London Underground A60 and A62 stock

The London Underground A60 and A62 Stock operated on the Metropolitan Line from 12 June 1961  to 26 September 2012, and on the East London Line from 1977 until 22 December 2007 (except in 1986, when One-man operation conversion of the fleet took place).

The stock was built in two batches (A60 and A62) by Cravens of Sheffield in the early 1960s and replaced all other trains on the line.

Until September 2012 the stock was the oldest on the Underground, and on any Subway system in Europe. It was the only stock to have luggage racks and separate motoring and braking controls, and the last to have no automated announcements. C Stock on the Circle Line and Hammersmith and City Lines are now the oldest, as A Stock has since been replaced by S Stock on the Metropolitan Line and the Class 378 on the East London Line.

Development and introduction
The design was formulated by W S Graff-Baker of the London Passenger Transport Board as part of the electrification of the Metropolitan Line from to  and  under the 1935–1940 New Works Programme. The project was delayed by World War II and lack of fundsduring the austerity period after the war. In 1946 two experimental trailers similar in exterior appearance to the production trains were built using underframes from T Stock, but they were scrapped when the trials concluded.

When electrification commenced in 1959, London Transport placed an order for 31 trains A60 Stock trains to replace T Stock on services to Watford and Rickmansworth and locomotive-hauled services to destinations north of Rickmansworth. The first units, 5004 and 5008, entered service to Watford in June 1961. The Amersham/Chesham services began later that year. London Transport later ordered 27 trains A62 Stock trains, introduced in 1961–63 to replace F and P Stocks on the Uxbridge service. By December 1963, the roll-out was complete.

The trains were A Stock to mark the electrification of the Metropolitan Line to Amersham. Four-car units were used on the East London Line (then a branch of the Metropolitan Line) June 1977-April 1985, May 1987-24 March 1995 and 25 March 1998-27 December 2007, when the line closed to become part of the London Overground network.

Design
The stock was a compromise between the needs of longer distance “outer suburban” passengers on the outer reaches of the line and short distance “urban” passengers over the heavily used Circle and Hammersmith & City lines. For this reason the trailer cars have three sets of doors per car.

A distinctive feature was the use of transverse seating only, uncommon on the Underground. This is because it was designed for journeys which may last over an hour. Most of the seating was of the high capacity transverse 3 + 2 arrangement. Four tip-up seats were provided at the rear of the driving motor. Despite each 8-car train seating 448 passengers, the stock provided fewer seats than the locomotive-hauled and T stock trains that they replaced, but more seats than the S Stock, which started to replace them on 31 July 2010. The stock had luggage racks and umbrella hooks, the only Underground stock to have these features, despite their presence on most contemporary National Rail trains.

A60 and A62 stocks were nearly identical in appearance. The most significant differences were the border around the destination window on A62 motor cars and the make of compressor under the trailer cars: A60 stock used the Westinghouse DHC 5A, A62 cars the Reavell TBC 38Z.

At 116 in they were the Underground's widest trains. The stock was refurbished between 1993 and 1998 by Adtranz (now Bombardier) Derby. Car end windows were installed, the seating was reupholstered, and the livery was updated. At the time of refurbishment the Metropolitan line had a low priority for receiving new trains.

Operation
Each unit consisted of four cars: two powered driving motors at each end and two non-powered trailers in between. Each unit was further divided into two semi-permanently-coupled sets, a driving motor and trailer. Although the intention was to operate four-car trains in the off-peak, this practice was short lived, except for the Chalfont & Latimer-Chesham shuttle which was always operated by a single four-car unit. For its main services the stock operated in a two-unit formation of eight cars between and, Chesham (peak hours only),  and.

When built it had a top speed of 70 mph (world's fastest 4th-rail train), but from the late 1990s/early 2000s it was restricted to 50 mph to improve reliability.

Farewell tour
On 29 September 2012, London Underground held the final public trip, organised by the London transport museum. It started at Moorgate and travelled the entire Metropolitan line, including Watford, Amersham, Aldgate, Uxbridge, Chesham and the Watford curve. The tour ended at Wembley Park: on the final stretch from Finchley Road, the train was unofficially recorded at 74 mph.

Roster
Cars had a four-digit number. The first digit identified the type of car (driver or trailer), the last three digits the set (000 to 231). In further detail: ^ operational DM † Renumbered + Replaced/formed with a renumbered car

Renumberings: a. 5034 and 5008 swapped numbers in July 1985; new 5008 and 6008 became set 234 on September 1994, 5034 preserved at the London Transport Museum, Acton. b. set 9 renumbered 235 in September 1994. c. set 28 renumbered 232 in June 1985. d. 5036 renumbered 5116 in April 1993 (original 5116 scrapped in 1987 - collision at Kilburn, December 1984) e. set 117 renumbered 233 in August 1985; set 37 renumbered 117 in April 1993. f. 5208 renumbered 5218 in August 1992 (original 5218 scrapped in 1994 - experimental suspension) g. 5209 renumbered 5121 in March 1993 (original 5121 scrapped in 1994 - collision at Neasden depot, October 1986) Converted works vehicles: s. Sandite dispenser car. Withdrawals: 1.  2.

Withdrawal
A60 Stock reached 50 years of service on 12 June 2011. The age of the stock made spare parts harder to obtain and vehicles had to be cannibalised to keep the rest of the stock in operation.

S8 Stock replaced the stock, with the first unit was introduced on 31 July 2010. Similar to the S7 Stock for the District, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines, the main differences are the layout and number of seats and the provision of two sand hoppers for each rail due to the different conditions at the country end of the line. The withdrawal of A Stock commenced on 9 October 2010.

In February 2012 London Transport Museum began offering luggage racks from withdrawn A stock for sale.

The last train ran in passenger service on 26 September 2012, formed of 5034 + 5062. The same train was used on 29 September 2012 for the final ticket-only railtour. One of the driving motor cars, 5034, was part of the first (as 5008) and also the last A Stock train, giving it a life of over 51 years. It was sent to Northwood sidings on 8 October 2012 and loaded on trucks to be scrapped: 5034 was taken to the Acton Museum Depot to be preserved.

An ITV News report stated that a car later identified as 5034 would be preserved by the London Transport Museum. The stock outlasted many former British Rail EMUs: the Scottish Class 303 managed 43 years, the Class 309 Clacton Express units 38 years and British Rail Class 312 only 28 years. The former Southern Region 4CIG and 4CEP managed 46 years and 49 respectively. The stock was one of Britain's longest-serving types of train, although far from the ex-1938 Stock still in use on the Isle of Wight around 75 years after construction, or the 81 years of Glasgow Underground rolling stock between 1896 and 1977. The stock may be outlasted by the InterCity 125 HSTs.