Withdrawal
The A60 Stock reached 50 years of service on 12 June 2011 The age of the fleet made spare parts harder to obtain and cars had to be cannibalised to keep the rest of the fleet in operation.
The S8 Stock replaced the fleet. The first S8 Stock unit was introduced on 31 July 2010. Although similar to the S7 Stock which will be used on the District, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines, the main differences were the layout and quantity of seats and the provision of two active sand hoppers for each rail due to the different conditions at the country end of the line. The withdrawal of the A Stock after the introduction of the S8 Stock commenced on 9 and 10 October 2010.
In February 2012 London Transport Museum began offering luggage racks from withdrawn A stock for sale.
The last train formed of A Stock ran in passenger service on 26 September 2012 before permanent withdrawal. It was formed of 5034 + 5062. The same train formation was also used on 29 September 2012 for the final ticket-only railtour. Thus, one of the driving motor cars, 5034, was part of the first (as 5008, subsequently renumbered as 5034) and also the last A Stock train on the Metropolitan Line, giving it an in service life of over 51 years.
An ITV news report has stated that a complete train will be preserved by the London Transport Museum. The A Stock outlasted many former British Rail EMUs: the Scottish Class 303 managed 43 years, the Class 309 Clacton Express units managed 38 years whilst the former British Rail Class 312 sets only managed 28 years. The former Southern Region 4CIG and 4CEP units have come closer with the former managing 46 years and the latter managing 49 years. This makes the A Stock one of Britain's longest serving types of train (although far away from the 81 years of service given by the former Glasgow Underground rolling stock used between 1896 and 1977). The A Stock may, however, eventually be outlasted by the InterCity 125 HSTs.
Read more about this topic: London Underground A60 And A62 Stock
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