Victoria Line; Out with the old, in with the new!

It may seem an implausible tale to tell today but when the Victoria Line opened in 1968 it was the greatest thing to happen to London in a very long time and represented the cutting edge of technology! It had dramatic looking automatically controlled trains with gleaming bodies with a tapered front, no driver side doors and unpainted brushed aluminium bodies.


Victoria Line 1967 Stock with the brushed aluminium skin

Amazingly it still had the first trains, known as 1967 Stock, which operated on the original line. Now after 43 years and millions of miles later these are being replaced. The 1967 Tube Stock was designed specifically for the Victoria Line. It was the first train in the world to be specially designed for a fully automatic railway designed from scratch.



Original 67 Stock interior


The line is equipped with an Automatic Train Operation system (ATO); the train operator (driver) closes the train doors and presses a pair of "start" buttons, and if the way ahead is clear, the ATO drives the train at a safe speed to the next station and stops it there. This system has operated since the line opened in 1968, making the Victoria line the world's first full-scale automatic railway.


Trains being produced at Derby: the Class 378 Electrostar for London Overground, the S-stock MOVIA for London Underground's SubSurface Lines and the MOVIA metro for London Underground's Victoria Line.

After 43 years in service the '67 stock Victoria Line trains are being replaced. 30th June 2011 was the last scheduled serviced, for two trips between Seven Sisters and Brixton. The videos offer comparisons between the 1967 Stock (so called because it entered service in 1968!) and the replacement 2009 Stock (so called because it entered service in 2010!)

For the full story of the Victoria Line see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/04/onwards-to-victoria.html

Onwards to Victoria!

Victoria Line 1967 Stock with the brushed aluminium skin

It may seem an implausible tale to tell today but when the Victoria Line opened in 1968 it was the greatest thing to happen to London in a very long time and represented the cutting edge of technology! It had dramatic looking automatically controlled trains with gleaming bodies with a tapered front, no driver side doors and unpainted brushed aluminium bodies. It was the first new deep tube line to be built across Central London since 1907 and the first major investment in the Tube since the Second World War – that’s over 29 years! It is also the only truly “underground” Underground Line with only its Depot at Northumberland Park being above ground and every station (except Pimlico, which was a late addition) is an interchange station.


Original 67 Stock interior

It looks different today as the graffiti plague which began in 1984 put paid to the somewhat beautiful brushed aluminium skin on the trains, the short sighted budgetary cuts during construction compromised the utility of the line later and it is a victim of its own success with crowded trains and at Victoria the Underground’s busiest station with over 71 million passengers a year. You have to ask, where did all these people go before the Victoria Line was built? Its very success shows how much it has contributed to London’s economy since it first opened.


Victoria Line Route - Click for larger image

Amazingly it still has the first trains, known as 1967 Stock, which operated on the original line. Now after 43 years and millions of miles later these are being replaced and the London Transport Museum is organising a special Railtour on the 15th May to mark the passing of these remarkable trains. The line is equipped with an Automatic Train Operation system (ATO); the train operator (driver) closes the train doors and presses a pair of "start" buttons, and if the way ahead is clear, the ATO drives the train at a safe speed to the next station and stops it there. This system has operated since the line opened in 1968, making the Victoria line the world's first full-scale automatic railway. It is worth remembering in these days of Outsourcing (a process where a company gives its brain away and then pays double to get it back!) that the design and testing both of the trains and signalling system was done in house by London Underground with great success. These trains were also used for the new stock on the Piccadilly and Bakerloo Lines.


1967 Stock - National Railway Museum, York

But more than that the trains were unique for despite the budgetary cut backs which resulted in a somewhat drab grey and blue tiled interior each station had individual tiled designs commissioned from artists in the seat recesses to represent the history of the locality.


Warren Street Motif: Warren, by Alan Fletcher.


The line's origins can be traced back to the Second World War when it was included in the 1943 County of London Plan. The constraints of the war years and the subsequent re-organisation and nationalisation of London's transport caused the plan to be postponed, and Parliamentary Powers to build the line were not obtained until 1955. Further delays in obtaining funds meant that actual construction work did not start until 1962.


