The British Rail Class 321 are electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains built by

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 ...

Holgate Road carriage works The Holgate Road carriage works was a railway carriage manufacturing factory in the Holgate area of York, England. The factory began production in 1884 as a planned expansion and replacement of the North Eastern Railway's Queen Street site; ...

in three batches between 1988 and 1991. The class uses

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

(AC) overhead electrification. The design was successful and led to the development of the similar Class 320 and Class 322. Today the class is operated by Greater Anglia. Some have been converted to Class 320 and are operated by ScotRail.

Description

Three sub-classes were built. The first two were built for 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 for operation on services from

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

and

London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...

, while the third was built for

Regional Railways Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after privatisation. The sector was originally called ''Provincial''. Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per pas ...

for use on

West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yor ...

services from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. 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 ...

, ownership of the class passed from British Rail to the

Eversholt Rail Group Eversholt Rail Group is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). Together with Angel Trains and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs created as a result of the privatisation of British Rail. Eversholt was established in March 1994 ...

in April 1994. Each unit consists of four carriages: (DTC-PMS-TS-DTS) all units have a maximum speed of . They have been modified by the different rail companies which use them. The modifications include new seats, paintwork, lighting and

passenger information systems A passenger information system, or passenger information display system, is an automated system for supplying users of public transport with information about the nature and the state of a public transport service through visual, voice or other m ...

. The trains have been nicknamed "Dusty Bins" by some enthusiasts, after the TV game show "

3-2-1 ''3–2–1'' was a British game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, from 29 July 1978 to 24 December 1988, with Ted Rogers as the host. It was based on a Spanish gameshow called '' Un, dos, tres... res ...

" which featured a mascot called "Dusty Bin".

Class 321/3

In September 1987, Network SouthEast ordered 46 321/3 units for use on services from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

and

Southend Victoria Southend Victoria railway station is the eastern terminus of the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, a branch off the Great Eastern Main Line, and is one of the primary stations serving the resort city of Southend-on-Sea, Essex ...

. The first was unveiled on 15 September 1988. A further 20 were ordered later."The Class 321 EMUs" ''

Today's Railways UK ''Today's Railways UK'' is an English-based monthly magazine covering rail transport in Great Britain. It was founded by Platform 5 in January 2002 as ''Entrain'' as a sister publication to '' Today's Railways Europe'', in January 2006 it was ...

'' issue 154 October 2014 pages 50–57 Units were numbered 321301-366. These units replaced slam-door Class 305, Class 307, Class 308 and Class 309 units on trains to Clacton and

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, and worked services on the newly electrified routes to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

and Harwich. They also displaced many Class 312 slam-door units, which moved over to the

London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street station, in central London, with destinations in east London and Essex, including , , ...

. Some of the Class 309s were retained until 1994, and 24 of the newer Class 312 units were retained long-term to work services to

Walton-on-the-Naze Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside town on the North Sea coast and (as Walton le Soken) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district in Essex, England. It is north of Clacton and south of the port of H ...

and peak services to Clacton, Ipswich and

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Che ...

. Units carried Network SouthEast livery from new. In March 2008, 321361 was named ''Phoenix'' at Ilford depot after it was rebuilt at the disused Colchester shed to repair damage caused by an arson attack at Southend Victoria on 10 July 2007. The first of 30 321/3 units to be refurbished 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 ...

, as part of the Renatus project which modernised the stock with features such as new air conditioning and heating, seating and Wi-Fi was completed in December 2016.

Class 321/4

In October 1988 a second batch of 30 was ordered. It was intended that 25 be used on Great Eastern Main Line services and five on

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

services, but in the event all were delivered to

Bletchley TMD Bletchley TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Bletchley, Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, to the north east of Bletchley railway station, on a siding off the Marston Vale line. The depot is operated by London Northweste ...

for use on the latter. A further 18 followed. Units were numbered 321401–321448. The first was delivered in July 1989. These were built for outer-suburban services on the

, from

to Northampton,

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from , and vi ...

