101 at Buchanan StreetWearing heritage Glasgow District Subway Maroon and Cream livery and temporarily renumbered 55, Metro Cammell driving car 101 is seen in the centre of a 3 car formation on an Inner Circle service on diagram 14 2.10.21 The Glasgow Subway is the third oldest underground Metro railway system in the world, behind London and Budapest.   Opening in 1896, the Subway was first cable hauled before switching to electric traction from 1935, using the original rolling stock.  Following a major refurbishment from 1977-1980, the current configuration of stations and the current Metro Cammell power cars entered service.

Today's system consists of the inner circle and outer circle serving 15 stations over their 6 1/2 mile route and it is possible to travel around a complete loop of the system in 25 minutes.  The stations are a mix of the more traditional narrow island platforms at most stations (Kelvinhall, Kelvinbridge, St Georges Cross, Cowcaddens, Bridge Street, West Street, Shields Road, Kinning Park and Cessnock), with the busier stations of Buchanan St, Ibrox and Hillhead having a combination of side platform and centre platform while St Enoch, Govan and Partick have a pair of side platforms to ease congestion.

The service levels vary from every 4 minutes at peak times (6 trains per circle), every 6 minutes (4/5 trains per circle) or every 8 minutes (3 trains per circle).

The services are operated by trains of the unique 4ft gauge 1978 built Metro Cammell power cars and 1992 Hunslet built trailer cars.   The cars are usually run in three car formation, although 2 car is also possible if short of stock. Formations are usually as follows:

• Power Car / Trailer / Power Car
• Power Car / Power Car (acting as trailer) / Power Car
• Power Car / Power Car

There are currently 32 Power Cars in service and 8 trailers, mostly in SPT Orange, Grey and White livery, however there are 2 special liveries, these being on Number 101, which carries a retro Glasgow District Subway Maroon and Cream livery and 130, which carries a special grey livery to celebrate the 120th Anniversary of the Subway in 2016.   The only car you won't see is 122 as it was scrapped in 2017 to provide spare parts to keep the others in service.  

112 at CowcaddensSPT Orange and Grey liveried Metro Cammell car 112 arrives at Cowcaddens in a 3 car formation on Route 4 of the Outer Circle 2.10.21 With the introduction to service of 17 new Stadler trains expected during 2022, it is a case of catch the Metro Cammell and Barclay cars while you can. 

Having recently started reading the excellent 'Circles under the Clyde' book, which gives a fascinating history, particularly of the original pre 1977 system and the rolling stock, I was inspired to visit for the first time since 2014 and take photos of the system for the first time!

On both occasions the 6 minute service was in operation using 4 trains per circle, though on my second trip, this was ramping up towards the 4 minute service with 6 trains per circle.  As well as having a ride round both the Outer and Inner circles, I stopped off at various stations including St Enoch, Buchanan Street, Govan, Bridge Street and Cowcaddens to take photographs.   I would recommend a visit to this small, clean and well kept system.

I have added a fleet list below, which has details of the current Metro Cammell and Hunslet vehicles. Any of the vehicles that I have photographed, I have linked them to the relevant number on the fleet list below:

508104 at New Brighton508104 approaches New Brighton with 2N19 11.56 New Brighton - New Brighton service 11.9.21 I made my 3rd trip of the year to the Merseyside area to catch some more of the 507 and 508 fleet before they are replaced by the class 777.  I'd planned the trip to co-inside with one of the new class 777 fleet being put on display at Birkenhead North.

As I drove down to Merseyside and expected the roads into Liverpool to be busier with it being the weekend, I parked at Maghull North park and ride, this was less than 1 mile off Junction 3 of the M58 and had ample parking.   It is on the Ormskirk and just a 20 minute journey into Liverpool Central.  

At Maghull North, I caught 507025 into Moorfields and changed to the deep level platform for the Wirral services.  The deep level line is a one way circular line under the city centre with both ends meeting at James St (runs James Street, Moorfields, Liverpool Central, Lime Street, James Street).  At Moorfields deep level platform, I caught 508141+508114, which was on an Elsmere Port service to Hamilton Square, here I changed to a New Kirby service led by 507032 to Birkenhead North.   After a look round 777010, I caught 508120 to New Brighton.

