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The Southern Railway created classification and numbering systems for its large fleet of electric multiple units, perpetuated by the Southern Region of British Rail until the early 1980s, when the impact of TOPS was felt. Some stock is still allocated Southern-style classifications in a semi-official manner.
The early AC electric multiple units were referred to by a two-letter code. This was adapted for the DC third-rail system that was adopted by the Southern Railway, with units being given a three-letter code (sometimes two letters) prefixed by the number of cars in each unit, e.g. 4SUB for a four-car suburban unit.
The Southern Region perpetuated this, and the same principles were adopted for diesel-electric multiple units but with single-letter codes. The last type to be officially allocated a designation in this series was the PEP stock of the early 1970s. Some types built since have been given semi-official designations in this style.
This is different from the system used by British Rail (adopted from the LNER) to indicate the type of non-powered coach — see British Rail coach type codes.
| SR designation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CP | Crystal Palace |
| CW | Coulsdon & Wallington |
| SL | South London |
| SR designation | BR class | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| GLV | 489 | Gatwick Luggage Van |
| MLV | 419 | Motor Luggage Van |
| TLV | 499 | Trailer Luggage Van |
| 2BIL | 401 | Bi-Lavatory [1] |
| 2EPB | 416 | Electro-Pneumatic Brake |
| 2HAL | 402 | Half Lavatory [1] |
| 2HAP | 414 | Half lavatory with electro-Pneumatic Brake [2] |
| 2HIL | - | Unit 2611: 2HAL DMBT #10729 paired with 2BIL DTCL #12146 |
| 2NOL | - | NoLavatory [1] |
| 2PAN | 402 | Parcels and Newspapers |
| 2PEP | 446 | Prototype Electro-Pneumatic Brake |
| 2SAP | 418 | Second-Class Only Hap |
| 2SL | - | South London |
| 2WIM | - | Wimbledon |
| 3COP | 421 | Coastway Open Plan |
| 3SUB | - | Suburban |
| 3TC | 492 | Trailer Control |
| 3TIS | 486 | Vectis (Isle of Wight) |
| 4BEP | 412 | Buffet Electro-Pneumatic Brake |
| 4BIG | 422 | Buffet Brighton [3] |
| 4BUF | 404 | Buffet |
| 4CAP | 413 | Coastway Hap |
| 4CEP | 411 | Corridor Electro-Pneumatic Brake |
| 4CIG | 421 | Corridor Brighton [3] |
| 4COR | 404 | Corridor |
| 4DES | 450 | Desiro |
| 4DD | - | Double Deck |
| 4EPB | 415 | Electro-Pneumatic Brake |
| 4GRI | 404 | Griddle Car |
| 4HIT | 455 | HIgh density, Tightlock coupling. [4] Proposed for the class, but not used. [5] |
| 4JOP | 458/0 | Juniper Outersuburban Porterbrook. |
| 4JUP | 458/4 | Juniper |
| 4LAV | - | Lavatory |
| 4PEP | 445 | Prototype Electro-Pneumatic Brake |
| 4PER | 508 | |
| 4REP | 432 | Restaurant Electro-Pneumatic Brake |
| 4RES | 404 | Restaurant |
| 4SUB | 405 | Suburban |
| 4TC | 438 | Trailer Control |
| 4TEP | 412 | Temporary BEP |
| 4VEC | 485 | Vectis (Isle of Wight) |
| 4VEG | 427 | VEP Gatwick Express |
| 4VEP | 423 | Vestibule Electro-Pneumatic Brake |
| 4VIP | 423 | VEP Intermediate Plan |
| 4VOP | 423 | VEP Open-Plan |
| 5BEL | 403 | Brighton Belle |
| 5DES | 444 | Desiro (Unofficial) |
| 5JUP | 458/5 | Juniper [6] |
| 5TCB | 438 | TC and Buffet |
| 5WES | 442 | Wessex |
| 6CIT | - | City Limited |
| 6PAN | - | Pantry |
| 6PUL | - | Pullman |
| 6REP | 431 | Reformed REP |
| 6TC | - | Trailer Control |
| 6JAV | 395 | JAVelin. Unofficial classification, also referred to as 6HIT (Hitachi). |
| 7TC | - | Trailer Control |
| 8DIG | 422 | Dedicated Brighton |
| 8GAT | 460 | Gatwick Express |
| 8MIG | 421 | Miniature Buffet and CIG |
| 8VAB | 480 | Vestibule Autobrake Buffet |
| SR designation | BR class | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 3D | 207 | Oxted |
| 3H | 205 | Hampshire |
| 3R | 206 | Reading |
| 3T | 204 | Hampshire and added Trailer |
| 6B | 203 | Hastings Buffet |
| 6L | 202 | Hastings Long underframe |
| 6S | 201 | Hastings Short underframe |
Unit numbers were allocated from 1001, following the 1–1000 set numbers of semi-fixed formations of hauled coaching stock. Different types of unit were given numbers:
| 1001–1200 | Unpowered trailer units for working with 3SUB stock (this series was later expanded to include 989–1000) |
| 1201–1800 | 3SUB (ex-LSWR units with 1200 added to their original numbers) |
| 1801–1999 | Two-car inner-suburban (e.g. 2NOL) |
| 2001–2899 | Two-car outer-suburban (e.g. 2BIL) |
| 2901–2999 | Four-car outer-suburban (4LAV) |
| 3001–3999 | Four, five and six-car express (e.g. 4COR, 5BEL and 6PUL) [7] |
| 4001–4999 | Four-car inner-suburban (4SUB and 4DD) |
| 5001–5599 | British Railways four-car inner-suburban (4EPB) |
| 5601–6999 | British Railways two-car (e.g. 2HAP) |
| 7001–7999 | British Railways four-car outer-suburban (e.g. 4CIG) |
| 8001 | Temporary eight-car (8VAB) |
| S1–S101 | Departmental (non-revenue earning) |
This series was perpetuated by the Southern Region with modifications, as older set numbers were reused for the following different types:
| 001–099 | Parcels and departmental (Sxxx units renumbered) |
| 301–999 | Trailer control (first digit indicated number of cars, e.g. 301 = 3TC) |
| 1001–1499 | Diesel electric multiple units (e.g. 6S) |
2PEP reused number 2001, 4REP from 3001 and 4PEP 4001/4002. This series was abandoned in 1983, when units were renumbered to fit in with the TOPS classification system, which had nominally been in use for a decade. Even then, many units displayed only the last four digits, dropping the first two digits –412 301 would have the number "2301" applied. Only with later units and 2xx series DEMUs were the full numbers shown, e.g. Classes 456, 458/5, 465 and 466, and some Class 455 sets, carry full six-digit numbers.
