Though very successful in service their alloy construction, incompatibility with most other units and the many branch line closures made their early withdrawal along with the Derby Lightweights inevitable. The first vehicles withdrawn from service were the LMR batch in July 1967 from Manchester Longsight depot, being broken up during 1968 at the depot's carriage works. The ER units only survived about a year or so longer most going in 1968 with just a few lasting until the Summer of 1969, the last allocation being Norwich (NR).