The London Underground 1983 Stock was a class of

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

built by Metro-Cammell for use on

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 ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

's Jubilee line. The 1983 Stock could be considered the last train to be designed by London Underground; it was the last conventional Tube train in the long line of evolving design since the

1938 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 Railway Carriage & Wagon Company, Birmingham RC&W. An additional 173 cars were added to the fle ...

. The stock was built by Metro-Cammell to replace the 1972 Mark II Stock operating on the Jubilee line; in turn this was intended to enable those trains to replace the 1938 Stock on the

Bakerloo line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partly ...

History

Design of the 1983 Stock was finalised in 1980; originally 30 trains were planned, but declining traffic meant that only 15 trains were ordered in 1982, entering service in 1984. An increase in passenger numbers meant that another 16 1/2 trains were built (called Batch Two) and these were delivered in 1988. All trains were formed of six carriages. The 1983 stock owed much to the sub-surface D Stock in design. Like the D Stock, the 1983 Stock had single leaf doors, a similar orange interior and cab design. It also featured headlights that were positioned underneath the train body, and "bobbles on springs" strap-hangers for standing passengers within, the last new trains to have them. Unlike the D Stock however, the 1983 Stock proved to be unreliable. Electrical generators for lighting the carriages failed often, as did the motors. Boarding of passengers was slow because of the single leaf doors. With the Jubilee Line Extension in mind, it was originally planned that the 1983 Stock would be heavily refurbished to run alongside the newer 1996 Stock that entered service on the Jubilee line in 1997; the plans included replacing the single leaf doors with double doors to speed up passenger boarding. The 1983 Stock was to be given similar interiors. This was abandoned due to the cost being only 10% cheaper than re-equipping the line entirely with the 1996 Stock. Then it was proposed for the 1983 Stock to be added to the refurbished 1973 Stock on the

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...

and serve the Rayners Lane - Uxbridge section of the line. This was also abandoned on the grounds of cost. The last 1983 Stock train ran on the Jubilee line on 9 July 1998. Despite their newness and attempts to sell the trains abroad, the trains never returned to service. A number were stored at various locations around the network, and others were scrapped. Since retirement from service, nine cars had been stabled at sidings south of South Harrow station (3639-4639-3739, 3640-4640-3740 and 3645-4645-3745). Over the years these had been heavily vandalised. With the introduction of

Night Tube The Night Tube and London Overground Night Service, often referred to simply as Night Tube, is a service pattern on the London Underground ("Tube") and London Overground systems which provides through-the-night services on Friday and Saturday ni ...

services, additional stabling was required, so all nine cars were removed over the weekend of 27/28 June 2015, and taken to

CF Booth C F Booth Ltd is a family-owned scrap metal and recycling business based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Operations Clarence Frederick Booth founded the business in 1920, as a metal purchaser and trader. Over the company's history, t ...

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

for scrapping.

Preservation

One carriage of the stock has been preserved by the

London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...

and another had been used as a studio by

Radio Lollipop Radio Lollipop is a charitable organization providing a care, comfort, play and entertainment service for children in hospital. It organizes Volunteer Playmakers to spend time with children in wards or in special play areas, taking its name fr ...

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...

, but this was recently scrapped. A few more have been placed on the disused Broad Street viaduct in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

for use as artists' studios. List of preserved stock: * DM 3734 at the

London Transport Museum Depot The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the history, heritage of Transport in London, London's transport, as well as co ...

. * DM 3733 at Broad Street viaduct. * T 4633 at Broad Street viaduct. * T 4662 at Broad Street viaduct. * DM 3662 at Broad Street viaduct. * DM 3721 at Washington, Sunderland used as tunnel rescue training. * The complete

destination blind A destination sign (North American English) or destination indicator/destination blind (British English) is a sign mounted on the front, side or rear of a public transport vehicle, such as a bus, tram, tram/streetcar or light rail vehicle, that ...

from DM 3702 exists in a private collection, and is in operational condition.

References

Tubeprune - Rolling Stock

External links

Squarewheels.org.uk - 1983 Tube Stock
* 1983 Stock train at Charing Cross, Jubilee line platform, 1986. {{London Underground rolling stock

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Metropolitan Cammell multiple units Train-related introductions in 1984