of the Jubilee Line on the Underground network.
Contactless bank cards can now without food.The report recommended
be used instead of paper tickets on LU makes improvements to door control
Manchester Metrolink tram services, systems, training, and the management ‘J’ door upgrade work to go ahead
with passengers ‘touching in’ at the of train faults.
start of their journeyand ‘touching South Shields station on the Tyne TRANSPORTfor London is inviting therehas been aseriesofincidents
out’ at the end rather like the system and Wear Metro system closed from the tenders foranimprovedcab security wherepassengers have been able
already used in London. Faresare end of service on July7tobereplaced system forall driving motorcars to access the cab and evenassault
automaticallycalculated based on the by anew bus and Metrointerchange across London Underground. train operators.
zones passed through. nearbyfromAugust 4. This wasthe first ‘J’ doors arelocated between the Bidders were expected to submit
A London Underground Jubilee Line T&W station to close since its operations passenger compartment of adriving their tenders by earlyAugust to design,
train ranbetween FinchleyRoad and began in 1980. South Shields opened in motor car and the train operator’s cab manufactureand deliver alockable
West Hampstead on September 1, 1984, itself replacing the former heavy andmost arefitted with safety glass system on 1262cab doors acrossseven
2018 with 10 sets of doors still open rail station, and since then has been used or plastic covers to protect the handle types of rolling stock. The work is due to
after the operator bypassed an interlock by an estimated 50 million passengers. mechanism. In recent years, however, be completed by November 2022.
September 2019 RAIL EXPRESS 71