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 electric multiple unit development in Great Britain, see British 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TOPS class	Pre-TOPS class	Name or Information	Image	Withdrawn
Ex-MR units		Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham		1951
Class 300		Proposed parcels units
	AM1	25 kV AC prototype units		1966
Class 302	AM2	London-Tilbury-Southend		1999
Class 303	AM3	Strathclyde. Also on Greater Manchester area services during 1980s/early 1990s.		2002
Class 304	AM4	Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham		1996
Class 305	AM5	Chingford, Enfield		2001
Class 306	AM6	Shenfield (inner-suburban)		1980
Class 307	AM7	Southend (outer-suburban)		2000
Class 308	AM8	Eastern Region lines		2001
Class 309	AM9	Clacton Express.		2000
Class 310	AM10	Euston outer-suburban. Also West Midlands		2002
Class 311	AM11	Strathclyde		1999
Class 312		Great Eastern suburban Great Northern suburban West Midlands (four units)		2004

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, Govia Thameslink Railway	BREL York 1976-1977	64 x 3-car sets	100px
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)	London Overground, TfL Rail	BREL York 1980-1981	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)	Abellio Greater Anglia, Govia Thameslink Railway, London Overground	BREL York 1981-1982(317/1) 1985-1987(317/2)	72 x 4-car sets	100px
Class 318	Provincial ScotRail (for Strathclyde PTE)	First ScotRail	BREL York 1986-1987	21 x 3-car sets
Class 319	Network SouthEast (Thameslink services)	Govia Thameslink Railway, Northern Rail	BREL York 1987-1988(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)	Abellio Greater Anglia, Northern Rail, London Midland, Govia Thameslink Railway	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)	DB Schenker	ABB Derby 1995-1996	16 x 4-car units

Modern/Third 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 1992-1993	43 x 3-car sets
Class 331	Original classification of Class 332
Class 332	Heathrow Express	Heathrow Express	Siemens/CAF 1997-1998	9 x 4-car sets 5 x 5-car sets
Class 333	Arriva Trains Northern (for West Yorkshire PTE)	Northern Rail	Siemens/CAF 2000	16 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 Aventra	Crossrail			65 x 9-car sets
Class 350 (I)	Original classification of Class 325
Class 350 (II) Desiro	Silverlink, Central Trains	London Midland, First TransPennine Express	Siemens 2004-2005 2008-2009 2013-2014	87 x 4-car sets
Class 357 Electrostar	LTS Rail	c2c	Adtranz/Bombardier Derby 1999-2002	74 x 4-car sets
Class 360 Desiro	First Great Eastern, Heathrow Connect	Abellio Greater Anglia, Heathrow Connect	Siemens 2002-2003 2004-2005	21 x 4-car sets 5 x 5-car sets
Class 365 Networker	Network SouthEast (Great Northern and South Eastern services)	Govia Thameslink Railway	ABB York 1994-1995	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 2004-2005	36 x 5-car sets
Class 377 Electrostar	Southern	Southern, Govia Thameslink Railway	Bombardier Derby 2001-2005 2008-2009 2013-2014	28 x 3-car sets 177 x 4-car sets 34 x 5-car sets
Class 378 Capitalstar	London Overground	London Overground	Bombardier Derby 2008-2011	57 x 4-car sets
Class 379 Electrostar	National Express East Anglia	Abellio Greater Anglia	Bombardier Derby 2010-2011	30 x 4-car sets
Class 380 Desiro	First ScotRail	First ScotRail	Siemens 2009-2011	22 x 3-car sets 16 x 4-car sets
Class 381 Networker	proposed Network SouthEast express units	-	(never built)	-
Class 385 A-Train	Abellio ScotRail		Hitachi Rail Newton Aycliffe 2015-2018	46 x 3-car sets 24 x 4-car sets
Class 387 Electrostar	Govia Thameslink Railway	Govia Thameslink Railway	Bombardier Derby 2014-2015	56 x 4-car sets
Class 700 Desiro City	Govia Thameslink Railway	Govia Thameslink Railway	Siemens 2016-2018	60 x 8-car sets 55 x 12-car sets
Class 707 Desiro City	South West Trains		Siemens 2016-2018	30 x 5-car sets
Class 710 Aventra	London Overground			45 x 4-car sets

Tram-Trains

TOPS class	Built for	Current Operator(s)	Builder	Number Built	Image
Class 399 Citylink	Supertram	Supertram	Vossloh España 2014-2015	7 vehicles

