British Rail Class 455

The Class 455/8s were built between 1982 and 1984. These include all 46 Southern units (allocated to Stewarts Lane depot) and 28 allocated to South Western Railway (at Wimbledon depot).[5][6]

The Class 455/7s were built in 1984/85. There are 43 four-car units, all allocated to South Western Railway at Wimbledon depot. They differ from the 455/8s in having a revised front end (air horns relocated next to the coupler and revised headlamp clusters) that was later used on the Class 317/2 and Class 318.[7]

The 455/7s are easily distinguished from 455/8s as each TSO car is taken from a Class 508 and has a noticeably different profile.[8] The Class 508s transferred to Merseyrail were originally four-carriage trains but were reduced to three cars when transferred.[8]

The Class 455/9s were built in 1985. These 20 units are all allocated to South Western Railway at Wimbledon depot.[9] These are similar to the 455/7s, except that they had new-build TSOs;[9] except for 455912, which has a TSO formerly part of the prototype Class 210 DEMU (which also had the same bodyshell). 455913's MSO 67301 was formerly a Class 210 driving vehicle, with the one good end of vehicle 62838 (the vehicle was damaged after being crushed by a falling cement mixer lorry) mated with the former cab end. The rest of 62838 was scrapped.[10][11]

Network SouthEast Class 455/8 5856 approaching Waterloo

Deliveries commenced in 1982 to Strawberry Hill.[12] On 16 November 1982, 455805 was unveiled at Waterloo station. The first entered service on 28 March 1983. All were initially allocated to Wimbledon depot working services on the Central and South Western divisions. The Central Division 455/8s were transferred to Selhurst in 1986 after modifications to the depot were completed. All were delivered in British Rail blue and grey livery; it had been anticipated that some or all 455/9s would be painted in a green variant of the 'Jaffa Cake' London & SouthEast livery, but this was overruled by the BR Design Panel.[13][14] From 1986 all 455s were progressively repainted in Network SouthEast white, blue and red livery. In May 1991, 455743 was renumbered 455750 and renamed Wimbledon Traincare depot in recognition of the depot obtaining BS5750 quality services accreditation.[3]

In April 1994 in the lead up to the privatisation of British Rail, 455801-455846 were allocated to the Network SouthCentral shadow franchise and sold to Eversholt.[4] The remainder were allocated to the South West Trains shadow franchise and sold to Porterbrook.[3][15]

South Western Railway 455/7 at London Waterloo

Interior of a former Class 508 trailer from a South West Trains refurbished Class 455/7

In February 1996, all South Western division 455s were transferred to South West Trains (SWT). From September 1996, SWT began to modify the Network SouthEast livery with a Stagecoach orange brand added. In November 2004, SWT took delivery of the first unit refurbished by Bombardier, Ashford.[16] The work involved the replacement of the seats with high back Grammar seats as fitted to the Class 450 in 2+2 configuration, the doorways have modified so that the sliding doors can open further, and a predominantly red livery being adopted.[17] The last was completed in March 2008.[18]

In April 2013 it was announced that the SWT units would be fitted with new traction equipment provided by Vossloh Kiepe. As part of the re-powering of the fleet, the air operated camshaft and electrical resistance grids will be removed, as well as the EE507 traction motors. The new equipment consists of DC to AC inverters of the Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) type.[19] This is needed as the replacement traction motors are AC rather than DC.[20][21][22][23]

Fitting new traction equipment both improves Miles per Breakdown values and overall reduces operating and maintenance costs.[20] As the trains will therefore be in the depot less, it will allow South West Trains to acquire Class 707 without the need to build a new depot.[24]

All units passed to South Western Railway with the South Western franchise change in August 2017. They are used on most London commuter rail routes from London Waterloo to South West London and neighbouring areas.[25]

455816 in Southern livery at Clapham Junction

Interior of a Southern refurbished Class 455/8

On 13 October 1996, the Network SouthCentral shadow franchise was taken over by Connex South Central with 455801-455846. In the late 1990s, 16 were repainted in Connex's white and yellow livery. In August 2001, the franchise passed to Southern with all 46 transferred. Some were repainted in Southern's white and green livery. Between February 2004 and February 2006, all were refurbished by Alstom, Eastleigh. New 3+2 high back seating as fitted to the Class 377 and the removal of cab end gangways to facilitate the installation of driver's air-conditioning were notable features.[26][27][28][29][30][31]

A refurbishment programme started for the Southern units in June 2012. This included a repaint and interior changes, such as changes to the grab rails on the top between each door. 455808 was the first completed, followed by 455812 in August 2012. The project was completed in December 2013, 455801 being the last unit.[32][33]

Another refurbishment programme begun in January 2018 for the 455s to become compliant with the PRM 2020 specifications with 455816 being the first one completed.[34]

Southern Class 455 units are used on inner and outer suburban services out of London Victoria and London Bridge to destinations in South London and Surrey.