Euston Motif: original Euston railway station Doric arch by Tom Eckersley.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/09/euston-arch.html

The Victoria Line runs for 13 miles from Walthamstow Central at its northern end to Brixton in the south. It was opened in sections, north terminus first, between 1968 and 1971, and so the Victoria Line sections of all these stations date from then. The first section was built between Finsbury Park and Manor House, but after testing was complete and the rest of the tunnels were completed, it was decided not to open a set of Victoria Line platforms at Manor House.


Blackhorse Road Motif: Black Horse by Hans Unger

The Victoria Line was built to relieve congestion on other lines, and so some of the interchanges were designed to minimise walking distance. This was done by either building the new tunnels next to the existing ones, or by swapping which line used which platform. The effect is that several interchanges allow you to continue a journey in the same direction, that is to say change from one northbound or southbound platform to the other, by walking about ten metres. The exception is Euston, where instead the northbound Victoria platform is intimately linked to the southbound Northern line (Bank branch) platform and vice versa. These platform-level interchanges of the Victoria line can be seen on a track layout diagram.




Refurbished 1967 Stock - Painted exterior and refurbished interior

As a theoretical rough guide, trains take two minutes to pass from each station to the next, and with 16 stations on the line it takes just over half an hour to travel from Walthamstow to Brixton. However, due to extended stops in tunnels and at stations, trains can take twice that time to make the entire journey. The Victoria Line was the world's first automatic passenger railway, and the drivers simply operate the doors and then press the start button.


Tottenham Hale Station - An interchange for the Stansted Express


Tottenham Hale Motif: Ferry across the River Lea, by Edward Bawden

The Victoria line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the south (Zone 2) to the north-east (Zone 3) of London. It is coloured light blue on the Tube map and, in terms of the average number of journeys per mile, is the busiest line on the network. It is the only line on the Underground, except for the two-station Waterloo & City line, that is operated entirely underground, the only section of track to emerge above ground being the part from Seven Sisters to the line's depot at Northumberland Park.


Seven Sisters Motif: Seven elm trees, by Hans Unger

The line has hump-backed stations which allow trains to store gravitational potential energy as they slow down and release it when they leave a station. This provides an energy saving of 5% and makes the trains run 9% faster. 183 million passengers use the Victoria line each year making it the fourth busiest line on the network. Overcrowding has been a big issue on the Victoria Line and is almost inevitable given the station interchanges on the line. If the moribund Chelsea–Hackney line were to be built it would relieve a lot of congestion on the Victoria line, offering an alternative route across Central London between Victoria and King's Cross St. Pancras.


Brixton Motif: A ton of bricks, by Hans Unger.


Victoria Line's southern terminus at Brixton

When the Victoria line was constructed, severe budget restrictions were imposed and as a result the station infrastructure standards were lower than on older lines and on later extension projects. Examples of these lower standards include narrower than usual platforms and undecorated ceilings at Walthamstow Central, Blackhorse Road and Tottenham Hale, adversely affecting lighting levels. At most stations there is still a concrete staircase between the up and down escalators, where an additional escalator could be installed. The lack of a third escalator can cause severe congestion at peak times. However in recent years an additional escalator has been installed in place of the fixed stairway at Brixton (2004) and Vauxhall (2006). The line was originally to go to Wood Street (Walthamstow) but this was dropped to reduce the budget at a late stage.


Leaf motif; Green Park

The oldest group of tube stock is the 1967/72 type. The 1967 Tube Stock was introduced for the opening of the Victoria Line with automatic train operation (ATO). Although the car body was to the same general dimensions as the earlier tube stocks, there were a number of differences in style and layout such as wrap-round cab windows, double-glazed passenger windows and the provision of all-longitudinal seats in the trailer cars. Cabs were not provided with side doors for safety reasons.


Vauxhall Motif: Old Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens by George Smith


Highbury & Islington Motif: Highbury House, by Edward Bawden

The 1972 Stocks, consisting of two versions known as MkI and MkII, were 7-car versions of the 8-car 1967 Stock. They were designed to operate on manually driven lines with a possible future conversion to automatic operation in mind. They never had this fitted but the MkII stock is now working on the Bakerloo Line under One-Person Operation with manual driving. The Mark I version has been disbanded but some cars have been used to supplement the Victoria and Bakerloo fleets following suitable conversion.


