British Rail Class 483
Encyclopedia
The British Rail
Class 483 electrical multiple units were originally built as 1938 tube stock
units for London Underground
. They were extensively refurbished between 1989 and 1992 by Eastleigh Works
, for use on services on the Isle of Wight
's Island Line
. This was despite having already worked for nearly fifty years on the London Underground. The units replaced the even older and life-expired Class 485
and Class 486 units, which were introduced in 1967, but were originally built as 'Standard' stock
units for the London Electric Railway
in 1923.
. An initial batch was withdrawn from service in 1973, and they were considered for use on the Island Line (which would not bear that name for another 16 years). However, the under-floor equipment was thought to be a problem, as extensive adaptations would be needed to Ryde Works to allow fitters to access it. It was also felt that the under-floor equipment would be vulnerable to salt water damage on Ryde Pier, especially in bad weather.
The last batch of 1938 stock was withdrawn in 1985, except for five trains required on the Northern Line
between 1986 and May 1989 due to increasing passenger numbers. In 1987 Network SouthEast
managers realised that the existing 1923-built Class 485
trains would not be economically serviceable beyond around 1990 and thoughts turned to the future of the line. After closure of the route was discounted, it was decided to purchase and refurbish 1938 stock.
In April 1988, London Underground offered a total of 28 carriages in revenue-earning condition to NSE, joined by three further carriages in May 1989. In addition, between May 1988 and October 1990, four scrap vehicles and nine works vehicles, to be used for spare parts, were taken from LU's Ruislip depot. While the project's feasibility study suggested that three-car units would be preferred, it was thought that the alterations required to Ryde depot
would be both difficult and expensive. It was instead decided that two-car units would be used, using a maximum of six coaches in any train formation. Of the 31 coaches available, 20 were selected for use on the island. These were extensively refurbished between 1989 and 1992 by Eastleigh Works to ready them for service on the line. This was necessary as the trains had already worked for nearly fifty years on the London Underground.
As well as cosmetic and structural work, significant electrical works were required both to replace dilapidated wiring, and to allow the trains to work from the line's three-rail
electrical supply.
Eight two-car units were initially refurbished between 1989 and 1990. These units were numbered 483001-008, although only the final three digits were carried on the cab ends. Units were painted in the new Network SouthEast
livery, of blue with red and white stripes. The first unit was tested on the South West Main Line between Basingstoke and Eastleigh before travelling to Fratton
ready for its transfer to the island. Testing and crew training on the remaining units took place on the Portsmouth Direct Line
and Shepperton Branch Line
.
from Portsmouth to Fishbourne. It was delivered by road to Sandown
, then hauled to Ryde depot
by one of the existing passenger trains. It began test running on the Island Line in the evening of 6 July, before a public launch on 13 July. Regular passenger services using the Class 483 did not commence until October, while the last of the eight planned units did not enter service until July 1990.
While it was originally planned to use only eight units, in 1992—two years after the rest of the fleet had entered service—the ninth unit, numbered 009 ,was also refurbished and transported to the island. A tenth unit was also shipped to Ryde depot, although this was for spares only and was never used in passenger operation on the Island. This unit was unofficially given the unit number 483010.
Each unit was formed of two driving motor vehicles, numbered 121-129 and 221-229. The technical description of this formation was DMSO(A)+DMSO(B).
When the units were first introduced, the final digit of the unit number and the final digit of the carriage numbers corresponded, such that unit 001 was formed of vehicles 121 and 221. However, since then, many rearrangements have taken place to the unit formations.
In 1996, with the privatisation of Britain's railways, the Ryde-Shanklin line became the Island Line franchise, which was won by the Stagecoach Group
. Services continued to be branded as Island Line
. In the late 1990s several units were withdrawn from service as surplus to requirements. From 2000 onwards, the remaining units were overhauled, and most repainted into a new livery of blue and yellow, with pictures of dinosaurs. Two units, nos. 007 and 009, were later repainted into their original London Transport
red livery, (albeit with yellow warning panels on the cab rather than the original red), and during 2007-2008, the rest of the fleet was painted into this livery.
