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Post by norbitonflyer on Nov 22, 2017 14:41:03 GMT
What it says really - I found this mention on CULG for 20 November 1985, about five months before official opening.
Does anyone have more details? Like how it happened?
It seems unusual that a line would actually be able to take a train so long before its official opening, but in this case I understand the line was completed some time before the terminal it was to serve was ready. (Unlike T123, where the terminal was ready 30 years before the station!)
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Post by howda62 on Nov 22, 2017 15:36:47 GMT
There is some brief mention of it in Underground News Issue 289 (Jan 1986): linkQuote: The royal opening of the loop was on 1st April 1986 with passenger services starting on 7th April (ahead of the T4 station opening, so initially non-stopping the station). There are some details on the T4 loop construction and opening in Underground News Issue 294: link
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Post by norbitonflyer on Nov 22, 2017 16:42:38 GMT
Interesting - were test trains already running round the loop, or was that the first 1973 stock train to use it and if so, did it remain the only back-to-front train until the official opening?
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Post by howda62 on Nov 22, 2017 17:36:19 GMT
Not sure about test trains running, but the news article mentions the loop signalling being commissioned over the weekend 1st-3rd November 85, so it seems perfectly possible there had been test runs of the 73 stock prior to the unexpected journey.
Incidentally, it's just as well that the loop construction was completed well ahead of T4 opening, as the new tunnel at Hatton Cross suffered 2 inches of subsidence and fortunately there was time to correct the problem ahead of the April opening.
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