I have been searching in the past few minutes for threads and posts on this forum as to the future of London Underground's District line fleet of 75 6-car D78 stock trains.
They were introduced from early 1980 with the final deliveries being in 1983. The oldest units will be 35 years old or imminent with the youngest 31 years old. This makes them the same age as some of the the British Rail (BR)-built electric multiple units (EMUs) Classes 317 (1981-82) and 455 (1982-85).
The D78s are due to be replaced by brand new S7 stock from this year (2014) or next year, when the replacement of the C69 and C77 stock (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Edgware Road branch of District lines) is complete.
At the current time I do not know what London Underground (LU) plans to do with the first units that will be retired from LU service. They are a decade younger than the C69s and two decades younger than the withdrawn A60 and A62 stock on the Metropolitan line. It would seem a major waste to scrap them when there is huge demand for extra carriages across Britain.
The BR Class 455s that are used by South West Trains (SWT) on commuter routes from London Waterloo are to have their Direct Current (DC) motors replaced by more efficient Alternating Current (AC) motors.
Do forum members think that the same should be done with D78 stock so that the most use can be got out of them for another 15 years? (Not on the Underground). The same thing was done to the late 1970s and early 1980s-built trains of the Prague Metro (Czech Republic). The D78s would probably be able to travel faster than 50mph without detriment.
It would take the fitting of Automatic Warning System (AWS) and Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) to allow the D78 stock to operate on the national rail system.
The fourth-rail shoes could be bonded to the wheels so that current flows into the running rails so that the D78s could use third-rail routes in London and Merseyside (Liverpool and surrounds).
They were introduced from early 1980 with the final deliveries being in 1983. The oldest units will be 35 years old or imminent with the youngest 31 years old. This makes them the same age as some of the the British Rail (BR)-built electric multiple units (EMUs) Classes 317 (1981-82) and 455 (1982-85).
The D78s are due to be replaced by brand new S7 stock from this year (2014) or next year, when the replacement of the C69 and C77 stock (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Edgware Road branch of District lines) is complete.
At the current time I do not know what London Underground (LU) plans to do with the first units that will be retired from LU service. They are a decade younger than the C69s and two decades younger than the withdrawn A60 and A62 stock on the Metropolitan line. It would seem a major waste to scrap them when there is huge demand for extra carriages across Britain.
The BR Class 455s that are used by South West Trains (SWT) on commuter routes from London Waterloo are to have their Direct Current (DC) motors replaced by more efficient Alternating Current (AC) motors.
Do forum members think that the same should be done with D78 stock so that the most use can be got out of them for another 15 years? (Not on the Underground). The same thing was done to the late 1970s and early 1980s-built trains of the Prague Metro (Czech Republic). The D78s would probably be able to travel faster than 50mph without detriment.
It would take the fitting of Automatic Warning System (AWS) and Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) to allow the D78 stock to operate on the national rail system.
The fourth-rail shoes could be bonded to the wheels so that current flows into the running rails so that the D78s could use third-rail routes in London and Merseyside (Liverpool and surrounds).