. They displaced the then-recently cascaded Class 317s dating from 1981 which had themselves only just been introduced to the route to replace Class 310s. Eleven 321/4s were transferred for Great Eastern Main Line services. Following this, their First Class area was reduced in size to standardise with the 321/3s in use on that route. This involved removing the centre partition and double doors and re-upholstering the First Class style 2+2 seats (which were retained then) in the de-classified area into the same fabric as the Standard Class seats. Later the First Class 2+2 seats in this de-classified area were replaced with the standard style 2+3 seating. These 11 were also fitted with a facility to lock out the power door operation within the unit (a basic kind of Selective Operation) to permit operation of 12-car trains on the Braintree and Southminster branch lines, where some platforms were only long enough for 8-car trains. The 11 Great Eastern sets passed to

First Great Eastern First Great Eastern was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup that operated the Great Eastern franchise from January 1997 until March 2004. Services First Great Eastern operated all stops and limited stops services on the ...

in January 1997, passing with the franchise to

National Express East Anglia National Express East Anglia (NXEA) was a train operating company in England owned by National Express that operated the Greater Anglia franchise from April 2004 until February 2012. Originally trading as ''One'', it was rebranded National Exp ...

in April 2004 and

Abellio Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the J ...

in February 2012. The 37 West Coast sets passed to

Silverlink Silverlink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the North London Railways franchise from March 1997 until November 2007. At the end of 2007 Silverlink Metro services were taken over by Lond ...

in January 1997, passing with the franchise to

London Midland London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia. London Midland was created as a result of Gov ...

in November 2007. In 2006, 321407 and 321423 were loaned by Silverlink to

Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...

while the 321/9s were being overhauled. In 2007, 321408 and 321428 were loaned by Silverlink to

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

operating services out of

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many corporate office ...

while one Class 357 was repaired and another was undergoing tests in the Czech Republic. Following the delivery of the Class 350/2 fleet, 13 Class 321/4s (401–410, 418–420) were transferred from London Midland to

First Capital Connect First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (T ...

and overhauled by

Wabtec Wabtec Corporation (derived from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is headquartered ...

. These passed with the franchise to

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...

in September 2014. London Midland also released 17 (421–437) for transfer to National Express East Anglia. The remaining seven (411–417) passed to

Abellio ScotRail Abellio ScotRail, operating services under the name ScotRail, was the national train operating company of Scotland. A subsidiary of Abellio, it operated the ScotRail franchise from 1 April 2015, taking over from predecessor First ScotRail. ...

in 2015, after being converted to three-car Class 320/4 at Doncaster Works. In 2017, ten (402, 405–410, 418–420) were transferred from Great Northern to Abellio Greater Anglia. As at May 2018 the remaining three (401, 403, 404) are to be converted by Wabtec at Kilmarnock to Class 320/4 for use with Abellio ScotRail. Another two were to follow.

Class 321/9

The final batch of three Class 321 were classified 321/9 and were constructed in 1991, as an add-on to the main batches. These units had a similar formation to the earlier units except that there is no first class seating. They were ordered by

for use on

services on the newly electrified Doncaster to Leeds route, entering service in 1993. From 1995 they also worked on Wharfedale line services from Leeds to

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...

. In March 1997 they passed with the Regional Railways North East franchise to Northern Spirit, which became Arriva Trains Northern in April 2001. In June 1998 they were loaned to

GNER Great North Eastern Railway, often referred to as GNER, was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, owned by Sea Containers, that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, No ...

to operate Leeds to London King's Cross services while its InterCity 225 fleet was grounded with mechanical issues. All three passed with the franchise to

in December 2004. The Class 321/9 units were refurbished at Hunslet-Barclay, Kilmarnock from late 2006 to early 2007. The refurbishment included a new livery, refurbished interiors and reliability improvements, similar to the Class 322 EMUs, which were also refurbished at Kilmarnock. The units transferred to

Arriva Rail North Arriva Rail North, branded as Northern by Arriva (legal name Arriva Rail North Limited) was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operato ...

in April 2016, and then

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...

on 1 March 2020. With the Class 331s now in service, the Class 321/9s were transferred to Greater Anglia. They were leased to allow Greater Anglia's Class 360s to move to East Midlands Railway. All 321/9 units were scrapped in 2022.

