Background photo taken at Stonebridge Park where an Overground Train is visible in the background
London Underground trains come in two sizes, larger sub-surface trains and smaller deep-level "tube" trains. Since the early 1960s all passenger trains have been electric multiple units (EMUs) with sliding doors, and a train last ran with a guard in 2000.
All lines use fixed-length trains with between six and eight carriages, or "cars" as they are known on the underground. They are called this on the underground, owing to the links with the American Charles Yerkes) who assisted with a lot of funding to get the railway started. The Waterloo & City line, which uses four cars. New trains, which are designed for maximum number of standing passengers and for speed of access to the cars, have regenerative braking and public address systems.
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Since 1999, all new stock has had to comply with accessibility regulations that require such things as access and room for wheelchairs, and the size and location of door controls. All underground trains are required to comply with The Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2010 (RVAR 2010) by 2020.
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Each line has its own Moquette patterns and colours.
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There are some places where disused trains are repurposed (Walthamstow Pump House - used as a restaurant, Village Underground - Used for spray Art) and there is even the Isle of Wight line that uses reconditioned D Stock.
The Piccadilly line currently uses 1973 stock
Image is from: https://uktransport.fandom.com/wiki/Victoria_line
The Victoria line currently uses 2009 stock
The Victoria line currently uses 2009 stock
The Waterloo & City line currently uses 1992 stock
The Waterloo & City line currently uses 1992 stock
Sub Surface lines
The Sub-Surface stock (S7 & S8) look very similar from the outside, but do have some slight differences.
The S7 seats only run along the length of the train and are used on the Circle, District and the Hammersmith & City lines and have 7 cars. If you look closely at the front/back of the train, you will see that there is a small plinth under the end windows, which is black.
The S8 stock have a mixture of traverse seating (facing each other across the train) and seating running the length of the train and they have 8 cars. If you look closely at the front of the train, the plinth under the window should be red.
You can also identify the difference from the front/back by the numbers printed above the door in white. S7 stock are numbered 213XX, 214XX, 215XX and the S8 stock are numbered 210XX and 211XX, however from time to time the S7 stock can have an extra carriage added to make them an '8'. The example of this is set 21323-21324.
The numbers at the front and back differ by one as this is the car number and not the set number such as mainline EMU's
S7 stock at Hammersmith
S8 stock at Harrow-on-the-Hill
Interior of S7 stock
Interior of S8 stock
Other trains on the network
Although at a quick glance you might think that the trains all look the same from the ends, there are some differences between them.
This guide explains it. TfL have produced an interesting factsheet which can be found here.
Some of the trains are have Automatic Train Operation (ATO).
Over the years the dimensions of rolling stock have changed, which can be found here.
The Overground lines currently use Class 378...
Class 378 interior
Overground
Image is from: https://www.railwaygazette.com/uk/london-overground-completes-introduction-of-class-710-emus/57753.article
... and Class 710 trains.
Image is from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_700
Thameslink line currently uses Class 700 trains
Tramlink currently uses Bombardier CR4000 & Stadler Variobahn trams
The Elizabeth line currently uses Class 345 trains
DLR have got their own trains and they are B90/B92/B2K/B07/B09
and are scheduled to be updated in 2023
Over the years the rolling stock has changed shape, size and colour. The Sub Surface trains have been labelled using a letter and the deep level trains have been known by their year of manufacture (with some that may have been built slightly outside their given name
as it can take many months for a complete train to be built.
There is a helpful YouTube video here that makes it easier to visualise.
The buttons below will take you to the Wikipedia pages for each one (they have been listed in date order from when they were built):
Sub Surface (Circle, District, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City)
The Metropolitan Railway was the first underground (sub-surface) railway and was originally hauled by steam locomotives and had open carriages with seats.
The 1880's saw slam door stock being introduced and 1892 saw compartment (jubilee) carriages for 1st class and 1901 saw the introduction of carriages that were gated at the ends.
Linear in car line diagrams used from 1903 on underground stock and from 1920 on surface stock.
After steam locomotives and carriages, Electric Multiple Units (EMU) were introduced and over the years they have come in different shapes, sizes and colours as they were operated by different railway companies at that time.
Deep Level
Over the years different stock has been changed around between the different lines (some by road and some by rail), so these have been categorised these by line to make it easier to understand.
Northern Line (Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway)
Piccadilly Line (Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway)
Victoria Line
Class 487 preserved at Acton Depot
There is a rolling stock numbering and classification system for all stock. More information can be found here.
There are also other trains that can be found on the network which include the following:
*Some of the Engineering trains, can actually run on all the lines. If you look at the Cartomap, you can see that apart from the Waterloo & City line, all the other lines are physically linked at different places. There are various safety measures in place to ensure that a sub surface train does not accidentally be sent down a Deep Level Line.
** These are now withdrawn from service.
There are some preserved trains in different locations, some are in a working condition, some are not.
Experimental 1986 stock at Acton
RAT at North Acton
Acton Depot
Inside a 1962 cab at Acton Depot
RAT (left) & S8 (right) at Watford
The Rail Adhesion Trains (RAT) on the Piccadilly line consists of a 3 car 1973 stock. On the Metropolitan line, consists of a 5 car D stock. On the Central line it consists of a 5 car 1962 stock. These are used to help improve traction in the Autumn/Winter. There are numerous articles on different websites about these, which includes this one and this one and this one.
