British Rail Class 442
The British Rail Class 442 (or 5Wes) electrical multiple units, also known as Wessex Electrics, were introduced in 1988, to serve on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo to Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth. Twenty-four 5-car units were built between 1988-89 by BREL at Derby. Their introduction coincided with the completion of electrification from Bournemouth to Weymouth. The entire fleet is operated by South West Trains.
Description
The Class 442 is based on the Mark 3 carriage bodyshell, and have a number of features which distinguish it from the slam-door units they replaced:
- Vehicle length is 23 m (72 ft), as opposed to 20 m.
- All vehicles are air-conditioned, and have powered internal doors and external plug doors.
- Units consist of 5 vehicles, and operate as 5-car or 10-car trains, as opposed to 4-car units operating as 4, 8 or 12-car trains.
- Maximum permitted speed is 100 mph (160 km/h).
In true BR Southern Region tradition, many electrical components, including traction motors and electrical control gear, were salvaged from the Class 432 units they replaced. As such, the older 4Rep and 4TC units had to be withdrawn before their replacements were built, which resulted in some unusual unit configurations being used on the Weymouth line between 1986 and 1988.
The Class 442's increased top speed, combined with timetable changes, resulted in some minor journey time improvements, for example, the down fast train (xx32) reaching Southampton Airport Parkway station in 58 minutes with no stops, a journey of around 70 miles (100 km). The units were initially dedicated to the Weymouth line, but through the 1990s began to be diagrammed on the London Waterloo to Portsmouth direct line. When the Class 444 units are fully commissioned, the Wessex Electrics will again be dedicated to the Weymouth line.
The Class 442 was the one of the first types to use plastics extensively in construction, earning them the nickname among staff of "Plastic Pigs".
Fleet Details
Units are numbered 2401-2424, and are formed of two outer driving trailers, two intermediate trailers, and an intermediate motor vehicle, which also has a buffet counter. The description of this formation is DTFso+TSO+MBRSM+TSO+DTSO. Individual vehicles are numbered as follows:
- 77382-77405 - DTFso
- 71818-71841 - TSO
- 62937-62960 - MBRSM
- 71842-71865 - TSO
- 77406-77429 - DTSO
The motor buffer vehicles were all modernised in a works program at Crewe from 1997-98. At the same time, units were also repainted from their original Network SouthEast livery, into South West Trains' Express livery.
Over the years, various units have received names. Many of these are towns or places along the routes that they work, whilst a few have been for publicity purposes.
The complete fleet list is shown below, with details of vehicle numbers, names and livery.
| Unit Number | Name (carried on MBRSM) | Livery | DTFso | TSO | MBRSM | TSO | DTSO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2401 | Beaulieu | SWT Express | 77382 | 71818 | 62937 | 71842 | 77406 |
| 2402 | County of Hampshire | SWT Express | 77383 | 71819 | 62938 | 71843 | 77407 |
| 2403 | The New Forest | SWT Express | 77384 | 71820 | 62941 | 71844 | 77408 |
| 2404 | Borough of Woking | SWT Express | 77385 | 71821 | 62939 | 71845 | 77409 |
| 2405 | City of Portsmouth | SWT Express | 77386 | 71822 | 62944 | 71845 | 77410 |
| 2406 | Victory | SWT Express | 77389 | 71823 | 62942 | 71847 | 77411 |
| 2407 | Thomas Hardy | SWT Express | 77388 | 71824 | 62943 | 71848 | 77412 |
| 2408 | County of Dorset | SWT Express | 77387 | 71825 | 62945 | 71849 | 77413 |
| 2409 | Bournemouth Orchestras | SWT Express | 77390 | 71826 | 62946 | 71850 | 77414 |
| 2410 | Meridian Tonight | SWT Express | 77391 | 71827 | 62948 | 71851 | 77415 |
| 2411 | The Railway Children | SWT Express | 77392 | 71828 | 62940 | 71858 | 77422 |
| 2412 | Special Olympics | SWT Express | 77393 | 71829 | 62947 | 71853 | 77417 |
| 2413 | - | SWT Express | 77394 | 71830 | 62949 | 71854 | 77418 |
| 2414 | - | SWT Express | 77395 | 71831 | 62950 | 71855 | 77419 |
| 2415 | Mary Rose | SWT Express | 77396 | 71832 | 62951 | 71856 | 77420 |
| 2416 | Mum in a Million 1997 - Doreen Scanlon | SWT Express | 77397 | 71833 | 62952 | 71857 | 77421 |
| 2417 | Woking Homes | SWT Express | 77398 | 71834 | 62953 | 71852 | 77416 |
| 2418 | Wessex Cancer Trust | SWT Express | 77399 | 71835 | 62954 | 71859 | 77423 |
| 2419 | BBC South Today | SWT Express | 77400 | 71836 | 62955 | 71860 | 77424 |
| 2420 | City of Southampton | SWT Express | 77401 | 71837 | 62956 | 71861 | 77425 |
| 2421 | - | SWT Express | 77402 | 71838 | 62957 | 71862 | 77426 |
| 2422 | Operation Overlord | SWT Express | 77403 | 71839 | 62958 | 71863 | 77427 |
| 2423 | County of Surrey | SWT Express | 77404 | 71840 | 62959 | 71864 | 77428 |
| 2424 | Gerry Newson | SWT Express | 77405 | 71841 | 62960 | 71865 | 77429 |