Travelling to New Brighton, I saw 2 of the Welsh line class 230s, however as the train windows were too dirty, they were hard to photograph.  At New Brighton the train arrived into Platform 2.  The station its self had a 1930's style canopy which ran around half way up the curved platform.  At either side of the lines into the island platform, there was storage sidings, (2 to the left of platform 1 and 1 to the right of platform 2) where four units, 507012+508130 on the left and 507020+507011 on the right.   I think that extra units not required are stored here at the weekend.   I caught 508104 back to Birkenhead and after another quick look round 777010, I caught 507018 on a New Kirby service back to Moorfields.

I then caught 507001 to Kirkdale for a few photos of the 777s and 507006 which were stabled there. 507006, which was accident damaged following a derailment and collision with a bridge back in March, would be taken away for scrap only a few days later.   I then caught 507019+507021 to Maghull North.   Rather than head straight home, I drove to Ainsdale, which is only 20 minutes drive from Maghull and photoed a few units there before catching 507030+507002 to Southport, where I photoed a pair of 769s and also 507003 and an unidentified unit in the sidings.   After catching 507002+507030 back to Ainsdale, I headed home.

777010 at Birkenhead NorthMerseyrail's brand new class 777, 777010 is seen stabled on public display at Birkenhead North 11.9.21 On 9th and 11th September, Merseyrail put one of their brand new class 777 trains on public display on the rarely used Platform 1 at Birkenhead North on Merseyrail's Wirral Line.

A healthy number of people went along to view unit 777010, the first of the inital class of 53 units to be accepted for use on the network.   The most unique feature of the class is the fitting of sliding steps which allows for wheelchairs users to board without a ramp being needed.   Also on the cab ends there is LED lighting in the form of a letter 'M' which light up white or red depending on the direction of travel.

The interior of the units looked bright, airy and spacious with the sections between the bogies lower than the remainder.   The units have Wi-fi and USB and electrical sockets.   There are bike racks and space for more passengers than carried on the current fleet, however these are more likely to be standing passengers.   The corridor connections between each vehicle are almost the full width of the coach, making it more like the interior of a tram.

Overall, I likes the look of the units and look forward to sampling one in service!

66741 at Arrochar & TarbetGBRF's 66741 'Swanage Railway' arrives into Arrochar & Tarbet with 6S45 North Blyth - Fort William Alcan Tanks 29.7.21 I was on holiday up at Arrochar on the West Highland Line for a week.   Arrochar is a lovely part of the country with some stunning views around Loch Long and a massive array of wildlife to see as well. The train service its self is spread out with a train every couple of hours and mainly features Class 156s with the new class 153 'Active Carriages' added on to some of the Oban workings. Adding interest to the timetable is the morning/ evening sleeper and the North Blyth - Fort William Alcan tanks working.   There is also the occasional ECS working of Mark 1 stock to / from Fort William / Carnforth for Jacobite workings as well as occasional steam loco moves again for the Jacobite.

  43059 tnt 43059 at CarlisleMaking it's debut run for Locomotive services Ltd, 43059 top and tailed with 43058 depart Carlisle with 1Z81 to Settle. This was a VIP preview run for the 'Staycation express' which starts running from Monday 19th July. 15.7.21 Making it's debut run for Locomotive services Ltd, 43059 top and tailed with 43058 depart Carlisle with 1Z81 to Settle. This was a VIP preview run for the 'Staycation express' which starts running from Monday 19th July. 15.7.21

I had a day trip down to Southport and Ormskirk on 28th June to sample some of the class 507's and 508's before they are withdrawn.   With the expected entry into service for the 777's being soon (the 777's have just begun test runs / driver training), the days are numbered for the 41/42 year old PEP units.   With test running of the 777s having begun and having found out about 2 trailers from a pair of 508/2s being visible at Birkenhead, I decided to return and travel across to Birkenhead and then back over towards Southport via Kirkdale to catch more 507s and 508s as well as some 777s both on depot and 777010 out on a test / training run.