The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designations 4-COR, 4-RES, 4-BUF and 4-GRI to the different types of electric multiple unit built to work the route between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour. The 4-COR type units survived long enough in British Rail ownership to be allocated TOPS Class 404. The COR designation had previously been used for the 6-PUL units and was reused by them during World War II when the Pullman car was stored, but this stock was different from the 4-COR units.
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.
British Railways coach designations were a series of letter-codes used to identify different types of coaches, both passenger carrying and non-passenger carrying stock (NPCS). The code was generally painted on the end of the coach but non-gangwayed stock had the code painted on the side. They have been superseded by TOPS design codes.
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.
Before the TOPS Class 97 was issued to self-propelled locomotives in departmental use, British Rail had such locomotives numbered in a variety of series, together with locomotives that were no longer self-propelled.
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 Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2-BIL to the DC third rail electric multiple units built during the 1930s to work long-distance semi-fast services on the newly electrified lines from London to Eastbourne, Portsmouth and Reading. This type of unit survived long enough in British Rail ownership to be allocated TOPS Class 401.
The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2-HAL to the electric multiple-unit passenger trains built during the late 1930s to work long-distance semi-fast services on the newly electrified lines from London Victoria to Maidstone and Gillingham (Kent). This type of unit survived long enough in British Rail ownership to be allocated TOPS Class 402.
The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 4-LAV to the electric multiple units built to work the semi-fast services on the route between London and Brighton. None of these units survived long enough in British Rail ownership to be allocated a TOPS class.
Prior to the introduction of TOPS, electric multiple unit numbers were allocated by British Rail regions in their own series. Diesel multiple units did not carry unit numbers at first, but the Scottish and Western Regions later adopted their own series for these units, whilst elsewhere individual depots allocated unit numbers, often prefixed by their two-letter TOPS depot code.
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 306 was a fleet of electric multiple unit (EMU) trains introduced in 1949. It consisted of 92 three-car trains which were used on the Great Eastern Main Line between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street.
The British Rail Class 302 was a class of electric multiple unit (EMU) introduced between 1958 and 1960 for outer suburban passenger services on the London, Tilbury and Southend line. This class of multiple unit was constructed using the Mark 1 bodyshell with slam-doors.
The British RailClass 414 were two-car electric multiple units that were built between 1956 and 1963. They were withdrawn in 1995.
The British Rail Class 506 was a 3 carriage electric multiple unit (EMU) built for local services between Manchester, Glossop and Hadfield on the Woodhead Line, which was electrified in 1954 on the 1,500 V DC overhead system.
Rolling stock used on the London Underground and its constituent companies has been classified using a number of schemes. This page explains the principal systems for the rolling stock of the Central London Railway (CLR), the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), the District Railway (DR) and the Metropolitan Railway (MR). For information about individual classes of locomotives and other rolling stock, see London Underground rolling stock.
For more than a century, the Swiss locomotive, multiple unit, motor coach and railcar classification system, in either its original or updated forms, has been used to name and classify the rolling stock operated on the railways of Switzerland. It started out as a uniform system for the classification and naming of all rolling stock, powered and unpowered, but had been replaced and amended by the UIC classification of goods wagons.
The Southern Railway (SR) and the British Railways used the designation Sub to cover a wide variety of electric multiple-unit passenger trains that were used on inner-suburban workings in the South London area. The designation 'Sub' was first officially used in 1941 to refer to newly built 4-car units. However, during the 1940s large numbers of earlier '3-Car Suburban Sets' were increased to four cars by the addition of an 'Augmentation' trailer, and became part of the 4-Sub category. The SR and BR (S) continued to build or else rebuild 4-car units to slightly different designs which became part of the 4-Sub Class. Many of these later examples survived in passenger use until late 1983, by which time British Rail had allocated to them TOPS Class 405.
