South Western Railway is looking for new homes for its soon-to-be-retired Island Line fleet.
The 5x Class 483 trains, built in 1938 for the London Underground, have been serving the Isle of Wight since 1989. However, as announced in September 2019, following a £26m investment to secure the future of Island Line, the current fleet is due to be replaced by the new Class 484 trains.
South Western Railway is looking for new homes for the trains as soon as possible, to make room for the arrival of the first Class 484s for testing this year. SWR has already received several expressions of interest from preservation groups, including the neighbouring Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
Organisations interested in adopting a soon to be former Island Line train will need to demonstrate the capacity and financial security to remove and look after the train, as well as a suitable long-term physical location for the train. They may also need to prepare a plan to manage potentially hazardous substances where these remain on the units, which will need to meet the satisfaction of the Office of Rail & Road and other statutory bodies.
The trains are also subject to a statutory Designation Notice following the decision of the Board of Trustees’ of the Science Museum on 4th March 2020. Prior to ownership transferring, SWR would need to ensure the future plans for some or all of the vehicles were acceptable to the Board of Trustees.
The trains are in varying states of repair, with 2 of them having been used largely for spares in recent years.
Mark Hopwood, Managing Director for South Western Railway said:
“The Class 483 trains have been running for 82 years, serving passengers first on London Underground and most recently on the Isle of Wight. Despite their age our team at Ryde St John Depot has worked miracles keeping these trains going to provide a vital service for the island.
Article continues below this advertisement “With new trains arriving, now is the time for these trains to find new homes, for a well-deserved retirement.”.
Organisations interested in rehoming a former Island Line train should express their interest by emailing [email protected]. The deadline for expressing interest is Wednesday 12th August.
The history of the Class 483s
Originally built in 1938, these trains operated London Underground’s Northern Line until they were withdrawn from service in the late 1980s.
In July 1989, the first of the 1938 stock, now the Class 483, arrived on the Isle of Wight to operate the 8.5-mile Island Line, from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin.
The trains have now seen over 80 years of passenger service, 30 of which have been on Island Line.
In September 2019, South Western Railway announced £26m of investment in Island Line that would see the Class 483 replaced by VivaRail’s Class 484 trains, as well as improvements in infrastructure allowing for a trains service at regular 30 minute intervals.
In keeping with Island Line’s tradition of former London Underground trains, the new trains will be refurbished former District Line trains, but with modern features including WiFi, passenger information screens and dedicated wheelchair spaces.
Might be a nice gesture to give one to Havenstreet Railway which they could use as a cafe, museum or similar, as they are part of the Islands rail history.
I did read somewhere that the IOW steam railway had considered having a set of the trains but haven’t the room to house them. Which is a shame as they are part of the island’s heritage
The article says they’ve received an expression of interest from the Steam Railway.
Straight to the scrap yard and think thank god they have finally gone, but we’re still be using them for rest of the year, until the new ones get passed safe to use, and the STAFF UNDERSTAND HOW TO OPERATE THEM. all the best to the staff who do a good job at the moment with limited stock.
I’m wondering how much more difficult it’s going to be to keep the poor old things “covid – safe” once all the grockles start using them. The seats, for example will be difficult to keep properly sanitised, I imagine.
I’d hope to be wrong but I imagine the cost of removing all the hazardous substances within the train would make any preservation to costly.
What a piece of history, in service since before WWII.
They genuinely do not make things like that anymore.
The Alderney Railway might want one or two them. They already use some old tube stock.
I only realised our trains were old when i saw our trains in the transport museum in London
The song says ‘You don’t know what you got til it’s gone’ may ring true.
Look at HMS White Elephant, the new floating bridge.
Mind the stock we are getting is old anyway, so hopefully they will be time tested.