London Underground 1972 Stock



The London Underground 1972 stock is a fleet of trains used on the London Underground. The 1972 Stock was ordered to make up the shortfall in trains on the Northern line's 1959 Tube Stock fleet. It is, however, currently used on the Bakerloo line.

Construction
A total of 252 cars were ordered from Metro-Cammell and later refurbished by Tickford and Rosyth Dockyard.

In the early 1970s the 1938 Tube stock on the Bakerloo and Northern lines was life-expired and due for replacement. Tentative designs for a new Northern Line fleet were abandoned when the go-ahead was given for the Piccadilly Line to be extended to Heathrow Airport. That required a totally new fleet of trains to replace the 1959 stock then in use. The plan was made to transfer the 1959 trains to the Northern, to allow the worst of the 1938 stock there to be scrapped, but there were only 76 1959 Tube stock trains, and the Northern Line needed more than that to operate. Originally it was planned to refurbish some 30 1938 trains, but this was scrapped in favour of 30 new trains - 1972 Mk1 Tube stock.

The 1972 Tube stock was ordered in a hurry, so there was no time to create a new design; the trains were based on the 1967 Tube stock on the Victoria Line. Although almost identical looking, the 1972 trains had a guard and door controls in the rear car, and was not compatible with 1967 Tube stock (though in recent years some 1972 cars have been adapted to run with the 1967 trains on the Victoria Line).

A further 33 trains of 1972 Tube stock were ordered to provide service on the Jubilee Line. The 1972 Mk2 stock had slightly different interiors, such as dark blue seating moquette (unlike the red and grey on the earlier 1972/1967 trains). Externally the biggest difference was that the doors were painted red, with a LT roundel on the side of the carriages, rather than the Johnston lettering. The 1972 Mk2 trains operated on the Northern and Bakerloo Lines prior to the opening of the Jubilee Line in 1979.

With the introduction of the 1983 Tube stock on the Jubilee in 1984, the 1972 Mark 2 trains were transferred to the Northern line, then subsequently to the Bakerloo line, where they remain in service. The earlier (Mark 1) 1972 stock on the Northern line was replaced by 1995 Tube Stock in 1999. The 1972 Mark 2 stock was extensively refurbished in the 1990s. After being withdrawn from the Northern line, a few cars of 1972 Mark 1 stock were converted to run with 1967 stock in service on the Victoria line.

The 1972 trains operates in seven-car formations.

Replacement
Apart from a few trains converted to work with the Victoria line's 1967 Stock, or the Bakerloo 1972 Mk2 stock, all the Mk1 1972 Stock has been withdrawn. It was formerly used on the Northern line and was replaced by the 1995 Stock. The Mark 2 1972 Stock - still in use on the Bakerloo line - is scheduled to be replaced in 2020. Some 4 car units have also been converted to work as Track Inspection trains. Originally, it was planned to refurbish the 30 Mk1 stock and keep them running with the 1995 Stock but compatibility problems prevented this from happening.

Announcer System
Emma Clarke voices the automated announcer system fitted in the 1972 stock. An example of the regular voice pattern is as follows:

"This is Stonebridge Park. This is a Bakerloo Line train, to Elephant & Castle." "Please Stand Clear of the closing doors."

However, the announcer system is unreliable. It does not play quite a lot of the time and if it does play, then it is extremely quiet, especially when announcing the 'next station' as the 1972 stock is very loud while travelling between stations.