According to an article in the October 2005 issue of Rail Professional, at that time Island Line were paying "an eye-watering £140,000 a year" to lease the trains, meaning that "[s]ince privatisation
, HSBC Rail
has pocketed over £1m for leasing these relics that are effectively worthless." In March 2007, South West Trains
purchased the rolling stock outright from the leasing company HSBC Rail
for £1.
Also in 2007, the Island Line franchise was amalgamated with South West Trains as part of the new South Western Franchise. There are no official plans to replace the rolling stock on the Isle of Wight. However, new trains have begun to enter service on the Victoria line
, which will leave a large amount of newer London Underground rolling stock soon to be available. However Island Line have hinted that the 1973 stock is being considered when displaced from the Piccadilly line later this decade.
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
Class 483 electrical multiple units were originally built as 1938 tube stock
London Underground 1938 Stock
The 1938 Tube Stock is a London Underground tube stock design. The trains were built by Metro-Cammell and Birmingham RC&W, and were used on the London Underground until 1988. During their long lives they worked on the Bakerloo, Piccadilly, Northern, East London and Central lines...
units for London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
. They were extensively refurbished between 1989 and 1992 by Eastleigh Works
Eastleigh Works
Eastleigh Works is a locomotive, carriage and wagon building and repair facility in the town of Eastleigh in the county of Hampshire in England.-History under the LSWR:...
, for use on services on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
's Island Line
Island Line, Isle of Wight
The Island Line is a railway line on the Isle of Wight, running some from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin down the eastern side of the island. The line was electrified in 1967. Trains connect with passenger ferries to Portsmouth Harbour at Ryde Pier Head, and these ferries in turn connect with the...
. This was despite having already worked for nearly fifty years on the London Underground. The units replaced the even older and life-expired Class 485
British Rail Class 485
The British Rail Class 485 and British Rail Class 486 electrical multiple units were original built for the London Electric Railway from 1923-31 as their 'Standard' tube stock...
and Class 486 units, which were introduced in 1967, but were originally built as 'Standard' stock
London Underground Standard Stock
The Standard Stock title was applied to a variety of Tube stock built between 1923 and 1934, all of which shared the same basic characteristics, but with some detailed differences. This design is also sometimes referred to as 1923 Tube Stock or Pre 1938 Stock...
units for the London Electric Railway
Underground Electric Railways Company of London
The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited , known operationally as The Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a circular tunnel by the use...
in 1923.
Prior to Isle of Wight service
The trains were originally built by Metro-Cammell as 1938 tube stock for London UndergroundLondon Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
. An initial batch was withdrawn from service in 1973, and they were considered for use on the Island Line (which would not bear that name for another 16 years). However, the under-floor equipment was thought to be a problem, as extensive adaptations would be needed to Ryde Works to allow fitters to access it. It was also felt that the under-floor equipment would be vulnerable to salt water damage on Ryde Pier, especially in bad weather.
The last batch of 1938 stock was withdrawn in 1985, except for five trains required on the Northern Line
Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
between 1986 and May 1989 due to increasing passenger numbers. In 1987 Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast was one of three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE principally operated commuter trains in the London area and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the network reached as far west as Exeter...
managers realised that the existing 1923-built Class 485
British Rail Class 485
The British Rail Class 485 and British Rail Class 486 electrical multiple units were original built for the London Electric Railway from 1923-31 as their 'Standard' tube stock...
trains would not be economically serviceable beyond around 1990 and thoughts turned to the future of the line. After closure of the route was discounted, it was decided to purchase and refurbish 1938 stock.