Trains being produced at Derby: the Class 378 Electrostar for London Overground, the S-stock MOVIA for London Underground's SubSurface Lines and the MOVIA metro for London Underground's Victoria Line.

The 1967 Stock is now being replaced with new 2009 Stock. The 2009 stock is a type of London Underground train built by Bombardier Transportation as part of their Movia family at their Litchurch Lane Works in Derby, England. Forty-seven 8-car units are being built for the Victoria line, replacing the original 1967 Tube Stock.


Victoria Line Northern terminus at Walthamstow Central






Walthamstow Central Motif: William Morris design, by Julia Black

Construction of the new trains is on-going and rollout will continue until 2011, when all 1967 Stock trains will have been replaced. The first 2009 Stock train entered passenger service on 21 July 2009 and a new train is now entering service every two weeks. The Victoria Line trains are now effectively in "one in, one out" mode, meaning that as soon as an 09 is dropped off at Northumberland Park depot, a 67 is sent to be scrapped by Booths from Acton Works.

The '67 stock has been running on the Victoria line for 43 years since the line opened in 1968. It will be decommissioned this summer as part of the Victoria line upgrade. To mark this historic event there will be a special offline tour on Sunday 15 May. Victoria line General Manager John Doyle said:

"The tour is an exciting and unusual event. It will be the first and last time passengers can travel by '67 stock on the District, Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines. The tour marks the end of more than 40 years of sterling service given to London by the '67 stock and any money we are able to make from the tour will be donated to the Railway Children charity."


2009 Stock at Euston

So what’s so special about the 1967 Stock Railtour? First; because it is the first time passengers have been conveyed by ’67 stock on the Piccadilly, District and Metropolitan lines. Last; because it will never happen again! This unique tour marks the end of more than 40 years of sterling service given to London by the '67 stock.

The train will leave Seven Sisters on 15th May at 10:13 and return at approximately 16:00, taking the following route:

Seven Sisters platform 4 – Northumberland Park staff platform
Northumberland Park staff platform – Uxbridge via Finsbury Park and Rayners Lane
Uxbridge – Barons Court siding via Rayners Lane and Acton Town
Barons Court siding – Ealing Broadway via Acton Town
Ealing Broadway – Seven Sisters via Acton Town and Finsbury Park

Tickets

Tickets are priced at £30, with all profits going to the Railway Children Charity. Please note that as this is a full day trip, with limited comfort breaks available, we do not recommend that children are brought on the tour. However, if you do wish to bring children on the trip, the prices are: 0-5 yrs – Free and Under 16’s - £15 (all children MUST be accompanied by an adult).


Ticket issued on 1 September 1968, the first day of service of the Victoria line

For tickets, please contact London Transport Museum bookings office on 020 7565 7298 or Book Online;

http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk


Stockwell Motif: The Swan, representing the nearby pub, by Abram Games


Victoria Motif: Blue cameo of Queen Victoria on pink background by Edward Bawden

So farewell to the unique Design Icon which is the 1967 Stock. Hopefully with the new trains, the upgraded signalling and the “new stations” due at Victoria, Euston and Oxford Circus the Victoria Line will regain some of the admiration it enjoyed on opening in 1968 as the first new tube line in London in 61 years.

For the history of the Tube see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-circle-line-journey.html

And see "TUBE BLOGS" in the Blog sidebar >>>>>>>>>>>>

Seats on Feet!

Neanderthal Man

A bane of the regular commuter are the Neanderthal ignoramuses who insist on rudely displaying their genetic inbreeding by using other people’s seats on public transport as a footrest. Indeed due to lack of enforcement by transport operator’s many do this deliberately as a Yob badge of honour normally combined with a “what’s your problem, Mate!” stare as staff major on their “non-confrontational” training and walk on by. I suspect these are the same people who take pride stealing disabled people’s parking spaces normally with their kids in the back seat so they learn by example and the Neanderthal genes are preserved for posterity. Never mind the disrespect to their fellow passengers and the fact that they look stupid (not that they consider this a disadvantage in life!) but analysis of such seat covers generally shows materials not normally found outside forensic science programmes!