Current operations

Greater Anglia

inherited all 66 Class 321/3 and 11 Class 321/4. The

East Anglia franchise The East Anglia franchise is a railway franchise for passenger trains on the Great Eastern Main Line and West Anglia Main Lines in England. It commenced operating in April 2004 when the Anglia and Great Eastern franchises, together with the ...

was subsequently taken over by

, initially branded 'one', and then subsequently by Greater Anglia. A further 16 were added, upon release from

. In 2016, ten of the sets formerly operated by

also transferred to Greater Anglia. These trains are primarily used for

to , , , (extending to during peak time), , and Colchester Town but can be seen running on any electrified route if other trains fail. These operate as four, eight or 12-car sets. An additional three units, all Class 321/9s, were transferred to Greater Anglia from

in 2020 in order to provide capacity during the introduction of GA's new Class 720 fleet.

Former operations

Silverlink / London Midland / London Overground

inherited 37 of the 48 Class 321/4 units. In September 2003, Silverlink's class 321 units were temporarily withdrawn following the discovery of loose bolts on brake discs in some units. In September 2004, London Euston to Birmingham local services were divided into two separate services: Silverlink retained London to Northampton services, while fellow

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

subsidiary

Central Trains Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated a variety of local and inter-regional trains from 2 March 1997 until 11 November 2007. Overview Created out of the Central division o ...

took over all local services between Northampton and Birmingham. Initially, Central Trains hired Class 321 units from Silverlink to work their new services, but the arrival of Class 350/1s meant that very few Class 321 units were then required. To accommodate this sub-lease, three Class 321/3 units were transferred from

to Silverlink. These were not permitted north of

due to lack of the National Radio Network system (Eastern Region units only had the Cab Secure Radio System used for Driver Only Operated Passenger services) and therefore could not be used on Central Trains services (although they occasionally appeared on services to Rugby at weekends due to the line being closed between Rugby and Birmingham New Street). This ceased in late 2005 with the introduction of Class 350 trains on the Birmingham to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

route. One of these sub-leased units was involved in a low-speed derailment at Watford Yard. In May 2007, Central Trains began using Class 321 units on some morning services from Birmingham New Street to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

. In November 2007,

took over operation of the Class 321 fleet previously used by Silverlink and Central Trains. An order was placed by London Midland for 37 Class 350/2s to replace the Class 321s. London Midland withdrew most, retaining seven units (411–417). They were used for peak hour workings between London Euston and Northampton and on the

Abbey line The Abbey Line, also called the St Albans Abbey branch line, is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the Oyster C ...

. In 2015, all seven were withdrawn for transfer to

to operate on

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

suburban lines, with the last withdrawn on 20 September 2015. They were replaced by Class 319s. Two (413/414) briefly operated for

London Overground Rail Operations London Overground Rail Operations Limited was a train operating company contracted to operate the London Overground train service on the National Rail network, under the franchise control of Transport for London. The company was a 50/50 joint ...

in late 2015, being revinyled in

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

livery. The cascaded Class 321s were reformed to three-car units, by removing the TSO vehicle and reclassified as Class 320/4s.

First Capital Connect / Great Northern

received thirteen units (401–410, 418–420) from

, following deliveries of the new Class 350/2s. The units worked on the Great Northern services from London King's Cross to

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and

from December 2010 until May 2017. They passed with the franchise to

in September 2014. All were replaced in 2016 by Class 387s, cascaded from the Thameslink route. Ten (402, 405–410 and 418–420) moved to Ilford depot for use by Greater Anglia, with the remaining three (401, 403, 404) converted to Class 320/4s for

Arriva Trains Northern / Northern Rail / Arriva Rail North / Northern Trains

Arriva Trains Northern inherited three Class 321/9 units. These units operated on the

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

Wakefield line service and occasionally on the

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of the River Wharfe and one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated within the districts of Craven and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire. It i ...

and

Airedale Airedale is a geographic area in Yorkshire, England, corresponding to the river valley or dale of the River Aire. The valley stretches from the river's origin in Aire Head Springs, Malham which is in the Yorkshire Dales, down past Skipton on ...

lines alongside Class 322 and Class 333s. All passed on to

in 2004 and were refurbished in 2006/07. Having passed with the franchise to

and

, all were replaced by Class 331s with the last withdrawn in 2020. These have transferred to Greater Anglia for temporary use until Class 720s arrive.

