List of British Rail electric multiple unit classes

This page lists every electric-powered multiple unit allocated a TOPS classification or used on the mainline network since 1948 (i.e. British Railways and post-privatisation). For a historical overview of multiple unit development in Great Britain, see British diesel and electric multiple units.

British Rail operated a wide variety of electric multiple units for use on electrified lines:

• AC units operate off 25 kV alternating current (AC) from overhead wires. Where clearances for the overhead wires on the Great Eastern Main Line and London, Tilbury and Southend railway routes were below standard, a reduced voltage of 6.25 kV AC was used. The Midland Railway units used 6.6 kV AC. Under the computer numbering, AC units (including mixed-voltage units that can also work off a DC supply) were given a class in the range 300-399.

• DC units operate off 650-850 V direct current (DC) from a third rail on the Southern Region and North London, Merseyside and Tyneside networks. The Manchester-Bury Railway line used 1,200 V DC from a side-contact third rail. The Manchester South Junction & Altrincham and "Woodhead" and initially the Great Eastern Railway routes used 1,500 V DC from overhead wires. Under the computer numbering, DC units were given a class in the range 400-599.

AC EMUs and dual-voltage EMUs

First generation

TransClyde branded Class 303 unrefurbished unit no. 303 089 at Wemyss Bay railway station

First Great Eastern Class 312 units nos. 312718 and 312721 at Kirby Cross railway station

TOPS class	Pre-TOPS class	Name or Information	Image
Ex-MR units		Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham
Class 300		Proposed parcels units
	AM1	25 kV AC prototype units
Class 302	AM2	London-Tilbury-Southend
Class 303	AM3	Strathclyde. Also on Greater Manchester area services during 1980s/early 1990s.
Class 304	AM4	Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham
Class 305	AM5	Chingford, Enfield
Class 306	AM6	Shenfield (inner-suburban)
Class 307	AM7	Southend (outer-suburban)
Class 308	AM8	Eastern Region lines
Class 309	AM9	Clacton Express.
Class 310	AM10	Euston outer-suburban. Also West Midlands
Class 311	AM11	Strathclyde
Class 312		Great Eastern suburban Great Northern suburban West Midlands (four units)

Second generation

First Capital Connect Class 313 no. 313060 at Kings Cross railway station

TOPS class	Built for	Current Operator(s)	Builder	Number built	Image
Class 313	BR Eastern Region (Great Northern suburban)	Southern, First Capital Connect	BREL York 1976-77	64 x 3-car sets
Class 314	BR Scottish Region (Argyle Line)	First ScotRail	BREL York 1979	16 x 3-car sets
Class 315	BR Eastern Region (Great Eastern suburban)	Greater Anglia	BREL York 1980-81	61 x 4-car sets
Class 316 (I)	(AC Networker prototype)	(never used in passenger service, now out of service)	converted from class 210 and 313 cars	1 x 4-car set
Class 316 (II)	(test unit)	(never used in passenger service, scrapped 2006)	converted from class 307	1 x 3-car set
Class 317	Class 317/1 London Midland Region Class 317/2 Network SouthEast ('Bedpan' and Great Northern lines)	Greater Anglia, First Capital Connect	BREL York 1981-82(317/1) 1985-87(317/2)	72 x 4-car sets
Class 318	Provincial ScotRail (for Strathclyde PTE)	First ScotRail	BREL York 1984-86	21 x 3-car sets
Class 319	Network SouthEast (Thameslink services)	First Capital Connect	BREL York 1987-88(319/0) 1990(319/1)	86 x 4-car sets
Class 320	Provincial ScotRail (for Strathclyde PTE)	First ScotRail	BREL York 1990	22 x 3-car sets
Class 321	Network SouthEast (Great Eastern and Euston services); and Regional Railways (for West Yorkshire PTE)	Greater Anglia, Northern Rail, London Midland, First Capital Connect	BREL York 1988-1991	117 x 4-car sets
Class 322	Network SouthEast (Stansted Express service)	Northern Rail	BREL York 1990	5 x 4-car sets
Class 325	Rail Express Systems (for Royal Mail)	FirstGBRf	ABB Derby 1995-96	16 x 4-car units

Modern generation

Class 350 no. 350101 at Watford Junction

These use electrical switching devices (thyristors and transistors) and have electronic power control.

