Tube Trains Could Be Sent To Yorkshire

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 152 months ago
Tube Trains Could Be Sent To Yorkshire


A report on the BBC reveals that local businesses in North Yorkshire want to increase the number of rail options between Harrogate, Leeds and York by buying old District line stock from London Underground.

The trains in question are the D-stock that run on the main section of the District line. They were built in the late 1970s, and given a thorough overhaul by engineers five years ago, but are scheduled to be replaced by new rolling stock by 2015. LU will then have a fleet of trains in not-too-shabby condition on its hands; if they can be sold on for a tidy sum, more's the better.

Should they find a new lease of life in the North, they would run on existing mainline routes (which would be electrified via a third rail, meaning that the lines could still carry diesel trains) and would offer up to 60% more seats than the existing services.

If the plan does go through, it will hopefully prove more popular than the last time London flogged off its superannuated transport: a fleet of bendy buses were shipped to Brighton in 2009, to local chagrin.

Photo / Simon-K

Last Updated 15 July 2011