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 APT	(out of service)	BREL Derby 1979	6 x 7-car half sets 2 spare cars
Class 373 TGV	Eurostar	Eurostar	various builders 1992-1996	14 x 8-car half sets 62 x 10-car half sets 1 spare car
Class 374 Velaro UK	Eurostar	Eurostar	Siemens 2012-2015	34 x 8-car half sets	100px
Class 390 Pendolino	Virgin West Coast	Virgin Trains	Alstom Birmingham 2001-2004 Savigliano, Italy 2009-2012	22 x 9-car sets 35 x 11-car sets
Class 395 Javelin	Southeastern	Southeastern	Hitachi 2007-2009	29 x 6-car sets	100px
Class 800 Super Express	Virgin Trains East Coast		Hitachi 2014-2019	13 x 9-car sets 46 x 5-car sets
	Great Western Railway
Class 801 Super Express	Virgin Trains East Coast		Hitachi 2016-2019	51 x 9-car sets 12 x 5-car sets
	Great Western Railway
Class 802 A-Train	Great Western Railway		Hitachi 2016-2020	27 x 5-car 7 x 9-car sets
	Hull Trains

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
Class 401	2-Bil
Class 402	2-Hal 2-Pan
	2-Nol
	2-SL	South London
	2-Wim	Wimbledon-Croydon
	3-Sub
	4-Buf
Class 404	4-Cor
	4-DD	Double Deck EMU
	4-Gri
	4-Lav
	4-Res
Class 405	4-Sub
Class 403	5-Bel	Brighton Belle London Victoria-Brighton
	6-Cit	London Bridge-Brighton
	6-Pan	Pantry units
	6-Pul	Pullman London Victoria-Brighton

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
Class 410	4-Bep
Class 411	4-Cep
Class 412	4-Bep
Class 413	4-Cap	2 x 2Hap permanently coupled
Class 414	2-Hap		100px
Class 415	4-EPB
Class 416	2-EPB
Class 418	2-Sap	2Hap units with declassified 1st Class accommodation
Class 419	MLV	London-Dover/Folkestone boat trains
Class 420	4-Big
Class 421	4/3-Cig 3-Cop	Last 2 units of this type in service were withdrawn in 2010
Class 422	4-Big 8-Dig
Class 423	4-Vep 4-Vop
Class 427	4-Veg	First stock used for Gatwick Express
Class 430	4-Rep
Class 431	6-Rep
Class 432	4-Rep
Class 438	3-TC 4-TC
Class 480	8-Vab
Class 482 (I)	8-Mig
Class 488		Gatwick Express Trailers
Class 489	GLV	Gatwick Express driving trailers
Class 499 (I)	TLV

Tube Stock

Island Line Class 483 unit no. 483004 at Smallbrook Junction

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	4-Vec	ex LU Standard stock
Class 486	3-Tis	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	5-Wes	Wessex Express
Class 444	5-Des	Desiro
Class 445	4-Pep	Second Generation EMU prototype - 4 car
Class 446	2-Pep	Second Generation EMU prototype - 2 car
Class 447		Proposed Battersea Bullet
Class 450	4-Des	Desiro
Class 455
Class 456
Class 457		DC Networker prototype
Class 458	4-Jop	Juniper
Class 460	8-Gat	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	Withdrawn	Notes
Class 501	North London stock		1985	650 V Third & Fourth Rail
Class 502	Liverpool-Southport/Ormskirk stock		1980	650 V Third Rail
Class 503	Mersey-Wirral stock		1985	650 V Third Rail
Class 504	Manchester-Bury stock		1991	1.2 kV Side Contact Third Rail (Unique on BR network)
Class 505	Manchester-Altrincham stock		1971	1.5 kV OHLE
Class 506	Manchester-Hadfield/Glossop stock		1984	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-LOR Units (Liverpool Overhead Railway stock)
• Ex-LYR Units (Manchester-Bury stock)
• Ex-Mersey Railway Units (Merseyside DC stock)
• Ex-W&CR Units (Waterloo & City Railway stock)

Battery electric multiple unit (BEMU)

The original BEMU was a one-off unit, withdrawn before the introduction of TOPS.

• 79998/79999

A new generation battery EMU (called an Independently Powered Electric Multiple Unit) is being created in 2014, converted from a Class 379.

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		Used for operation between Pelaw and Sunderland

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