TOPS class	Built for	Current Operator(s)	Builder	Number Built	Image
Class 323	Regional Railways (for West Midlands PTE and Greater Manchester PTE)	Northern Rail, London Midland	Hunslet 1992-93	43 x 3-car sets
Class 331	original classification of Class 332	-	-	-
Class 332	Heathrow Express	Heathrow Express	Siemens/CAF 1997-1998 2002[4→5Car]	9 x 4-car sets 5 x 5-car sets
Class 333	Arriva Trains Northern (for West Yorkshire PTE)	Northern Rail	Siemens/CAF 2000	18 x 4-car sets
Class 334 Juniper	ScotRail (for Strathclyde PTE)	First ScotRail	Alstom Birmingham 1999-2002	40 x 3-car sets
Class 341 Networker	proposed units for Crossrail	-	(never built)	-
Class 342 Networker	proposed units for CTRL Domestic Services	-	(never built)	-
Class 345	Crossrail			Approx 60 x 5-car sets
Class 350 Desiro	Silverlink, Central Trains	London Midland	Siemens 2004-05 2008-09	67 x 4-car sets
Class 357 Electrostar	LTS Rail	c2c	Adtranz/Bombardier Derby 1999-2001 2001-02	74 x 4-car sets
Class 360 Desiro	First Great Eastern, Heathrow Connect	Greater Anglia, Heathrow Connect	Siemens 2002-03 2004-2005	21 x 4-car sets 5 x 5-car sets
Class 365 Networker	Network SouthEast (Great Northern and South Eastern services)	First Capital Connect	ABB York 1994-95	41 x 4-car sets
Class 371 Networker	proposed units for Thameslink 2000	-	(never built)	-
Class 375 Electrostar	Connex South Eastern, South Eastern Trains	Southeastern	Adtranz/Bombardier Derby 1999-2005	10 x 3-car sets 102 x 4-car sets
Class 376 Electrostar	South Eastern Trains	Southeastern	Bombardier Derby 2004-06	36 x 5-car sets
Class 377 Electrostar	Southern	Southern, First Capital Connect	Bombardier Derby 2001-05 2008-2009	28 x 3-car sets 154 x 4-car sets
Class 378 Capitalstar	London Overground	London Overground	Bombardier Derby 2009-2010	57 x 4-car sets
Class 379 Electrostar II	National Express East Anglia	Greater Anglia	Bombardier Derby 2011	30 x 4-car sets
Class 380 Desiro	First ScotRail	ScotRail	Siemens 2009-2011	22 x 3-car sets 16 x 4-car sets
Class 381 Networker	proposed Network SouthEast express units	-	(never built)	-

High speed trains

Virgin Trains Class 390 no. 390029 at Birmingham New Street

TOPS class	Built for	Current Operator(s)	Builder	Number Built	Image
Class 370 APT-P	prototype Advanced Passenger Train	(out of service)	BREL Derby 1979	6 x 7-car half sets 2 spare cars
Class 373 TGV	Eurostar	Eurostar SNCF	various builders 1992-96	14 x 8-car half sets 64 x 10-car half sets 1 spare car
Class 390 Pendolino	Virgin West Coast	Virgin Trains	Alstom Birmingham 2001-04	53 x 9-car sets
Class 395 Javelin	Southeastern	Southeastern	Hitachi 2007-09	29 x 6-car sets

DC EMUs

Southern Region units

The Southern Railway and its successor, the Southern Region of British Rail, used three letter codes to classify their DC EMU fleets, as shown after the TOPS class numbers. Southern Region EMUs were classified in the 400 series under TOPS.