The Class 507 / 508

The Class 507 and Class 508 units are part of the PEP family of units which were built in the late 1970's and run off the third rail at 750v DC only as opposed to the Class 313 which is/was dual voltage and Class 314 and 315 which was/are powered from the overhead line.   The units are very similar to the much missed class 314s that we were so used to seeing on the Cathcart Circle as you'll no doubt have guessed!

The exterior of both the 507/508 is broadly similar to the rest of the PEP family, the main differences in comparison to some of the other classes are:

• The cab ends have newer style of lighting clusters, which also includes LED lighting
• The bogies on the DMSO vehicles have collector shoes for 3rd rail operation
• The central Trailer vehicle has a different window layout from the 314 and 315, which have an additional small window below the pantograph well.
• The 507 has a different type of compressor, possibly an older style from the class 508

The interior has been completely modernised with high backed seating, new ceilings and lighting, public information displays, CCTV and modernised entrance vestibules.

Built in 1978-80, the class 507 units have spent their entire lives on the Merseyrail network and mostly remain intact, with 32 units out of the original 33 built still in existance and 31 of the fleet remain in service today.  

507022 was withdrawn following a collision with 507004 in 1991, with vehicle 64388 from 022 replacing one of the Driving motor vehicles in 507004 and vehicle 64426 being converted from DC to AC operation and assuming the identity of 64588 and replacing the same vehicle in set 314203, which was destroyed in the Newton train crash in 1991.

More recently in March 2021, 507006 was written off after it overran the buffers and derailed at Kirkby. As the units are fast nearing the end of their operational lives, repairs won't be forthcoming and the unit will most likely be heading for scrap soon.

The 508 was built between 1979-80 and of the original 43 built, 25 are still in use with Merseyrail.   The 508 is identical to the 507, and initially worked in the Southern region before heading to Merseyside. The 508 was 4 car variation of the class 507, however before moving to Merseyside one of the TSO vehicles from each set (numbers 71526-71568) were removed and reused to increase the newly delivered class 455 up to 4 car sets, making the class 508 identical to the 507. To make it easier to identify the two classes, 508001-508043 were renumbered to 508101-508143.  

Following a reduction in capacity, on services during the 1990's, 12 class 508's were sent southwards to work on some Connex South Eastern services out of Gillingham Depot. 508101, 105, 106, 107, 109, 113, 116, 119, 121, 129, 132 and 133 became 508201-212 and remained in service until 2006. Of this batch, vehicles 64664 and 64707 from 508207 have found further use as barrier vehicles for Arlington Fleet Services, vehicles 64649 from 508201 and 64712 from 508209 as training vehicles for Emergency Services Training Centre in Birkenhead and 508212 is used at Fire Services Training College at Moreton-in-Marsh, the remainder of the sets were scrapped around 2013. 508118 was scrapped after an arson attack at Birkenhead depot during the 2000's.

A further 3 class 508s would transfer to Silverlink and find work on the Watford DC lines, assisting the Class 313s.  508102, 508135 and 508142 became 508301-303 and were scrapped in 2013.

This left 27 units with Merseyrail, however the decision was taken to withdraw and scrap 508110 and 508134 in 2020 rather than overhaul them, this left 25 units are still in service with Merseyrail.

Livery

The current livery carried by the 507 and 508 fleet is the 'Good Communications' livery, which is a half yellow background and half brushed metal background, with 6 different designs applied with each set having one yellow side and one brushed metal side.The passenger doors are white on the yellow sides and yellow on the brushed metal sides. There is Merseyrail 'M' branding on each of the passenger doors, as well as on the cab fronts. The livery is applied as a vinyl skin.

The exception to these liveries are 507002 which carries all over adverts for Liverpool John Moore University, with a white base for the advert and 508111, which carries 'The Beatles Story' all over advert with a blue base.