In April 1988, London Underground offered a total of 28 carriages in revenue-earning condition to NSE, joined by three further carriages in May 1989. In addition, between May 1988 and October 1990, four scrap vehicles and nine works vehicles, to be used for spare parts, were taken from LU's Ruislip depot. While the project's feasibility study suggested that three-car units would be preferred, it was thought that the alterations required to Ryde depot
Ryde depot
Ryde depot is a railway traction maintenance depot, situated in Ryde, Isle of Wight, to the east of Ryde St John's Road railway station. The depot is operated by Island Line Trains, and is allocated Island Line Trains' fleet of British Rail Class 483s...
would be both difficult and expensive. It was instead decided that two-car units would be used, using a maximum of six coaches in any train formation. Of the 31 coaches available, 20 were selected for use on the island. These were extensively refurbished between 1989 and 1992 by Eastleigh Works to ready them for service on the line. This was necessary as the trains had already worked for nearly fifty years on the London Underground.
As well as cosmetic and structural work, significant electrical works were required both to replace dilapidated wiring, and to allow the trains to work from the line's three-rail
Third rail
A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
electrical supply.
Eight two-car units were initially refurbished between 1989 and 1990. These units were numbered 483001-008, although only the final three digits were carried on the cab ends. Units were painted in the new Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast was one of three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE principally operated commuter trains in the London area and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the network reached as far west as Exeter...
livery, of blue with red and white stripes. The first unit was tested on the South West Main Line between Basingstoke and Eastleigh before travelling to Fratton
Fratton railway station
Fratton railway station is a railway station in Portsmouth, located near Fratton Park, the stadium of association football club Portsmouth F.C.....
ready for its transfer to the island. Testing and crew training on the remaining units took place on the Portsmouth Direct Line
Portsmouth Direct Line
The Portsmouth Direct Line is the route of a railway service operated by South West Trains which runs between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour, England...
and Shepperton Branch Line
Shepperton Branch Line
The Shepperton Branch Line is a railway line in the south west of London. It is also known as the Shepperton Line though on opening it was named The Thames Valley Railway...
.
On the island
The first unit, 001, arrived on the Isle of Wight on 5 July 1989 following an overnight ferry crossingIsle of Wight ferry services
There are currently three different ferry companies that operate vessels carrying passengers and, on certain routes, vehicles across the Solent, the stretch of sea that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England...
from Portsmouth to Fishbourne. It was delivered by road to Sandown
Sandown railway station
Sandown railway station is a railway station serving Sandown on the Isle of Wight. It is located on the Island Line from Ryde to Shanklin.- History :...
, then hauled to Ryde depot
Ryde depot
Ryde depot is a railway traction maintenance depot, situated in Ryde, Isle of Wight, to the east of Ryde St John's Road railway station. The depot is operated by Island Line Trains, and is allocated Island Line Trains' fleet of British Rail Class 483s...
by one of the existing passenger trains. It began test running on the Island Line in the evening of 6 July, before a public launch on 13 July. Regular passenger services using the Class 483 did not commence until October, while the last of the eight planned units did not enter service until July 1990.
While it was originally planned to use only eight units, in 1992—two years after the rest of the fleet had entered service—the ninth unit, numbered 009 ,was also refurbished and transported to the island. A tenth unit was also shipped to Ryde depot, although this was for spares only and was never used in passenger operation on the Island. This unit was unofficially given the unit number 483010.
Each unit was formed of two driving motor vehicles, numbered 121-129 and 221-229. The technical description of this formation was DMSO(A)+DMSO(B).
When the units were first introduced, the final digit of the unit number and the final digit of the carriage numbers corresponded, such that unit 001 was formed of vehicles 121 and 221. However, since then, many rearrangements have taken place to the unit formations.
In 1996, with the privatisation of Britain's railways, the Ryde-Shanklin line became the Island Line franchise, which was won by the Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
. Services continued to be branded as Island Line
Island Line (train operating company)
Island Line Trains is a sub-brand of South West Trains, a train operating company on Great Britain's National Rail Network, operating the 8½ mile Island Line on the Isle of Wight.-Before "Island Line":...
