British Rail Class 411 - Definition and Overview

Class 411 4Cep no. 1586, about to depart London Victoria on 18th March 2003, with a service to Ramsgate. The unit is painted in the old Network South East livery, and was operated by Connex South Eastern (now South Eastern Trains). This was the unit's last train before being withdrawn from traffic later the same day. It has since been scrapped.

Class 411 4Cep no. 1592, at Dover Priory on 27th April 2003, whilst forming a special excursion train around Kent and East Sussex. This unit was specially repainted into its original Green livery, to commemorate the retirement of the 4Cep fleet from service. This unit was withdrawn from traffic 2004, and has sadly been scrapped.

Class 411 4Cep no. 1602, at Dover Priory on 27th April 2003, whilst forming a special excursion train around Kent and West Sussex. This was the only 4Cep unit to be painted in Connex South Eastern livery, after it suffered damage in a derailment, and had to be repaired at Eastleigh works. This unit lasted in traffic until 2004, and has since been scrapped.

Class 412 4Bep no. 2325, departing London Waterloo on 15th August 2003. This unit was reformed in 2002, with the addition of a buffet car. It was retired by South West Trains later in 2003, and is now preserved at the East Kent Railway. It is currently planned to restore this unit to its original as-built condition.

Description

The British Rail Class 411 (or 4Cep) electrical multiple units were built at Eastleigh works from 1956-63 for the newly electrified main lines in Kent. These units was based on the earlier Southern Railway 4Cor design, built in 1937.

Standard Units

The standard units contained passenger seating only, and formed the backbone of the new fleet. 111 units were built in several batches, initially numbered in the range 7101-7211. Units 7101-7104 were the prototype units, and were followed by 'Phase 1' units (7105-7153) and subsequently 'Phase 2' units (7154-7211).

Units were formed of two outer driving motors cars, sandwiching two intermediate trailer cars.

4Bep Units

The 4Bep units were similar to the standard units, but contained a buffet car in place of one of the trailers. 22 units were built, initially numbered in the range 7001-7022. The first two units (7001-7002) were prototypes, and were followed by 'Phase 1' units (7003-7012) and 'Phase 2' (7013-7022).

The 4Bep fleet were classified as Class 410 by British Rail under the new computer numbering system introduced in 1968.

Refurbishment

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, British Rail recognised that the 4Cep fleet was in need of refurbishment. This was carried out at BR's Swindon Works. Refurbishment included moving the guard's compartment from both the motor cars to one of the intermediate trailers. Many of the 4Bep fleet were converted to standard units, since the requirement for buffet cars had declines.

The first refurbished unit was no. 7153, which was later renumbered to 1500. This unit was experimentally refurbished in 1975 at Eastleigh Works. Following evaluation, the contract for the refurbishment of the rest of the fleet was awarded to BR's Swindon Works. Subsequent refurbished standard units were renumbered in the range 1501-1621, and reclassified as Class 411/5. Only seven 4Bep units were retained and refurbished, being renumbered in the range 2301-2307, and reclassified as Class 412/0. The remaining 4Bep units were converted into 4Cep units by replacing the buffet car with a standard trailer converted from conventional locomotive-hauled coaching stock.

4Tep Units

During refurbishment work, several temporary 4Tep units were created, formed of three carriages from a refurbished Cep unit, with an unrefurbished buffet car from a Bep unit. The units were renumbered in the range 2701-2704. These units were disbanded by 1986, once the refurbishment program was complete. The units were reformed as standard 4Cep units, and the unrefurbished buffet carriages were scrapped.

Unit formation are given below:

Current Operations

After rail privatisation in the mid-1990's, the different divisions of British Raill were divided up into different franchises. The three former SR division; South-Eastern, South Central and South-Western; all operated 4Cep units, and are dealt with separately here.

Connex South Central

The South Central (SC) division, operated as Connex South Central, briefy operated 4Cep units in the period 1995-1998. Three standard units were converted to Class 411/6 by fitting them with high-speed Mk.6 motor bogies. These units were renumbered into the series 1697-1699. They were chiefly employed on London Bridge to Brighton express services. However, as the units were non-standard in the SC fleet, they were withdrawn and transferred to South West Trains.

South Eastern Trains

The South Eastern (SE) division inherited the largest fleet of 4Cep units. The franchise was originally operated by Connex as Connex South Eastern, but after Connex lost the franchise it became South Eastern Trains. In 1996, when the frachise was awarded, a fleet of 85 standard units were in traffic. Many of these were quickly withdrawn from traffic, or transferred to the SW division. In early 1999, five units were converted to Class 411/9 3Cep units, with the removal of an intermediate trailer. This was neccessary, as some stations could only accommodate 11 carriages, so a 12 carriage trains would over-hang the station. A further 13 units were later converted. The 3Cep units were renumbered into the series 1101-1118.

The Connex fleet contained two 'celebrity' units. The first, no. 1592, was repainted by staff at Slade Green depot into it original Green livery, to commemorate the final months in traffic for these units. The second, no. 1602, was the only 4Cep unit repainted into Connex livery, after it received derailment damage at London Bridge station, and had to be repaired at Eastleigh works. Both of these units were popular with railtours and excursion trains.

