After World War II it was decided to replace the London Underground trains that remained with hand-operated sliding doors.
R Stock was ordered to replace such trains on the District line and the LPTB considered 200 cars were needed, but due to the shortages of labour and materials following the war only 143 new cars were authorised.
Some Q stock trailers that had been built in 1938 were converted into R Stock driving motor (DM) cars.
The new cars were designated R47 and built by Birmingham RC&W and Gloucester RC&W and the 82 Q Stock trailers converted by Gloucester RC&W from Q38 trailer were designated R38/1.
The first car arrived in 1949 and entered service in 1950.

A second batch was ordered to allow the F Stock to be transferred to Metropolitan line and so allow the Circle Stock to be withdrawn.
The 90 new R49 cars were constructed from aluminium and built by Metro Cammell, reducing the weight of a train by 5.4 long tons (5.5 t).
An eight car train from this batch was unpainted as an experiment.
A third batch of R59 twenty cars, 13 new, was built to allow the transfer of Q stock trailers to increase the length of Circle line trains to six cars.
After World War II it was decided to replace the London Underground trains that remained with hand-operated sliding doors. R Stock was ordered to replace such trains on the District line and the LPTB considered 200 cars were needed, but due to the shortages of labour and materials following the war only 143 new cars were authorised. Some Q stock trailers that had been built in 1938 were converted into R Stock driving motor (DM) cars. The new cars were designated R47 and built by Birmingham RC&W and Gloucester RC&W and the 82 Q Stock trailers converted by Gloucester RC&W from Q38 trailer were designated R38/1. The first car arrived in 1949 and entered service in 1950.
A second batch was ordered to allow the F Stock to be transferred to Metropolitan line and so allow the Circle Stock to be withdrawn. The 90 new R49 cars were constructed from aluminium and built by Metro Cammell, reducing the weight of a train by 5.4 long tons (5.5 t). An eight car train from this batch was unpainted as an experiment. A third batch of R59 twenty cars, 13 new, was built to allow the transfer of Q stock trailers to increase the length of Circle line trains to six cars.
London Underground R Stock