British Rail Class 421 - Definition and Overview

Class 421/3, no. 1717, at Clapham Junction on 20th August 2004. This was one of the final few 'Phase 1' 4Cig units in service with Southern.

Description

The British Rail Class 421 (or 4Cig) electrical multiple units were built at York Works from 1964-72. Units were built in two batches, and were initially introduced on services on the Brighton main line. Later units were introduced on services to Portsmouth. These units replaced older Southern Railway-designed units, such as the 5Bel "Brighton Belle" units, and 4Cor units.

Standard Units

The standard units contained only passenger accommodation, and formed the bulk of the fleet.

Units consisted of two driving trailer, sandwiching an intermediate motor coach, and an intermediate trailer.

Units were built in two batches. 'Phase 1' units were built from 1963-66 for the Brighton Line, and were numbered 7301-7336. These were followed from 1970-72 by the 'Phase 2' units, built primarily for the Portsmouth line, numbered 7337-7438.

4Big Units

The 4Big units were similar to the standard units, but contained a buffet car in place of the intermediate trailer.

These units were also built in two batches. 'Phase 1' units were built from 1965-66, and were numbered 7031-48. 'Phase 2' units were built in 1970, and were numbered 7049-7058.

The 4Big fleet were intially classified as Class 420 by British Rail under the new computer numbering system introduced in 1968.

Refurbishment

Units were facelifted from 1985-93.

8Mig Units

In 1983, two temporary 8Mig units, numbered 2601-2602, were formed whilst the 4Big fleet underwent asbestos removal. Therefore, four standard 'Phase 2' 4Cig units, numbers 7401-7404, were reformed with conventional locomotive-hauled miniature buffet carriage (RMB). Each 8Mig unit was formed by marshalling the RMB coach in between two units, one of which was reduced to three carriages, with the removal of the intermediate trailer (TSO). Thus, in effect, each 8Mig unit was effectively formed of 4Cig + RMB + 3Cig. The formations of the units are listed below:

These units were only used during the summer of 1983, after which enough asbestos-free 4Big units were available. The two 8Mig units were disbanded and the four 4Cig unit reformed. The 4Cig units have since been renumbered several time, as shown below:

8Dig Units

In 1992, four 8Dig units, numbered 2001-2004, were formed by semi-permanently coupling a 4Cig and a 4Big unit. The units were dedicated to London Victoria to Brighton express services, which were operated as the Capital-Coast Express.

The 8Dig units were formed from four 'Phase 2' 4Big units, and two 'Phase 1' and two 'Phase 2' 4Cig units. The 'Phase 1' units, numbers 1901/02 (recently renumbered from 1715/16), were fitted with Mk.6 motor bogies. Interestingly, one of the 'Phase 2' 4Cig units, no. 1875 (ex. 7404), had previously been part of 8Mig unit 2602. Unit formations are listed below:

The units were disbanded in 1996, after replacement by dedicated Class 319/2 units. The various 4Cig and 4Big units were reformed and gained their original numbers, except unit 1875, which was renumbered to 1802.

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 4Cig units, and are dealt with separately here.

South Eastern Trains

South Eastern Trains (SET) operated a small fleet of three 'Phase 1' and 22 'Phase 2' 4Cig units.

All but one of the 'Phase 2' units continued to carry the obsolete Network SouthEast livery. One unit, no. 1870 was repainted into Connex yellow and white. The three 'Phase 1' units were painted in white undercoat livery, since their use was originally only supposed to be short-term. However, despite this, the units remained in traffic for seven more years, from 1997 to 2004. They were popularly known as "Ghosts" by rail enthusiasts.

From 2003, units started to be withdrawn, having been replaced by the second batch of the new "Electrostar" units. The three 'Phase 1' units had gone by mid-2004. The final unit, no. 1843, lingered on for several months longer than its clasmates, and was eventually withdrawn in mid-November 2004. All the SET units have been scrapped.

South Central / Southern

The South Central Division inherited the largest fleet of 4Cig units. Originally, this included all remaining 'Phase 1' units, although some later transferred to South Eastern Trains, 35 'Phase 2' units, and the four 8Dig units. The remaining few 4Big units were also used on the former Central Division.

The South Central franchise was initially won by Connex, who applied their yellow and white livery to most stock. In 2000, they lost the franchise to the Go-Ahead Group, who operated the franchise as South Central. In 2004, this was changed to Southern.

In 1997, the remaining 4Big units were withdrawn. Eight of these units were transferred to South West Trains. The remaining eleven unit were heavily rebuilt at Eastleigh Works, with compartments removed and opened out, and the buffet carriages withdrawn. The modified units were reclassified as Class 421/7, and renumbered into the 1401-1411 range. The units were also known as 3Cop units, which denoted their intended use, dedicated to Coastway services out of Brighton. Two units received names, a rarity for slam-door EMU stock.

• 1408 - Littlehampton Progress 2000
• 1409 - Operation Perseus

South West Trains

South West Trains inherited a fleet a small fleet of twelve 'Phase 2' 4Cig units, and the larger fleet of 22 "Greyhound" units, which had been modified to allow faster acceleration.

In 1997, the fleet was augmented with the addition of eight 4Big units from Connex South Central. These operated with the counter in the buffet carriages out of service. By 1999, the units had been stored.

In 1999 eight additional "Greyhound" units were converted from the redundant 4Big units. The units were reclassified as Class 421/8, and renumbered in the range 1392-1398. The modifications included the removal of the buffer carriages, which were replaced by spare intermediate trailers from 4Cep units. Most of these trailers came from 4Cep units that were converted to 3Cep units, but a few came from withdrawn units. These trailers were immediately recognisable as they have a different body profile to the rest of the unit. The buffet carriages were withdrawn, although many were saved for preservation.

In December 2004, Class 421/8 unit no. 1394, was reduced to a three car unit, with the removal of its Cep trailer. It was renumbered to 1499, and dedicated to the "Lymington Flyer" service, replacing the previous incumbent unit, no. 1198.

Withdrawals of units started in mid-2004, as many new Class 444 and Class 450 "Desiro" units have entered service. By the end of 2004, just a handful of units remained in traffic. It is expected the final units will be the Class 421/8 units, of which some will last until May 2005.

Preservation

So far, one complete unit has been preserved. Unit 1705 (formerly 7301), the first-built unit, has been preserved by Southern, for use on special excursion trains. In addition, numerous buffet cars from 4Big units have also been preserved. The complete list is shown below:

Fleet Details

Original-condition Units

Facelifted Units