Well one enterprising company called TRiP has a new take on this age old problem as it asks its customers to please put seats on feet! The concept is brilliant as London Transport moquette is an iconic fabric and is sold by the London Transport Museum as a successful furniture range.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/londons-transport-museum.html

The hard wearing, iconic patterned fabric seems perfect for footwear and we definitely approve Trip’s recycling ethic: "they incorporate recycled tyre rubber in the soles, restored Tube and bus seat textiles in the uppers and re-used leather cheque book wallets in the trim". If the wallets were collected from the Lost Property Office in Baker Street, then even better!


Moquette Furniture from the LTM Collection

Moquette was used on bus and tube seats from the 30s through to the 70s, a tough fabric able to take the wear and tear of constant daily use. But it wasn't just functional - designers were constantly brought in to liven up the fabric, creating looks that are both stylish and very distinct to their eras.

Each Tube design in the “Above+Below London” footwear is named after the line that supplied the fabric - such as District Line - and all the soles are made from 33 per cent bus tyre rubber. Robert Taylor, of Transport Recycling in Partnership (TRiP), said: “We have used good quality materials which would otherwise have ended up in landfill sites or going to an incinerator. I think the shoes have a real cultural, nostalgic feel to them.” They cost £60, and for every pair sold TRiP promises to plant one tree inside the M25.

The collection exclusively incorporates rare, vintage and ultra rare iconic retro textiles from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's reclaimed from seats on London's Underground tube carriages and buses. Realising these visually striking fabrics were genuine relics of London's design heritage, Central Saint Martin's college graduate Robert Taylor and music promoter/film maker Caroline Read collected and preserved them before they were lost to landfill or incineration forever!




Piccadilly

This design was used on Piccadilly Line Tube stock delivered from 1956 to 1967. The black vertical and red horizontal lines of varying thicknesses against a grey background were also found on the Metropolitan, Central, Northern and Victoria lines.

This line was originally called the Great Northern, Piccadilly, and Brompton Railway. It opened in December 1906 between Hammersmith and Finsbury Park. In 1932, extensions allowed passengers to travel north to Cockfosters and west to Hounslow and Uxbridge. The next major extension connected Heathrow Airport with central London in 1977. The loop to Terminal 4 was completed in 1986, and the line now serves the new Terminal 5 from 2008.




Victoria Line

This Victoria Line moquette design was used during the 1993 refurbishment of 1967 stock on the Victoria line. The sample has broad vertical red and blue stripes with a stepped repeating dark blue, white and red geometric 'arrow' motif. It was created by design consultants Jones Garrard and Tilney, Lumsden and Shane and produced in different colours, though they were never used. The refurbishment also included new grab-poles and armrests that were blue, symbolising the Victoria line. The design was influenced by the bright and bold moquette patterns used on London Transport during the 1930s and 1940s.

This brightly coloured District Line design from the late 1970's has a geometric pattern of repeating rows of orange, yellow, brown and black rectangles. When the surface stock cars on the District line were renewed, the mainly grey finishes of the old interiors were replaced by brighter designs. The new interiors were designed by Misha Black Design Research Unit. The internal doors were painted orange and the moquette matched the colour scheme. This pattern was also used on the Metro and Titan buses, which were introduced about the same time as D78 stock.




District Line

Fashion meets public transport in this new range of shoes made of recycled fabric from London Underground and bus seats and this is an idea which deserves to walk! Indeed the Sage may himself purchase a different design for his left and right feet as his avant garde development on cross dressing, let’s hear it for interchange dressing! Give it time and it could be a New Underground Movement!

See (and order!) on TRiP’s website here;

http://www.urbanremade.com/catalog/about_us.php?osCsid=487505787de14d4cd2a7f8e3e98812a1

And here is the link to the Moquette Furniture Collection on the London Transport Museum site;

http://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/LTM/Furniture-collection/Living.html