One year on...

The headlights are a lot brighter.

5110 is ready to roll

As an ex Met employee I fully agree with what superteacher says that the A stock Was the Met.

I always looked forward to a Sunday morning when they ran every 30 mins. They would turn up like some saviour. The doors would open, close and then disappear not to be seen for another half an hour.

I see the S Stock from a window at work everyday although they have grown on me a bit they just have not got what the A Stock had - a solid and pleasing look and a sense of time and belonging - they were the Met!

The A Stock may be gone however their memory will linger on for a long time to come.



Xerces Fobe

I find myself standing more often on the Met even in off-peak when in the past I was guaranteed a seat for my journey. I suspect this is due to a 33% seat reduction rather than a massive increase in custom! If I go to/from the country end of the Met, I use the Chiltern service instead - if I have to stand, I may as well stand on a service which is quicker.

The S Stock is, as others have noted, a lot more crowded. The air conditioning was great in the summer, and I've found that I don't dislike the longitudinal seats as much as I expected. However, on the rare occasions I need to catch one in the rush hour from King's Cross to Amersham it's not unusual to be standing as far as Wembley Park or even Harrow. I've also found that in the section immediately behind the drivers cab the handrails are placed closer to the sides of the car, making it actually painful to use them (and I'm quite tall). If these could be repositioned in line with the other handrails it would be rather better.

Overall, I don't really have a problem with the S Stock. My main problem remains the ridiculous service pattern, particularly the absence of fast trains before 06.30 (the Chiltern service is surprisingly crowded at this time), and charging a peak fare for an off-peak service between 16.00 and 16.30ish.

I'm afraid to say the S stock is simply horrible to use.

The interior layout is ridiculous (watch how the transverse seats fill first), and compared to A stock (or many other trains) it feels more like being on a cheap bus than a railway. Maybe when they get their first makeover they will get a more attractive interior scheme and design (more akin to the 2009 stock). Worse that journeys on the line seem to take forever and there always seem to be signal failures, the 'Met' is no longer the premier line!

Its strange how I have adapted to the seating on the S Stock. Initially I always went for the traverse seating preferring to be by the window (my fav spot on the A stock) but soon realised that the significant bulge at foot level meant its actually a slightly uncomfortable place to sit for me. So I then started sitting in the longitudinal seats and noticed the large number of people who put feet on seats which reinforced my preference for the longitudinal on grounds of cleanliness and comfort on the S8. Having ridden the entirely longitudinal S8s I actually appreciate how much nicer they feel and how cluttered the traverse seating makes the carriage layout at the expense of only 2 seats a carriage.

Apart from missing sitting comfortably by the window, as a commuter, I don't miss anything else about the A stock, though I do live close enough to the end of the line to be guaranteed a seat going into town. If I lived a couple of stops down the line I'd probably not be as enthusiastic about the S stock.

As a cyclist occasionally using the Met to get into the countryside, I do prefer the A stock as the single leaf end carriage doors provided a good space to prop up a bike out of other peoples way whereas on the S stock its hard to find a spot where you can remain out of the way. The closest I've found is where the tip up seats are but then I take up 3 seats with my bike.

Well I'm not an old Metropolitan Railwayman, just old, and I certainly missed the T stock. The joy of running up and down the platform looking for an "empty" (compartment), being able to grab a door, open it and throw myself inside as the train was leaving, and also the ability to detrain while the train was still coming to a halt...

The only thing I liked about the replacement A stock was the peculiar smell, when new. Otherwise, if time permitted, I'd let them go by, and wait for one of the remaining T stocks.

The combination of the S stock with their uncomfortable seats and endless announcements together with the decimation of the Met fast services from the outer reaches means I now let the S class go by, and wait for a Chiltern instead.

My last encounter with an A stock was on 5119 + 5062 last july, it pulled away from Finchley Road N/B and that was that. I think engineering wise, they must have been some of the best pieces of kit LT/LU ever had in its fleet, I wonder if the people at Cravens realised in the early 60's that the units they were building would still be serving passengers in 2012. They must have clocked up quite some mileage!

Not looking foward to the last C stock, that will be a sad day...

I have to say, as a lady with a large bust, I really haven't missed the bumpy ride around Wembley Park! I can imagine that the noise of the A stock appealed to some, but I appreciate the peace & quiet of the S stock. My boyfriend also prefers the S stock to the A stock, as the extra space means that he doesn't suffer from claustrophobia. It's true that it's harder to get a seat, but given that getting a seat on the A stock often meant a passive-aggressive dance around the 3-seaters, it's not a major issue for me. The one thing I'd like to be different is for the armrests to be more like those on the Picc or Jubilee, so you don't feel quite so trapped if you're of a larger build. Not a problem on the transverse seating, of course.

While we're on the subject of the A-Stock, does anybody know what the original intended design life was?

I have to agree here, squeezing into the middle of the three-seats gave me backache! I'm generally happy with the more open layout of the S stock, but I generally don't mind standing.