2 former Island Line trains have found a new home at a Welsh railway near Llanelli.
The London Transport Traction Group has announced that the 2 ex-London tube trains will soon be taking up residence at the Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway at the site of the former Cynheidre Colliery.
It is believed that this will be the first time that a tube train will have visited Wales and both groups are looking forward to working together to bring an additional attraction to Cynheidre.
The trains in question, 483006 and 483008, were delivered to London Transport in 1940 as part of the then-ongoing production of the 1938 Tube Stock. They ran in service on the Northern and Bakerloo lines at various points during their LT careers, with the type also seeing use on the Piccadilly Line and the Ongar branch of the Central Line.
Upon withdrawal in the late-1980s, the trains were sold to British Rail for further service on the Isle of Wight. Known to BR as the Class 483s, these trains were part of a fleet of 9 2-car units, the last of which remained in passenger service until withdrawn by South Western Railway earlier this year as part of its multi-million-pound upgrade scheme in January 2021.
Unit 483006 operated the final Class 483 service on January 3rd, as previously reported by Island Echo.
The London Transport Traction Group was set up with the intention of securing one of these veteran trains for preservation, and subsequently managed to secure 2.
After several months of trying to find a home for the trains and after hopes of returning them to a former tube line were dashed, the group has found a home at the L&MMR where restoration towards an eventual return to passenger use will be undertaken. The LTTG’s plan is to use one of the cars from 483008 to carry batteries in order that the trains may operate on heritage railways; originally they ran using current taken from conductor rails.
In addition to the 2 complete Class 483 trains, the L&MMR is soon to be home to other ex-London Transport artefacts and it is hoped that a small LT-themed display may be developed in this corner of South Wales. Although 483008 requires significant work before it can be made accessible to the public, it is hoped that 483006 may be opened to visitors soon after arrival.
Both units will initially be stored on disconnected track, but it is planned that in the future they will run on the railway. Although no date has yet been set, it is likely that the units will arrive during the winter.
If they still work in Wales why can’t they carry on working on the Isle of Wight?
obviously South west trains has money to waste
Totally unsuited to the demands of scheduled services. Life expired. With tlc, and modifications, gentle use on a short heritage line might (we hope) be feasible.
Will probably run on-time at the heritage as well.
Needs to have the track tar-mac’d and then use it for battery shuttle bus service . What is the point of having the expense of with costly track, sleepers, ongoing maintenance costs, when a dedicated electric shuttle pass with passing points would do the job without the fuss of signals, electricifaction, security fencing to keep childen and idiots safe, special trained driver etc.
The shuttle buses, could move quickly, and if needed drop off people in a few locations in each town before returning to their dedicated private tar mac traffic free route once more.
No issues with tunnels being to low, narrow, etc.
Just do it.
Great to see that you have such fantastic experience and knowledge
because it will be used by bikes, motorbikes, scooters, pedestrians, horse riders and car drivers whether they should be on it or not, that you can be assured of. Plus the fact, the trains can move more people, far more quickly than any bus service.
“It is believed that this will be the first time that a tube train will have visited Wales”
Never been to Wales, not even on a day trip, how sad for the hard working carriages.
Probably more reliable than the bridge they gave us.
I’m glad to hear they are going somewhere where they will still be used and not just scrapped. Let’s hope they are appreciated over there.
They must be going to a deprived area !
Another fiasco …
Welcome to the Isle of Wight!!!
Non running trains join non floating bridge!!!!!
I wonder what number 3 will be ??????
Does anybody actually think about what is involved before they start these projects??????
All fur coat and no Kn——-s…..
Or great idea no idea !!!!
Perhaps we should have kept them ?????
At least they ran up and down ( most of the time ) ….