Renatus project

In December 2013

rebuilt 321448 as a demonstrator at

for a proposed upgrade. It featured a new livery, completely refitted interior including two examples of sitting arrangements including 2+2 and 2+3, and a new First Class area. The demonstrator also featured air conditioning, not previously seen on Class 321 trains, along with fixed panel windows to replace opening windows and a new

Vossloh Kiepe Kiepe Electric GmbH (formerly Vossloh Kiepe) is a German manufacturer of electrical traction equipment for trams, trolleybuses other road and rail transport vehicles, as well as air-conditioning and heating systems, and conveyor device components. ...

traction package. The production run covered 30 units. The Vossloh Kiepe traction package was installed at

Wolverton Works Wolverton railway works, known locally as Wolverton Works or just The Works, was established in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, by the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1838 at the midpoint of the route from London to Birmingham. The line w ...

with the rest of the work performed at Doncaster. The first was completed in December 2016. In 2017 the prototype returned to Doncaster to be modified to the same specifications as the production units, including being refitted with hopper windows.

Future

After being awarded the new

in August 2016, Greater Anglia placed an order for Class 720s which will replace the 321s despite the Renatus project. The first of the new trains entered service in November 2020. The first two units were sent for scrap on 26 January 2021.

Swift Express

In March 2021, Eversholt announced its intention to convert 321334 for use as a parcels train. In July 2021, Eversholt and Wabtec revealed 321334 in the Swift Express livery. If successful further units could be converted. In November 2021 it was announced that 4 more Class 321s would be converted to Swift Express, with the first of these units expected to be delivered in February 2022. In 2022 it was announced that an unnamed customer had secured its first unit. The final 2 units to be converted are expected to be finished in September 2022.

Battery conversion

In 2022 it was announced that Eversholt and Vivarail are working on a design to convert 321s to battery units that could last up to 30 minutes on battery power.

Aborted proposals

Hydrogen conversion

In May 2018, plans were announced by

Eversholt Eversholt is a village and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book and is over 1000 years old. "Eversholt" comes from Anglo-Saxon meaning "wood of the wild boar". Overview For many years, most ...

and Alstom to convert a number of Class 321 units to run on

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

fuel-cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requi ...

s, as a way of replacing diesel-powered trains on lines that are unlikely to be

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

. The details of the conversion project, dubbed 'Breeze', were published in January 2019, with an expectation that units could be ready for service in 2022although this later slipped to 2024. In November 2021 Alstom and Eversholt announced that they had decided to switch their primary focus to developing a hydrogen-fuelled variant of Alstom's ''Aventra'' EMU, on the grounds that the pool of convertible Class 321 units was too small to support the market they envisaged for hydrogen-powered trains in the UK, and that the Aventra's advanced technology and reduced requirement for routine maintenance were advantages in both manufacture and operations. Although the companies stated that they would maintain the "option" of converting existing trains in the future, the Breeze project was ended in the first half of 2022 and at least one of the Class 321 units selected for conversion (321448) was sent for scrapping.

Fleet details

Named units

*321312: ''Southend-on-Sea'' *321321: ''NSPCC Essex Full Stop'' *321334: ''Amsterdam'' *321336: ''Geoffery Freeman Allen'' *321342: ''R Barnes'' *321343: ''RSA Railway Study Association'' *321351: ''London Southend Airport'' *321361: ''Phoenix'' *321403: ''Stewart Fleming Signalman King's Cross'' *321407: ''Hertfordshire WRVS'' *321413: ''Bill Green'' *321425: ''Bletchley Seven Silver Service'' *321427: ''Major Tim Warr'' *321428: ''The Essex Commuter'' *321439: ''Chelmsford Cathedral Festival'' *321444: ''Essex Lifeboats'' *321446: ''George Mullings''

References

External links

* {{British Rail EMU

321 Year 321 ( CCCXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crispus and Constantinus (or, less frequently, year 1074 ' ...