British Rail Class 442

British Rail Class 442
*Wessex Electrics*
British Rail Class 442; Wessex Electrics
	South Western Railway Class 442 train near Shawford in 2019
	Standard-class saloon of an SWR-refurbished unit
In service	1988 – March 2020
Manufacturer	British Rail Engineering Limited
Order no.	31030 (DTF vehicles); 31031 (DTS vehicles); 31032 (TS(A) vehicles); 31033 (TS(B) vehicles); 31034 (MBLS vehicles);
Built at	Derby Litchurch Lane Works
Family name	Mark 3
Replaced	Class 432; Class 438; Class 460;
Constructed	1987–1989
Refurbished	2008–2009 (Gatwick Express); 2017–2018 (SWR);
Scrapped	2020 – 2021
Number built	24
Number scrapped	24; (except 1 preserved DTS vehicle)
Successor	Class 387; Class 444; Class 458;
Formation	5 cars per unit;; As built:; DTF-TS(A)-MBLS-TS(B)-DTS; As refurbished by SWR:; DTSO(A)-TSO-MBC-TSOW-DTSO(B);
Diagram	DTF vehicles: EE160; TS(A) vehicles: EH288; MBLS vehicles: ED265; TS(B) vehicles: EH289; DTS vehicles: EE273;
Design code	5-WES
Fleet numbers	442401–442424
Capacity	As built: 300 seats (50 first class, 250 standard); SWT: 316 seats (50 first class, 266 standard); GX: 346 seats (24 first class, 322 standard); SWR: 336 seats (32 first class, 304 standard);
Owners	Angel Trains
Operators	Network SouthEast; South West Trains; Gatwick Express; South Western Railway;
Depots	Bournemouth; Stewarts Lane (London);
Lines served	Brighton Main Line; Portsmouth Direct Line; South West Main Line;
Specifications
Car body construction	Steel
Car length	22.570 m (74 ft 0.6 in)
Width	2.740 m (8 ft 11.9 in)
Height	3.810 m (12 ft 6.0 in)
Doors	Single-leaf sliding plug (2 per side per car)
Wheelbase	Over bogie centres: 16.000 m (52 ft 5.9 in)
Maximum speed	100 mph (160 km/h)
Weight	MBLS vehs.: 51 tonnes (50 long tons; 56 short tons); Trailers: 34 tonnes (33 long tons; 37 short tons);
Traction motors	4 × English Electric EE546,; each of 300 kW (400 hp)
Power output	1,200 kW (1,610 hp)
HVAC	Air conditioning
Electric system(s)	750 V DC third rail
Current collector(s)	Contact shoe
UIC classification	2′2′+2′2′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′+2′2′
Bogies	Powered: BREL P7-3; Unpowered: BREL T3-7;
Minimum turning radius	90 m (295 ft 3 in)
Braking system(s)	Electro-pneumatic
Safety system(s)	AWS; TPWS;
Coupling system	Drop-head Buckeye
Multiple working	Within class, and with locomotives of Classes 33/1 and 73/1
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The British Rail Class 442 (5-WES) Wessex Electrics were electric multiple unit passenger trains introduced in 1988 by Network SouthEast on the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth to coincide with the electrification of the line from Bournemouth. Twenty-four five-car units were built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Derby Litchurch Lane Works.

Following the privatisation of British Rail, the fleet was sold to Angel Trains and operated by South West Trains up until February 2007, when they were replaced by Class 444 and Class 450s. After a period in storage, they were leased to Southern for use on Gatwick Express services from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport and Brighton. The units were withdrawn from Gatwick Express services in 2016 and from Southern peak-hour London Bridge to Brighton and Eastbourne services in March 2017. From 2019, eighteen were leased by South Western Railway and were refurbished for use on London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour services. However they were again withdrawn in March 2020 due to services being reduced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2021, South Western Railway purchased all 18 from Angel Trains, stripped the fleet of their recently refurbished equipment for parts and scrapped them.

The class holds the world speed record for a third-rail train, having attained 109 mph (175 km/h) on a test run prior to entering service.

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