Withdrawal of units started in 1999, after they were replaced by new Class 375 'Electrostar' units. The original aim was to totally replace the 4Cep fleet by 2000. However, poor reliabily of the new units saw the 4Cep's retained beyond this date. By the end of 2002, the fleet was again being reduced, with many standard units being sent to Immingham for scrap. The 3Cep units were all withdrawn by March 2003, as units in traffic beyond this date had to be fitted with the new safety device TPWS. In the event, only seven units, nos. 1562, 1590, 1592, 1593, 1594, 1602 and 1615 were retained. These became known to enthusiasts as the "Magnificent 7".

By the beginning of 2004, the seven units were withdrawn as they were due overhaul. They were replaced with units cascaded from South West Trains, which included the three Class 411/6 units. However, these units were themselves slowly retired, and it was expected the final units would have been withdrawn from service before the end of 2004. However, it now seems that the remaining three units will linger on until at least February 2005.

South West Trains

The South West (SW) division franchise was won by the Stagecoach Group and was operated as South West Trains (SWT). SWT did not inherit any standard 4Cep units, but it did operate the seven 4Bep units. However, in 1996, a shortage of trains led to SWT hiring two sets (nos. 1568 and 1589) on a short-term lease. These units were quickly followed by more, until by 1998, SWT had a fleet of 29 standard 4Cep units. These were gradually overhauled, and were employed on a range of duties, including services to Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Bournemouth and Weymouth. Additionally, units commonly worked services on the Lymington branch.

The fleet stayed reasonably static until 2002, when SWT reformed several sets. The buffet cars from the 4Bep units were inserted into seven standard units, which were renumbered 2321-2327 (reclassified as Class 412/2). The displaced carriages were inserted into the 4Bep units, which were renumbered 2311-2317 (reclassified as Class 412/1). The reason behind this was that the 4Bep units had faster acceleration, and the buffet cars were no longer used. Therefore the reformations allowed a higher seating capacity in the faster units.

By 2003, SWT had ordered new trains, to replace all its slam-door trains. These were designated Class 444 for express trains, and Class 450, for suburban trains. The first units to be replaced were the units in the 232x series, which were due for early withdrawal. Of the seven sets, one, set no. 2323, was withdrawn in 2002 due to fire damage, but was later converted back to a standard unit. Another, set no. 2326, was reduced to a 3Cep, for operating the "Lymington Flyer" service on the Lymington branch, and was renumbered 1199. The remaining five units lasted until December 2003, when they were withdrawn. One, set no. 2325 was preserved, whilst the rest were scrapped.

The standard units lasted until early-2004, when they were either withdrawn and scrapped, or transferred to South Eastern Trains. One of the 4Bep units, no. 2314, was converted into a 3Cep to replace no. 1199, and was renumbered 1198. Of the remaining six 4Bep units, four were withdrawn in October, whilst the remaining two are expected to remain in traffic until mid-2005. The 3Cep unit, no. 1198, was withdrawn at the end of December 2004, and was preserved on the Dartmoor Railway. A replacement came in the form of 3Cig unit no. 1499.

Further Use and Departmental Units

Over the years, several unit have seen further use as departmental units. These are listed below:

• 7102 - Converted to Tractor Unit 932080.
• 1500 - Converted to Tractor Unit 932081.
• 1505 - Converted to Route-learning Unit 930082 for use by Southern, including removal of end-gangways. Since converted to static training unit at Selhurst depot.
• 1512 - Used as a 3-car Tractor Unit by South West Trains at Bournemouth depot.
• 1545 - Converted to test unit 932545 and exported to Sweden.
• 1620 - Converted to test unit 932620 for central door locking trials. Now used for paint trials at Eastleigh Works.

Preservation

Currently, two complete units have been saved for preservation.

4Bep unit no. 2325 (previously no. 1537 and 7105) has been preserved by the EPB Preservation Group (http://www.epgpg.co.uk), based on the East Kent Railway. This set was the first of the production units to be built, and it is planned to restore it to its original unrefurbished condition. The set contains the buffet car previously in set no. 2305 (ex-7014).

3Cep unit no. 1198 has been preserved on the Dartmoor Railway. This was converted from former 4Bep unit 2314 (ex-2304) for use on the Lymington branch.

Various other individual carriages have also been saved for preservation, including the driving motors from set no. 1589 (ex-7178) on the Dartmoor Railway, and the intermediate trailers from set no. 1500 (ex-7153) at Coventry Railway Centre.

The complete list is shown below:

Fleet Details

As of December 2004, just five units remain in service.

Unrefurbished Units

Refurbished Units

External Links

For more information see the following pages:

• EPB Preservation Group - owners of preserved set 2325. (http://www.epbpg.co.uk)
• Southern Electric Group - Information on Class 411/412 and other EMUs. (http://www.southernelectric.org.uk/seglibrarykentcoast4.html#Express%20Rolling%20Stock—4Cep%20and%204Bep%20(later%20Class%20411%20and%20410))
• Southern Electric Group - Photographs of 4Bep units. (http://www.southernelectric.org.uk/news/sdgcep.html)