London Underground 1973 Stock

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1973 Stock
Tube Stock
Builder Met-Cam
Introduced 1975
DM
Numbers 100 - 253, 854 - 895
Weight 27.15 tons
Height 9' 5 7/64"
Width 8' 7 1/2"
Length 57' 3 29/32"
UNDM
Numbers 300 - 453
Weight 26.16 tons
Height 9' 5 7/64"
Width 8' 7 1/2"
Length 57' 1 19/32"
TRAILER
Numbers 500 - 653
Weight 18.16 tons
Height 9' 5 7/64"
Width 8' 7 1/2"
Length 57' 1 19/32"
Two 1973 Stock trains pass at Rayners Lane.
Enlarge
Two 1973 Stock trains pass at Rayners Lane.

The 1973 Tube Stock operates on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground, and was introduced in 1975 for the opening of the extension to Heathrow Central (Now Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3).

A total of 88 trains were built 1972-73 by Metro Cammell of Birmingham. They entered service between 1975 and 1977 and were later re-furbrished by Bombardier Transportation. They have extra space by the doors to allow for the luggage of passengers travelling to Heathrow Airport. The stock was refurbished in the late 1990s, the last unrefurbished train appearing in passenger service on the 21 August 2000. Like all London Underground trains, they operate on a four-rail 630V DC power system.

1973 stock interior.
Enlarge
1973 stock interior.

The Piccadilly Line's 1973 stock trains are kept in depots at Cockfosters in the north-east and Northfields in the west. They are painted in the London Underground corporate livery - blue, white and red.

The stock was fitted with a non-standard type of Digital Voice Announcer (DVA). Rather than other lines, which use wheel counters or GPS to automatically provide announcements, the 1973 stock announcements had to be operated manually by the driver keying in a unique code. This being rather cumbersome, most drivers made their own announcements, if at all. In November 2006 the system was changed to an automated announcer with a simultaneous upgrade to the dot matrix displays in the carriages.

76 1973 stock trains are required for the peak time Piccadilly Line service.

Each train is made up of two units of three cars:

DM - T - UDM | UDM - T - DM

Some units are also formed with a second DM in place of the UNDM - these are known as "double ended" units. A Driving motor car (DM) has a driver's cab and traction equipment. A trailer car (T)has no cab or traction equipment. A Non-driving motor car (UDM) has traction equipment but no driver's cab. It does, however, have control for uncoupling and shunting.

All trains in passenger service operate as two units, trains are only permitted to move as a single unit in depots. However until 1994 one single double ended unit (DM - T - DM) was used to operate the peak-hour Aldwych branch service until this closed.

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