The British Rail Class 484 ''D-Train'' is a class of electric multiple unit built by rolling stock manufacturer

Vivarail Vivarail is a British rolling stock manufacturer, founded in 2012 and based in Southam. Vivarail's main project is the conversion of retired London Underground D78 Stock into two new classes for National Rail services. It was led by former Chil ...

which operates on the

Island Line Island Line or Island line may refer to: * Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong * Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England ** Island Line (brand) Island Line is a brand of the ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

. Based on the

British Rail Class 230 The British Rail Class 230 ''D-Train'' is a diesel electric multiple unit or Battery electric multiple unit, battery EMU built by rolling stock manufacturer Vivarail for the British rail network. The units are converted from old London Undergr ...

diesel multiple unit, the units are part of the

Vivarail D-Train The Vivarail D-Train is a family of multiple units Remanufacturing, 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 ...

family, converted from

London Underground D78 Stock 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 wit ...

originally manufactured in the late 1970s and early 1980s by

Metro-Cammell Metro-Cammell, formally the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was an English manufacturer of railway carriages, locomotives and railway wagons, based in Saltley, and subsequently Washwood Heath, in Birmingham. Purchased ...

. Five units have been converted for the

to replace the Class 483 sets, with the first delivered for testing in late 2020 and the second in May 2021. The line closed in January 2021 for upgrade works and was originally scheduled to reopen on 1 April 2021 with the new fleet of trains, but delays to the required infrastructure work as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

extended the shutdown period by six weeks to 13 May 2021, and then problems with software on the trains further delayed their introduction. The line reopened to passengers using the Class 484 stock on 1 November 2021.

History

The Island Line, an long rail route on the Isle of Wight between

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

and

Shanklin Shanklin () is a seaside resort and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, located on Sandown Bay. Shanklin is the southernmost of three settlements which occupy the bay, and is close to Lake and Sandown. The sandy beach, its Old Village ...

, has historically been limited in the type of rolling stock that can be operated due to clearance issues, particularly height in the Ryde Tunnel between and , which has had its trackbed raised numerous times over the course of its history to mitigate the risk of flooding. These limitations continued even after electrification in 1966. Since electrification, the Island Line has used repurposed former

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

stock, beginning with the

British Rail Classes 485 and 486 The British Rail Class 485 (or 4Vec, later 5Vec) and British Rail Class 486 (or 3Tis, later 2Tis) electrical multiple units were originally built for the London Electric Railway from 1923-31 as its 'Standard' tube stock. They were purchased ...

, built as 1923 tube stock, which were used from 1966 to 1989. Gauging trials took place in the 1960s to determine whether units were suitable for use on the route, but without success. From 1989 onward, rail services were operated using units, which originated as

1938 tube stock 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 bui ...

and last ran on the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, tw ...

. However, these units were first introduced on the Underground in 1938 and, by 2019, were more than eighty years old. This made them increasingly difficult to maintain, with the original fleet of eight eventually reduced to four in service, with another two retained as spares donors. As a consequence, replacement of the rolling stock became an urgent priority - this requirement was eventually linked with a wider need to invest in improvements in the line itself, and saw suggestions that it might be converted to a light rail operation, or even a bus rapid transit route. However, in 2019, it was announced that the existing

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...

operation would be retained, with a total of £26m invested to make improvements. A significant proportion of this would be used on the procurement of a fleet of new trains, which it was announced would be sourced from

's D-Train platform.Isle of Wight line’s future secured with £26m investment
'' Railway Gazette International'' 16 September 2019 The first passenger-carrying Class 484 departed

Ryde St John's Road railway station Ryde St John's Road is a railway station on the Island Line, and serves the town of Ryde, Isle of Wight. The station is south of Ryde Pier Head—the Island Line's northern terminus. History When the station opened in 1864, it was known ...

at 05:35 on 1 November 2021.

Trains

The Class 484 units are two-car trains built using the existing bodyshells and bogies of former London Underground D78 stock units modified for use on the

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...

network. These have similar features to the trains from the same family, with Wi-Fi, power sockets and CCTV. The D78 Stock is similar in terms of height to other National Rail rolling stock in Great Britain and taller than the previous Class 483, and having undertaken a survey of the route, Vivarail confirmed that its proposed units were capable of traversing the Ryde Tunnel. 484001 Ryde St Johns Road

The first of the total of five units was due to be delivered for testing in the summer of 2020. The first unit arrived on the Isle of Wight on 19 November 2020 via ferry.

Fleet details

Each unit is formed of two Driving Motor vehicles.

Gallery

File:484001 Car 231 Fishbourne.jpg, The first car of Class 484 leaves Wightlink's Fishbourne terminal in 2020. It will be taken to Ryde Traincare Depot for inspection and testing. File:484001 and 483009 at Ryde Traincare.jpg, Class 484 stands next to Class 483, illustrating the difference in loading gauge between the ex-deep-level Tube Class 483 unit and the ex-sub-surface Class 484 unit. File:484002 Arrives Shanklin.jpg, Island Line Class 484 arrives at

in 2022 File:484001 Internal.jpg, Internal view of an Island Line Class 484.

Notes

References

External links

Class 484
- South Western Railway
Video showing the delivery of Unit 484001 to the Isle of Wight
South Western Railway. {{Island Line, Isle of Wight navbox

484 __NOTOC__ Year 484 ( CDLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Venantius and Theodoricus (or, less frequently, year 12 ...