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S-Stock is the best thing since black cab

A poll of over 10,000 Londoners has selected Bombardier’s S-Stock Tube trains as one of the top 10 transport designs in the capital – impressive, considering well-established icons from more than a century ago were also competing.

The S-Stock (S7 and S8) has been gradually replacing fleets on the Metropolitan, District, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines since 2010 – including the D-Stock currently being shipped off to Vivarail’s makeover experts.

Considered the biggest single rolling stock order in Britain, the air-conditioned stock distinguished itself from older fleets by allowing passengers to move from car to car while the train is in motion.

A TfL member of staff said they chose the S-Stock their favourite design icon because it is “well air-conditioned and looks very futuristic from the exterior”.

“It is very spacious so it’s never too crowded. Also the interior is quite cool, with the way you can walk from one end to the other end of the Tube,” they added.

^{S-stock is, of course, on the right.}

The survey, carried out over two months, asked people to pick from a shortlist of 100 designs chosen by industry experts and the London Transport Museum.

Although the black cab bagged the top spot, rail icons featured prominently. Baker Street station’s platforms won fourth place and Westminster station just made the list.

The work of Frank Pick, responsible for commissioning classic Tube posters and the Edward Johnson typeface, took second place – followed by Harry Beck’s original 1933 Tube map and the iconic roundel logo still partly used today.

Wayne Hemingway MBE, who personally preferred the roundel, said the icon’s top 10 spot is a “testament to the powerfully simple, eminently British and timeless design, along with the love of what the London Underground does for the city”.

A wider selection of the 100 design icons will be showcased in a special event early next year.