. In the late 1990s several units were withdrawn from service as surplus to requirements. From 2000 onwards, the remaining units were overhauled, and most repainted into a new livery of blue and yellow, with pictures of dinosaurs. Two units, nos. 007 and 009, were later repainted into their original London Transport
London Regional Transport
London Regional Transport was the organisation responsible for the public transport network in Greater London, UK from 1984-2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.The organisation was...
red livery, (albeit with yellow warning panels on the cab rather than the original red), and during 2007-2008, the rest of the fleet was painted into this livery.
According to an article in the October 2005 issue of Rail Professional, at that time Island Line were paying "an eye-watering £140,000 a year" to lease the trains, meaning that "[s]ince privatisation
Privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...
, HSBC Rail
HSBC Rail
Eversholt Rail Group is one of the three major ROSCOs in the United Kingdom...
has pocketed over £1m for leasing these relics that are effectively worthless." In March 2007, South West Trains
South West Trains
South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...
purchased the rolling stock outright from the leasing company HSBC Rail
HSBC Rail
Eversholt Rail Group is one of the three major ROSCOs in the United Kingdom...
for £1.
Also in 2007, the Island Line franchise was amalgamated with South West Trains as part of the new South Western Franchise. There are no official plans to replace the rolling stock on the Isle of Wight. However, new trains have begun to enter service on the Victoria line
Victoria Line
The Victoria line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the south to the north-east of London. It is coloured light blue on the Tube map...
, which will leave a large amount of newer London Underground rolling stock soon to be available. However Island Line have hinted that the 1973 stock is being considered when displaced from the Piccadilly line later this decade.
Refurbishment
The Class 483 trains have recently benefited from a further refurbishment; work on the five-vehicle fleet included:- an exterior repaint into London Transport maroon with cream window pillars
- a retrim of the seat moquette into the same moquette that the London Underground A60/62 Surface Stock received during their refurbishment between 1992–94
Fleet details
Five of the nine units remain in service, the majority of the others having been taken out of service in the late 1990s.| Key: | In service | Stored | Scrapped |
|---|
| Unit No. | Vehicle Nos. | Livery | Status | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMSO(A) | DMSO(B) | |||||
| 483001 | 123 | ex-10184 | 221 | ex-11142 | NSE | Scrapped at Ryde St Johns Road, June 2006. |
| 483002 | 122 | ex-10221 | 225 | ex-11221 | London Transport Red | Stored at Ryde depot Ryde depot Ryde depot is a railway traction maintenance depot, situated in Ryde, Isle of Wight, to the east of Ryde St John's Road railway station. The depot is operated by Island Line Trains, and is allocated Island Line Trains' fleet of British Rail Class 483s... since late 2004 but was repainted LT red along with the rest of the fleet in 2008, expected to return to service, after a C4X overhaul during 2011 |
| 483003 | 121 | ex-10116 | 223 | ex-11184 | NSE | This unit was stored in a siding near Ryde St. Johns Road for spare parts and was broken up in July 2006. |
| 483004 | 124 | ex-10205 | 224 | ex-11205 | London Transport Red | In service. |
| 483005 | 125 | ex-10142 | 222 | ex-11116 | NSE | Scrapped at Ryde in 2001. |
| 483006 | 126 | ex-10297 | 226 | ex-11297 | London Transport Red | In service. |
| 483007 | 127 | ex-10291 | 227 | ex-11291 | London Transport Red | In service. |
| 483008 | 128 | ex-10255 | 228 | ex-11255 | London Transport Red | In service. |
| 483009 | 129 | ex-10289 | 229 | ex-11289 | London Transport Red | In service. |
| (483010) | - | ex-10139 | - | ex-11172 | Blue undercoat | Most of 483010 was gutted out at Ryde St Johns Road for spares in 2001. The unit has since been scrapped. |
External links
- http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/island-line.aspx - Official website of the operator of Class 483 EMU's