Routes

The 507 and 508 can be found on the following routes:

• Southport - Hunts Cross
• Ormskirk - Liverpool Central
• Kirkby - Liverpool Central
• Liverpool Lime Street - New Brighton
• Liverpool Lime Street - West Kirby
• Liverpool Lime Street - Ellesmere Port
• Liverpool Lime Street - Chester

Depots are found at Kirkdale and Birkenhead.

Fleet List

Class 507

Class 508

Photo Locations

Before heading to Merseyside and Southport, I read and looked at the photographs in Martyn Hilbert's excellent book 'Merseyrail Electrics' I decided to try out a few of the locations and stations seen in the book.

Southport Area

Southport	507002+508127 at SouthportWearing an advertising livery for Liverpool Hope University, 507002 is waiting to lead 508127 out of Southport with 2U24 13.27 service to Hunts Cross 28.6.21	Wearing an advertising livery for Liverpool Hope University, 507002 is waiting to lead 508127 out of Southport with 2U24 13.27 service to Hunts Cross 28.6.21
Birkdale	507024+508111 at BirkdaleMerseyrail liveried 507024+'The Beatles Story' advert liveried 508111 departs Birkdale with 2S19 12.16 Hunts Cross - Southport service 28.6.21	Merseyrail liveried 507024+'The Beatles Story' advert liveried 508111 departs Birkdale with 2S19 12.16 Hunts Cross - Southport service 28.6.21
Hillside Station Bridge	507023+508122 at HillsideMerseyrail liveried 507023+508122 depart Hillside with 2S17 11.36 Hunts Cross - Southport service 28.6.21	Merseyrail liveried 507023+508122 depart Hillside with 2S17 11.36 Hunts Cross - Southport service 28.6.21
Hillside	507012+507008 at Hillside507012+507008 depart Hillside with 2U21 12.27 Southport - Hunts Cross service 28.6.21	507012+507008 depart Hillside with 2U21 12.27 Southport - Hunts Cross service 28.6.21
Ainsdale	508114+507019 at AinsdaleMerseyrail liveried 508114+507019 depart Ainsdale with 2S16 11.16 Hunts Cross - Southport service 28.6.21	Merseyrail liveried 508114+507019 depart Ainsdale with 2S16 11.16 Hunts Cross - Southport service 28.6.21
Ainsdale Station Footbridge	507027+507001 at Ainsdale507027+507001 approach Ainsdale with 2U20 12.07 Southport - Hunts Cross service 28.6.21	507027+507001 approach Ainsdale with 2U20 12.07 Southport - Hunts Cross service 28.6.21
Ainsdale Station Footbridge	507002+508128 and 777010 at AinsdaleOld v New at Ainsdale as 507002 depart with 508128 heading north with 2S29 15.36 Hunts Cross - Southport service, while 777010 approaches with 5U06 16.22 Southport - Sandhills training run 19.7.21	Old v New at Ainsdale as 507002 depart with 508128 heading north with 2S29 15.36 Hunts Cross - Southport service, while 777010 approaches with 5U06 16.22 Southport - Sandhills training run 19.7.21
Ainsdale Station Level Crossing	507027+507001 at Ainsdale507027+507001 pause at Ainsdale with 2U20 12.07 Southport - Hunts Cross service 28.6.21	507027+507001 pause at Ainsdale with 2U20 12.07 Southport - Hunts Cross service 28.6.21

Ormskirk

Ormskirk is about 8 miles and a 20 minute drive from Southport. Ormskirk looks like quite a nice market town and has a one platformed station split in 2, with the northern portion being for the hourly DMU to Preston and the southern portion being the 3rd rail Merseyrail platform. The platform is ample for a 3 car unit but is very tight for a 6 car, making photoing impossible from the southern end of the platform or the road bridge when a 6 car unit is in the platform.  

