Description
The Class 442 Wessex Electric is based on the British Rail Mark 3 carriage bodyshell, and has a number of features which distinguish it from the slam-door units it replaced:
- Vehicle length is 23 m (75 ft), as opposed to 20 m (66 ft).
- All vehicles are air-conditioned, and have powered internal doors and external plug doors.
- Units consist of five vehicles, and operate as 5-car or 10-car trains, replacing 4-car units which operated as 4-, 8- or 12-car trains.
- Maximum permitted speed is 100 mph (160 km/h).
As was common on the British Rail Southern Region, many electrical components – including traction motors and electrical control gear – were salvaged from the Class 432 units they replaced. For this reason the older 4REP and 4TC units had to be withdrawn before their replacements were built.
The Class 442 "Wessex Electric" was one of the first types to make extensive use of plastics in construction, earning them the nickname among staff and rail enthusiasts of "Pigs" or "Piggies". When they were first introduced the units were plagued by minor technical failures, but they have subsequently become among the most reliable EMUs operating in the UK. Their generous accommodation made them some of the most luxurious long-distance commuter trains anywhere.
The increased top speed of the Class 442, combined with timetable changes, resulted in some minor journey time improvements, for example a non-stop service reaching Southampton Airport Parkway from London Waterloo in 58 minutes, over a journey of around 70 miles (110 km). The timetable change of December 2004 meant that the down non-stop train from London Waterloo took an hour to reach Winchester.
The units were initially used solely on the Weymouth line, but through the 1990s began to be used on the London Waterloo to Portsmouth direct line. Upon privatisation the whole fleet passed to the South West Trains franchise. Unit 442402 soon had an orange stripe added to its Network SouthEast livery, which looked very similar to Stagecoach Group's corporate image. From 1998 the units began to receive the new South West Trains Express livery of white, red and blue as they underwent overhaul at Crewe Works. Unit 442404 was the first to be so treated.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s the fleet continued to operate express services from London to Weymouth and Portsmouth. However in 2004, when the Class 444 "Desiro" trains had been brought into service, the "Wessex Electrics" were again used solely on the Weymouth line.
In early 2006 the fleet began to receive overhauls, with units emerging in a slightly revised livery which conformed with the Disability Discrimination Act. By January 2007 14 of the 24 units had received overhauls.
Read more about this topic: British Rail Class 442
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