I wanted to find out the London Underground train still in operation which has travelled for the most miles. Could you please provide details of the train, which line it runs on, how many miles it has currently travelled and when it was first brought into use. Could you also please provide the average number of miles clocked up by trains on each Tube line. If current data is not easily available I will accept the most recent data you may have.

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TfL Ref 0851-2021

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 18 August 2020 asking for information about our oldest tube train and mileage travelled.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.

You asked: I wanted to find out the London Underground train still in operation which has travelled for the most miles. Could you please provide details of the train, which line it runs on, how many miles it has currently travelled and when it was first brought into use. Could you also please provide the average number of miles clocked up by trains on each Tube line. If current data is not easily available I will accept the most recent data you may have.

The oldest passenger fleet is the 1972TS but the 1973TS would have travelled the most amount of mileage in its life due to the length of the line and the service demand. The 1972TS started service in the same year of build. The 1973TS didn’t enter service until 1975. The 1973TS operates on the Piccadilly line and is made of 6 cars or 2 units (a unit is 3 cars). The maintenance regime was originally operated based on calendar days but has been through a number of changes from service days to service hours but never under distance based maintenance that we carry out on the newer fleets. The timetables have varied drastically from the first introduction to today’s timetables where the trains run for longer so we wouldn’t be able to give a fair representation on the distance the fleet has operated in its life or a particular unit as this is not recorded.

Below is a list of the latest annualised km by tube line. These figures relate to total kms including all empty/siding movements:

Bakerloo                      3,916,290 kms  36 trains

Central                        13,849,269 kms 85 trains

Victoria                        8,064,520 kms 47 trains

W & C                         397,342 kms 5 trains

Metropolitan                8,543,662 kms  59 trains

C & H                          4,568,931 kms (combined with district 133 trains)

District                         10,567,038 kms

Jubilee                        11,294,868 kms 63 trains

Northern                      15,432,016 kms 106 trains

Piccadilly                     12,884,012 kms 86 trains

The average figure per unit, per annum can be calculated by dividing the annual km figure by the fleet size.

We publish historical service and performance information including operated km on our website which may be of interest to you which can be accessed here: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/underground-services-performance.

The impact of current circumstances on TfL’s resources means we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present.

Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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