Station Platform	508103 at OrmskirkMerseyrail liveried 508103 awaits departure from Ormskirk with 2G45 14.08 service to Liverpool Central 28.6.21	Merseyrail liveried 508103 awaits departure from Ormskirk with 2G45 14.08 service to Liverpool Central 28.6.21
Station Platform	508124 at OrmskirkMerseyrail liveried 508124 awaits departure from Ormskirk with 2G46 14.28 service to Liverpool Central 28.6.21	Merseyrail liveried 508124 awaits departure from Ormskirk with 2G46 14.28 service to Liverpool Central 28.6.21
Road Bridge	508103 at OrmskirkMerseyrail liveried 508103 awaits departure from Ormskirk with 2G45 14.08 service to Liverpool Central 28.6.21	Merseyrail liveried 508103 awaits departure from Ormskirk with 2G45 14.08 service to Liverpool Central 28.6.21

Kirkdale and Kirkdale TMD

From Bridge	507006 at Kirkdale TMDAccident damaged 507006 is seen at Kirkdale TMD awaiting scrapping. 19.7.21	Accident damaged 507006 is seen at Kirkdale TMD awaiting scrapping. 19.7.21
Station	508103 and 508130 at Kirkdale508103 arrives with 2O21 13.00 Liverpool Central - Ormskirk while 508130 pauses at Kirkdale with 2G82 12.58 Kirkby - Liverpool Central service 19.7.21	508103 arrives with 2O21 13.00 Liverpool Central - Ormskirk while 508130 pauses at Kirkdale with 2G82 12.58 Kirkby - Liverpool Central service 19.7.21
View to North of Station	508103 at Kirkdale508103 departs Kirkdale with 2O21 13.00 Liverpool Central - Ormskirk 19.7.21	508103 departs Kirkdale with 2O21 13.00 Liverpool Central - Ormskirk 19.7.21
View of TMD	777s at Kirkdale Depot4 unidentified 777s are seen stabled at Kirkdale TMD 19.7.21	777001,002, 012, 004 and 006 are seen stabled at Kirkdale TMD 19.7.21

Birkenhead North and TMD

Roadbridge to North of Station	230008 at Birkenhead North TMDTfW liveried 230008 is seen stabled in the yard at Birkenhead North TMD 19.7.21	TfW liveried 230008 is seen stabled in the yard at Birkenhead North TMD 19.7.21
Platform 3	507020 and 507014 at Birkenhead North507020 pauses at Birkenhead North with 2N18 11.36 New Brighton - New Brighton via Central Liverpool service while 507014 awaits departure with 2W18 11.59 West Kirby - West Kirby via Central Liverpool 19.7.21	507020 pauses at Birkenhead North with 2N18 11.36 New Brighton - New Brighton via Central Liverpool service while 507014 awaits departure with 2W18 11.59 West Kirby - West Kirby via Central Liverpool 19.7.21
From Footbridge looking north	507029 at Birkenhead North507029 prepares to depart Birkenhead North with 2W17 11.38 West Kirby - West Kirby via Central Liverpool 21.7.21	507029 prepares to depart Birkenhead North with 2W17 11.38 West Kirby - West Kirby via Central Liverpool 21.7.21
From footbridge looking south	508139 at Birkenhead North508139 pauses at Birkenhead North with 2W19 12.19 West Kirby - West Kirby via Central Liverpool service 19.7.21	508139 pauses at Birkenhead North with 2W19 12.19 West Kirby - West Kirby via Central Liverpool service 19.7.21

Emergency Services Training Centre

From Public  Road

508201 and 508209 at BirkenheadHeavily vandalised All over yellow with white doors liveried vehicle 64649 from 508201 and 64712 from 508209 are seen at the Emergency Services Training Centre in Birkenhead 19.7.21 (Photo taken from a public road)

Heavily vandalised All over yellow with white doors liveried vehicle 64649 from 508201 and 64712 from 508209 are seen at the Emergency Services Training Centre in Birkenhead 19.7.21 (Photo taken from a public road)

60103 at DalmenyBritish Railways Green liveried LNER A3 class 60103 'Flying Scotsman' passes through Dalmeny with 1Z76 Dunfermilne Town - Edinburgh Waverley 'Steam Dreams' Forth Circle Railtour 25.6.21

British Railways Green liveried LNER A3 class 60103 'Flying Scotsman' passes through Dalmeny with 1Z76 Dunfermilne Town - Edinburgh Waverley 'Steam Dreams' Forth Circle Railtour 25.6.21