Pre-Nationalisation

4Sub unit no. 8143 at the National Railway Museum

TOPS class	SR class	Name or Information	Image
	2Nol
	2SL	South London
	2Wim	Wimbledon-Croydon
	3Sub
	4Buf
	4Gri
	4Lav
	4Res
	6Cit	London Bridge-Brighton
	6Pan	Pantry units
	6Pul	Pullman London Victoria-Brighton
Class 401	2Bil
Class 402	2Hal 2Pan
Class 403	5Bel
Class 404	4Cor
Class 405	4Sub

Mark 1 and 2 bodyshell

Gatwick Express Class 489 unit no. 489110 at London Victoria

South Eastern Trains Class 411 unit no. 1586 at London Victoria

TOPS class	SR class	Name or Information	Image
	4DD	Double Deck EMU
Class 410	4Bep
Class 411	4Cep
Class 412	4Bep
Class 413	4Cap	2 x 2Hap permanently coupled
Class 414	2Hap
Class 415	4EPB
Class 416	2EPB
Class 418	2Sap	2Hap units with declassified 1st Class accommodation
Class 419	MLV	London-Dover/Folkestone boat trains
Class 420	4Big
Class 421	4/3Cig 3Cop	Last 2 units of this type in service were withdrawn in 2010
Class 422	4Big 8Dig
Class 423	4Vep 4Vop
Class 427	4Veg	First stock used for Gatwick Express
Class 430	4Rep
Class 431	6Rep
Class 432	4Rep
Class 438	3TC 4TC
Class 480	8Vab
Class 482 (I)	8Mig
Class 488		Gatwick Express Trailers
Class 489	GLV	Gatwick Express driving trailers
Class 499 (I)	TLV

Tube Stock

Network SouthEast branded Class 483 unit no.483001

TOPS class	SR class	Name or Information	Image
Class 482 (II)		Waterloo & City Line sold to LU
Class 483		Isle of Wight ex LU 1938 stock
Class 485	4Vec	ex LU Standard stock
Class 486	3Tis	ex LU Standard stock
Class 487		Waterloo & City Line

Modern EMUs

South West Trains Class 455 unit no. 455713 at Wimbledon railway station

Southeastern Class 466 unit no. 466018 at Bromley North railway station

TOPS class	SR class	Name or Information	Image
Class 424		Networker Classic Prototype
Class 442	5Wes	Wessex Express
Class 444	5Des	Desiro
Class 445	4Pep	Second Generation EMU prototype - 4 car
Class 446	2Pep	Second Generation EMU prototype - 2 car
Class 447		Proposed Battersea Bullet
Class 450	4Des	Desiro
Class 455
Class 456
Class 457		DC Networker prototype
Class 458	4Jop	Juniper
Class 460	8Gat	Juniper - Gatwick Express
Class 465		Networker - 4 car
Class 466		Networker - 2 car
Class 471		Proposed Networker - Main Line Express

Other DC units

The 500 series classes were reserved for miscellaneous DC EMUs not from the Southern Region. This included the DC (third/fourth rail) lines in North London, Manchester and Merseyside and the OHLE lines in Greater Manchester. The DC electric network around Tyneside had been de-electrified by the time TOPS was introduced, and the stock withdrawn or transferred to the Southern Region.

Merseyrail Class 507 unit no. 507009 at Liverpool Central railway station

TOPS classes

Class	Info	Image	Notes
Class 501	North London stock		650 V Third & Fourth Rail
Class 502	Liverpool-Southport/Ormskirk stock		650 V Third Rail
Class 503	Mersey-Wirral stock		650 V Third Rail
Class 504	Manchester-Bury stock		1.2 kV Side Contact Third Rail (Unique on BR network)
Class 505	Manchester-Altrincham stock		1.5 kV OHLE
Class 506	Manchester-Hadfield/Glossop stock		1.5 kV OHLE
Class 507	Merseyside stock		750 V Third Rail
Class 508	Merseyside stock		750 V Third Rail
Class 510	Original classification of Class 455

Pre-TOPS classes

• Ex-LNER Units (Tyneside stock)
• Ex-LNWR Units (North London stock)
• Ex-LYR Units (Manchester-Bury stock)

Battery electric multiple unit (BEMU)

This was a one-off unit, withdrawn before the introduction of TOPS.

• 79998/79999

Non National Rail units

All rail vehicles operating on part of the National Rail network are required to be given TOPS codes. For this reason, both London Underground and Tyne & Wear Metro trains have their own TOPS classes:

Class	Info	Image	Notes
Class 499 (II)	London Underground rolling stock		Classification given to all LU stock operating on NR, regardless of line
Class 994	Tyne & Wear Metro rolling stock

See also

• British Rail locomotive and multiple unit numbering and classification
• SR multiple unit numbering and classification
• British Rail coach designations

External links

• The Railway Centre
• departmentals.com