The British Rail Class 465 '' Networker'' is a class of 147

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

s built by

Metro-Cammell Metro-Cammell, formally the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was an English manufacturer of railway carriages, locomotives and railway wagons, based in Saltley, and subsequently Washwood Heath, in Birmingham. Purchased ...

British Rail Engineering Limited British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was the railway systems engineering subsidiary of British Rail. Established in 1970, the maintenance arm was split as British Rail Maintenance Limited in 1987, and the design and building of trains was ...

(BREL) and ABB Rail between 1991 and 1994. Originally operated by Network South East, these units are now run by

Southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

Background

The

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the net ...

sector of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

began the planning for the development of the Class 465 ''Networker'' in 1988, and invited a tender for 710 of the units to be built. The Class 465 was introduced in order to replace the 41-year-old Class 415 (4EPB) slam-door EMUs. The first was delivered in December 1991 and the last in April 1995. The units entered passenger service from 1 December 1992 with a ceremony at

Cannon Street station Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Travelcard zone 1 located on Cannon Street in the City of London and managed by Network Rail. It is ...

, by Transport Secretary

John MacGregor John MacGregor, John Macgregor or John McGregor may refer to: Sportsmen * John McGregor (footballer, born 1851), Scottish international football player * John McGregor (footballer, born 1900) (1900–1993), English football player * John McGrego ...

. As part of the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...

, the 97 465/0s and 465/1s were sold to Eversholt Rail Group and the 50 Class 465/2s to Angel Trains. All trains were originally supplied in Network SouthEast livery and branded "Kent Link Networker". They are mostly used on suburban routes out of

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Q ...

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

, Blackfriars and

Cannon Street Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the south of the City. It is the site of the ancient London ...

to destinations in

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sut ...

and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and the first 20 Class 465/0s were repainted into Connex South Eastern Yellow and Blue livery in 1998 the same livery as seen on the 16 Class 365s introduced in June 1997. Some are scheduled to be replaced by Class 707s, with two hauled to

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from th ...

for store by Harry Needle Railroad Company in June 2021.

Two manufacturers

Due to the size of the original order,

approached two separate manufacturers to supply the new rolling stock. The first two sub-classes (designated 465/0 and 465/1) were built by

BREL Brel may refer to: *Andrew Brel (born Andreas Broulidakis 28 September 1960), UK music producer *Jacques Brel (1929-1978), French-speaking Belgian singer *Daniel Brel (b. 1950), French accordionist *British Rail Engineering Limited British Rai ...

/ ABB while the third sub-class (465/2) as well as the two-car (466) units were built by

. Although built to the same specification and utilised interchangeably, there are subtle differences between the two fleets and they do not share common parts. The maximum speed of a Class 465 is and they are designed only for 750 V DC

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...

operation. A Solid State Traction Converter package controls three-phase AC traction motors, which allows for rheostatic or regenerative

dynamic braking Dynamic braking is the use of an electric traction motor as a generator when slowing a vehicle such as an electric or diesel-electric locomotive. It is termed " rheostatic" if the generated electrical power is dissipated as heat in brake grid ...

. Primary braking system is electro-pneumatically actuated disc brakes, which is blended with the Dynamic brakes. Tachometers on every axle of the unit provide for Wheel Slip/Slide Protection.

Traction equipment replacement

Plans were drawn up in 2007 to improve reliability of the BREL and ABB units (Class 465/0 and 465/1) by the installation of new traction equipment. The new package was developed by

Hitachi Rail () is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Nissan ''zaibatsu'' and later DKB Group and Fuyo G ...

. It was retrofitted across all 97 465/0 and 465/1s trains over the course of 2009/2010.

Brush Traction Brush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England. It is a subsidiary of Wabtec. History Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Henry Hughes had been operating at the Falcon Works since ...

, the supplier/manufacturer of the original traction equipment, worked as consultants to assist in retro-fitting the new equipment.

Refurbishment

In 2005, the first 34 465/2 units (465201-465234) were given an extensive refurbishment at

Doncaster Works Doncaster Railway Works is a railway workshop located in Doncaster, England. Also referred to as The Plant''", it was established by the Great Northern Railway in 1853, replacing the previous works in Boston and Peterborough. Until 1867 it u ...

. This included new interior panelling, new flooring, new lighting, new seat

moquette Moquette, derived from the French word for carpet, is a type of woven pile fabric in which cut or uncut threads form a short dense cut or loop pile. As well as giving it a distinctive velvet-like feel, the pile construction is particularly durabl ...

(in the same grey and blue design as on the Class 375 Electrostars) and the addition of a new first class seating area at the front and rear of the units, amongst other changes. This was done to allow them to be transferred to outer-suburban routes alongside the Class 375s. They would be replaced on inner suburban services by Class 376s. They were reclassified as a separate sub-fleet designated 465/9 (465901–465934) and replaced the remaining Class 423 slam-door stock. The last in Network SouthEast livery was repainted in September 2007. Between 2010 and 2012, all Class 465/0 and 465/1s had an overhaul by RailCare of door systems, air systems, couplings and trailer bogies. It was also at this time that all of the seats were given a retrim in

current mauve and blue seat moquette. A further refresh of the entire Class 465 fleet took place gradually from 2016. This included the installation of new wheelchair spaces and fully accessible toilets, more handrails and tactile floor surfaces in the vestibule areas, and louder more audible door alarms. This was in order to maintain RVAR (Railway Vehicle Accessibility Regulations) compliance. The Met-Cam units also had new doors fitted.

Fleet details

References

{{Networker ABB multiple units 465 465 Train-related introductions in 1992 750 V DC multiple units