PLANS to run clapped-out old London Underground trains on Welsh railways was branded “a lethal gamble” yesterday — one that threatens the role of guards.

Rail chiefs were ordered to come clean by transport union RMT following speculation that 30-year-old Tube trains withdrawn from service in the capital could be dumped on railways in Wales.

“It is scandalous that ancient rolling stock, decommissioned from the London Underground, is being lashed up with diesel engines with a view to unleashing them on railways in Wales in a move that threatens both jobs and safety in one hit,” said RMT general secretary Mick Cash.

“These units are not designed to be run on the open railway and do not fit the safety criteria that would be expected on rail routes.”