List of British Rail electric multiple unit classes
British EMU classification system
This article 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.
AC units operate off 25 kValternating current (AC) from overhead wires. Where clearances for the overhead wires on the Great Eastern Main Line, North Clyde 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 Vdirect 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.
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.
Note that TOPS class 499 is currently allocated to London Underground owned stock that needs to use Network Rail owned tracks. This does not involve any renumbering of the stock involved, and is only for electronic recording purposes.[9]
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 The DC electric network around Tyneside had been de-electrified by the time TOPS was introduced, and the stock withdrawn or transferred to the Southern Region.
The original BEMU was a one-off unit, withdrawn before the introduction of TOPS. A new generation battery EMU (called an Independently Powered Electric Multiple Unit) was created in 2014, converted from a Class 379.[citation needed]
^"LUL stock given TOPS numbers". The Railway Magazine. No. 1145. September 1996. p. 27.
Sources
Webber, B. (1999). "Class 323 Electric Multiple Units". Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. 213 (1): 49–62. doi:10.1243/0954409991531029. S2CID109704714.