The British Rail Class 423, electric multiple unit passenger trains were mostly built by British Rail (BR) at York Works from 1967 to 1974, although the MBSOs and TSOs of the first 20, 7701-7720, were built at Derby Works. They have manually opening doors next to every seating row and were the last coaching stock built in this pattern for BR. They were mostly found working outer-suburban services in South London and rural services in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, up to 2005 when they were finally replaced by Electrostar and Desiro units. The fleet had a working life of 38 years.
The British Rail Class 308 alternating current (AC) electric multiple units (EMU) were built by British Railways' Holgate Road carriage works in three batches between 1959 and 1961. They were initially classified as AM8 units before the introduction of TOPS.
A number of different numbering and classification schemes were used for locomotives and multiple units operated by British Railways (BR), and this page explains the principal systems. This section also covers the post-privatisation period, as the broad numbering and classification arrangements have not altered since the break-up of BR.
A number of different numbering and classification schemes have been used for carriages and wagons on Britain's railways, and this page explains the principal systems. Carriages and wagons have frequently had similar arrangements for classification and numbering, so are considered together. There are also links to other pages that deal in greater depth with the particulars of individual types.
The PEP Stock were prototype electric multiple units used on British Rail's Southern and Scottish Regions during the 1970s and early 1980s. They were forerunners of the British Rail Second Generation electric multiple unit fleet. Three units were built, one two-car unit (2001), and two four-car units (4001/4002). Under TOPS, the driving cars were originally classified as Class 461 with the non-driving motor cars as Class 462. They were later reclassified as Class 445 (4PEP) and Class 446 (2PEP).
The British Rail Class 460 Juniper (8-GAT) was a class of electric multiple-unit passenger trains built by Alstom at Washwood Heath between 1999 and 2001. They were part of Alstom's Coradia Juniper family, which also includes Classes 334 and 458.
At the end of the 1960s, British Railways adopted the Total Operations Processing System (TOPS), a computerised system developed by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the United States. All types of locomotive and multiple unit received a TOPS classification, but the first attempt at applying TOPS was soon modified. This page explains the first attempt at using TOPS and cross-refers the classes allocated with those adopted in the successful re-arrangement. An explanation of the final arrangements for TOPS classification may be found here.
The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation CW to the fleet of AC electric multiple units used on the lines to Coulsdon and Wallington. They were planned by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, but were delayed by World War I and the grouping and were introduced by the Southern Railway.
The British Rail Class 419 Motor Luggage Vans were battery electric multiple unit cars built from 1959-61 by BR at Eastleigh Works.
The British Rail Class 307 electric multiple units were built by BR at Eastleigh Works from 1954 to 1956. They were initially classified as AM7 before the introduction of TOPS.
The London Underground D78 Stock, commonly referred to as D Stock, was a type of sub-surface rolling stock which operated on the District line of the London Underground, except on the Wimbledon to Edgware Road service. The first units were withdrawn in January 2015 with the last withdrawn on 21 April 2017.
The London Underground 1972 Stock is a type of rolling stock used on the London Underground. The 1972 Stock was originally ordered to make up the shortfall in trains on the Northern line's 1959 Tube Stock fleet, but is currently used on the Bakerloo line. Following the withdrawal of the 1938 Stock-based British Rail Class 483 EMUs from the Isle of Wight in 2021, the 1972 Stock are now the oldest trains in regular passenger service in the United Kingdom. A total of 63 seven-car trains were built in two separate batches.
The London Underground C69 and C77 Stock, commonly referred to as the C Stock, was a type of sub-surface rolling stock used on the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines of the London Underground between 1970 and 2014. They were replaced by the S7 Stock.
The Nightstar was a proposed overnight sleeper train service from various parts of the United Kingdom to destinations in mainland Europe, via the Channel Tunnel, in the mid 1990s. To run alongside the Eurostar, and north of London day-time Regional Eurostar services which were never operational, the Nightstar was the last part in a proposed round-the-clock passenger train utilisation of the Channel Tunnel.
The Alstom Coradia Juniper series is a family of electric multiple unit trains built by Alstom Transport Birmingham for use on the railway network in Great Britain. The family is related to the Coradia 1000 series of diesel multiple units.
The British Rail Class 379 Electrostar is an electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger train which was designed and built by Bombardier Transportation. The trains are part of the company's extensive Electrostar family.
Network SouthEast (NSE), the sector of British Rail which ran passenger services in London and southeast England between 1986 and 1994, operated a wide variety of rolling stock during its existence. The majority of the network was electrified, and further electrification schemes took place during the 1986–1994 period; and the 7,000 vehicles owned by NSE in 1986 consisted of a mixture of electric, diesel-electric and diesel multiple units, diesel locomotives and the coaches they hauled.
The first passenger cars built specifically for The Overland train service operated by the Victorian and South Australian Railways (V & SAR) were introduced in 1949. By the end of 1951, eight new sleeping cars and six new sitting cars had entered service. Additions to the fleet continued until 1972; in all, 44 carriages were built. About eight were still in service as of 2024 on The Overland operated by Journey Beyond. Other carriages have been transferred to different services or sold.
British Rail Class 499 is a TOPS designation allocated to London Underground electric multiple units that operate on Network Rail tracks for part of their journey. The designation was previously used by a class of luggage vans on British Rail's Southern Region, but was reused by Railtrack from 1994 for its current purpose. This does not involve any renumbering of the stock involved, and is only for electronic recording purposes.
