Description
The units work suburban services in south London, and rural commuter services to Sussex, Kent and the South Coast, on which they replaced the old 4Cig and 4Vep slam-door stock. Built in the early 2000s, the units had a troubled introduction; being fully air-conditioned, their higher power consumption compared to the slam-door Mark 1-based stock that they replaced led to major upgrades being required to the 750 V DC third-rail power supply used in the former Southern region. The collapse of Railtrack following the Hatfield accident further delayed this upgrade work and the new stock did not enter squadron service until 2003.
Class 377s are fitted with external CCTV. There is a disabled seating area, and both the intermediate coaches have toilets. Bodyside power doors are electrically operated, a move away from the air powered systems of previous generation EMUs. Dual voltage units are fitted with a Brecknell Willis high speed pantograph, which incorporates a pair of aerofoils on the pan knuckle to steady the pan head against the OLE contact wire. The configuration of a 4-car Class 377 unit is:
- DMCO(A) - 2 motors on inner bogie, sander, auxiliary converter module
- MSO - 2 motors on inner bogie, standard toilet
- PTSO - pantograph, transformer, compressor, disabled toilet
- DMCO(B) - 2 motors on inner bogie, sander, auxiliary converter module
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