British Rail Class 376

British Rail Class 376 "Electrostar"
376033 approaches Hither Green
The interior of a Class 376
In service	16 August 2004 - Current
Manufacturer	Bombardier Transportation
Family name	Electrostar
Constructed	2004-2005
Number built	36 trainsets
Formation	5 cars per trainset DMSO-MSO-TSO-MSO-DMSO
Capacity	344 seats
Operators	Southeastern
Specifications
Maximum speed	75 mph (121 km/h)
Electric system(s)	750 V DC third rail
Current collector(s)	Contact shoe
Coupling system	Dellner
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

376019 at London Charing X

The Class 376 Suburban Electrostar is a model of electric multiple-unit passenger train manufactured by Bombardier Transportation at their Derby works. It is part of the Electrostar family, which are the most common EMUs introduced since the privatisation of British Rail. The units were ordered by Connex South Eastern, introduced in 2004/2005 by South Eastern Trains originally to replace Class 465 and Class 466 to be transferred to the Outer Suburban services to Kent.

Design

It is a derivative of the Class 375 Electrostar designed specifically for use on the high-volume metro routes running from Central London, and through Southeast London in the UK. The changes are mostly focused on increasing the trains’ capacity and decreasing the time they must spend stopped in station. The Class 376’s doors are wider to allow more passengers to board at once, and are metro-style sliding pocket doors which are faster and more reliable than the Class 375’s plug doors, although they do not close flush with the bodyside and hence are less aerodynamic and do not provide as much insulation for heating and cooling purposes. The units have 2 sets of double doors per side in each carriage. Also, no air conditioning is provided, with hopper style windows available for ventilation. In order to provide more standing room, the trains also have fewer seats, more handrails, and no on-board toilets (South Eastern promised to provide additional facilities in their stations to compensate) and are limited to 57 minutes on any single passenger journey as a result.

Class 376 units are five carriages long, and unlike the Class 375, have full-width cabs instead of gangways at the ends of the train; it is therefore not possible to walk between two coupled Class 376 units. The cab front is also smooth and ‘step free’ to reduce the problem of ‘train surfing’ in South London.

Like all new trains in the United Kingdom using third-rail power, one carriage in each unit has a recess in its roof where a pantograph could be fitted, so as to allow for future conversion to overhead AC power.

Although all units are DC only, the class is numbered in the 3xx series normally used for AC and dual-voltage units. There is a need to change the configuration of these units as per the implementation of Network Rail's Kent Route Utilisation Strategy. The Class 376 units would be anomalous within a network being reconfigured to 12-coach running.

Routes

The Class 376s operate on the high-density routes in South East London and Kent with their main roles being London to Dartford and London - Hayes (Kent).

Maintenance

All Class 376 trains were allocated to Slade Green, but due to the high volume of work there, these trains now go to Ramsgate for routine maintenance.

Fleet details

Class	Operator	No. Built	Year Built	Cars per Set	Unit nos.
Class 376	Southeastern	36	2004-05	5	376001 - 376036

See also

• Classes 357, 375, 377, 378 & 379 Electrostar
• Classes 168, 170, 171 & 172 Turbostars
• Southeastern
• Bombardier

External links

• railfaneurope.net Class 376 picture gallery
• Southern Electric Group Historical Features Index