1996 Stock

[Jturner98]

After reading the Wikipedia article on the 1996 stock it says the design was frozen in 1991. Can anyone shed any information on why the design was frozen? Thanks

 

[rebmcr]

After reading the Wikipedia article on the 1996 stock it says the design was frozen in 1991. Can anyone shed any information on why the design was frozen? Thanks

So that the designers of the Jubilee Line Extension could rely on the trains not bringing any surprise incompatibilities.

 

[90sWereBetter]

I believe the original plan was to extensively refurbish the 31 trains of 1983 stock, and then purchase another 30 trains brand new (effectively meaning the 1996 stock would have been a 1983 stock Mk3). Certainly there was a mock-up of a refurbished 1983 car constructed around 1991, according to the excellent Underground Movement by Paul Moss. That may have been a contributing factor to the design being frozen.

Does beg the question though, what would life on the Jubilee Line be like today with an ageing, mixed fleet of trains, 38 years to 23 years old? Presumably the Mk1 and Mk2 batches of 1983 stock would've kept single doorways, given how prohibitively expensive rebuilding might have been.

 

[100andthirty]

I believe the original plan was to extensively refurbish the 31 trains of 1983 stock, and then purchase another 30 trains brand new (effectively meaning the 1996 stock would have been a 1983 stock Mk3). Certainly there was a mock-up of a refurbished 1983 car constructed around 1991, according to the excellent Underground Movement by Paul Moss. That may have been a contributing factor to the design being frozen.

Does beg the question though, what would life on the Jubilee Line be like today with an ageing, mixed fleet of trains, 38 years to 23 years old? Presumably the Mk1 and Mk2 batches of 1983 stock would've kept single doorways, given how prohibitively expensive rebuilding might have been.

The original plan was to take each 3 car unit of 1983 tube stock, rebuild the carbodies with double doors instead of the wide single doors, fit three phase traction and new bogies. Three new cars would be inserted into the unit making a "new" 6-car train. The suppliers offered compliant bids but GEC Alsthom, as it was then, offered completely new trains for just a small number of £millions more. This eliminated lots of risk!

 

[LUYMun]

I also heard that when the 1983TS were to be withdrawn from the Jubilee, there was a proposal for them to be used on the Piccadilly line alongside existing 1973TS but it didn't go ahead was because of its long cars failing to clear the tunnels - was this correct?

 

[100andthirty]

I also heard that when the 1983TS were to be withdrawn from the Jubilee, there was a proposal for them to be used on the Piccadilly line alongside existing 1973TS but it didn't go ahead was because of its long cars failing to clear the tunnels - was this correct?

In a word, no! The plan was to increase the frequency on the Piccadilly line. But it was discovered that there was insufficient signalling capacity to do so. In addition the 1983 tube stock needed a lot of money spending on it, so the plan was scrapped. By then TfL was deeply involved in the PPP which left the "problem" of the 1983 tube stock on the sidelines.