A Conversation for The London Underground

Oldest Trains

Post 1

Andrew Bowden

An interesting fact - the oldest trains on the tube aren't those on the District Line, despite the fact they look awful. The oldest trains are in fact those on the Metropolitan Line which were built between 1960 and 1962. The second oldest trains are those on the Victoria, built in 1967. In contrast, the District's main trains (those lovely silver boxes rather than those used between Wimbledon and Edgeware Road) weren't built until the early 1980s.


Oldest Trains

Post 2

Researcher 212043

The problem with the District line trains is that all the other types are either fairly new or have been recently refurbished. The District trains are only just being refurbished as they are fairly new in comparison to most of the trains on the Underground. The Metropolitan line trains are actually some of the best on the system as although over 40 years old, they have very recently had lots of work done on them, inluding replacing all the seats, flooring and panelling, and painting outside. Sadly little was done on the mechanical side other than safety improvements, so they are pretty unreliable, and this is a major problem as they share the tracks with the busy Circle line in the centre of London.


How to tell the age of a tube train

Post 3

Researcher 231637

You can, of course, tell the year of production of a train by looking at the floor just under the doors. I think they have the company logo there as well.
Could people please reply with what they think are the youngest and oldest trains they can find, listing the company logo each time?


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