London Underground 1996 Tube Stock

The Jubilee Line Extension in the 1990s (at the time the largest construction project in Europe) extended the Jubilee Line out into East London out to Stratford. The 1996 Tube Stock was designed for this extension, initially the idea was to refurbish and augment the Jubilee Line's existing 1983 Tube Stock fleet but London Underground calculated that a fleet of brand new trains would cost about the same [1] and last much longer. The new trains were designed to avoid some of the shortcomings of the 1983TS including the passenger bottle necks caused by the single doors [2].

96110 and friend at the Northern terminus Stanmore

The 1996 Tube Stock looks very similar to the Northern Line's 1995 Tube Stock and indeed the two fleets were built alongside each other. However the 1996TS is technically less advanced than the 1995TS as the specification was locked down earlier. Although both have AC motors the 1996TS controls them using a Gate Turn-Off (GTO) Thyristor [3] derived from the one used on the Class 465 EMU (the 1995TS uses the more advanced Insulated Gate Bi-polar Transistor (IGBT) drive). They also have different cab designs, electrical systems, bogies and interiors.

Information
Number built:	441 (63 7-car sets)
Built:	1996-98, 2005
Builder:	Metro-Cammell, GEC Alsthom, Alstom (2005 build)
Motor:	4 GEC Alsthom LT200 three-phase induction motors per motor car (630v DC fourth rail)
Power:	480 hp (360 kW) per motor car
Formation:	Driving Motor (DM)+Trailer (T)+Uncoupling Non-Driving Motor (UNDM)+UNDM+T+T+DM

The 1996TS entered service before the Jubilee Line Extension had been completed and was originally a 6-car set (made up of 2 3-car units) [4]. In 2005 London Underground ordered more cars in order to lengthen the trains up to 7-cars and also bought 4 new complete sets. While the original 1996TS final assembly was at the former Metro-Cammell factory in Birmingham, by 2005 that factory was in the process of closing down. The new cars and trains were built at an Alstom factory in Spain instead.

The 1996TS is currently receiving a mid-life refresh which includes improved and more accessible interiors and better passenger information [5]. London Underground at one stage planned to add some new build to augment the fleet though these plans have now been put on hold.

96095 heads into Bond Street

96007 arrives at Finchley Road

96103 at Kilburn

96075 and friend at the Eastern terminus Stratford

96066 at West Ham

[1] Paul Moss, London Underground (Haynes, 2014) p. 167
[2] Mike Horne, The Jubilee Line (Capital Transport, 2000) p. 63
[3] Piers Connor, The London Underground Electric Train (Crowood Press, 2015) p. 175
[4] Ben Muldoon, London Underground Rolling Stock Guide (Ian Allan, 2014) p. 38
[5] Modern Railways (March 2017) p. 13