British Rail Class 455

British Rail Class 455
British Rail Class 455
	South Western Railway Class 455 train in 2024
	Interior of a refurbished South West Trains Class 455/9
In service	1983–2026
Manufacturer	British Rail Engineering Limited
Built at	Holgate Road Works, York
Family name	BR Second Generation (Mark 3)
Replaced	Class 405; Class 415; Class 508;
Constructed	1982–1985
Entered service	1983
Retired	2022–2026
Scrapped	2022–present
Number built	137; (43 × 455/7,; with Class 508 TSO vehicles); (74 × 455/8); (20 × 455/9);
Number preserved	1
Number scrapped	107
Successor	Class 701 (SWR); Class 377 (Southern);
Formation	4 cars per unit:; DTSO-MSO-TSO-DTSO
Diagram	455/7 & /9 DTSO vehs.: EE226; 455/8 DTSO vehs.: EE218; 455/7 & /9 MSO vehs.: EC206; 455/8 MSO vehs.: EC203; 455/7 TSO vehs.: EH219; 455/8 TSO vehs.: EH221; 455/9 TSO vehs.: EH224;
Fleet numbers	455701–455742; 455750; 455801–455874; 455901–455920;
Capacity	As built: 316 seats; SN refurb.: 307 seats; SWT refurb.: 244 seats;
Owners	Porterbrook; Southern Electric Traction Group;
Operators	British Rail; Network SouthEast; Network SouthCentral; Connex South Central; Southern; South West Trains; South Western Railway (First MTR); South Western Railway;
Depots	Strawberry Hill (London); Wimbledon (London);
Specifications
Car body construction	455/7 TSOs: aluminium; All others: steel;
Train length	81.16 m (266 ft 3 in)
Car length	DTSO: 19.83 m (65 ft 1 in); MSO/TSO: 19.92 m (65 ft 4 in);
Width	2.82 m (9 ft 3 in)
Height	455/7 TSOs: 3.58 m (11 ft 9 in); All others: 3.77 m (12 ft 4 in);
Floor height	1.14 m (3 ft 9 in)
Doors	Double-leaf pocket sliding; (2 per side per car)
Wheelbase	Over bogie centres:; 14.17 m (46 ft 6 in)
Maximum speed	75 mph (121 km/h)
Weight	DTSO: 29.5 t (29.0 long tons; 32.5 short tons); MSO: 45.6 t (44.9 long tons; 50.3 short tons); 455/7 TSO: 25.5 t (25.1 long tons; 28.1 short tons); 455/8 & /9 TSO: 27.1 t (26.7 long tons; 29.9 short tons);
Traction system	As built:; Camshaft-controlled DC; SWR refurbished:; Vossloh Kiepe IGBT-VVVF;
Traction motors	As built:; 4 × English Electric 507-20J,; each of 153 kW (205 hp); SWR refurbished:; 4 × TSA TME 52-35-4,; each of 250 kW (335 hp);
Power output	As built: 610 kW (820 hp); Refurbished: 1,000 kW (1,300 hp);
Acceleration	0.58 m/s2 (1.9 ft/s2)
Electric systems	750 V DC third rail
Current collection	Contact shoe
UIC classification	2′2′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′+2′2′
Bogies	455/7 TSOs: BREL BX1; MSOs: BREL BP27; Others: BREL BT13;
Minimum turning radius	70 m (231 ft)
Braking systems	As built:; Electro-pneumatic (disc) and rheostatic (Westcode); SWR refurbished:; Adds regenerative; (Knorr-Bremse EP98);
Safety systems	AWS; TPWS;
Coupling system	Tightlock
Multiple working	Within class, and with Class 456
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The British Rail Class 455 are Mark 3-based electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains built by BREL between 1982 and 1985. Upon their introduction, they replaced Class 508s as well as aging Southern Railway slam-door stock on commuter services out of London Waterloo.

Whilst the trains were originally built utilising recycled DC traction equipment from Southern Railway 4Sub rolling stock from the 1940s, South West Trains refitted their units with AC traction equipment provided by Vossloh in 2017; despite this change however the trains retained their original gearboxes. The units were last operated on suburban services in Greater London and Surrey by Southern in May 2022, and by South Western Railway in March 2026. They were replaced by the Class 701 EMU on the South Western Railway network.