Refurbishment
In March 2005, No. 456006 was hauled away to Wolverton where it has been studied for corrosion assessment. This caused some doubt as to whether they would be refurbished. However, in a statement in April 2006 Southern said the class would receive a 'refresh', which meant they would not receive a refurbishment as major as the 455s, since the 456s are 10 years younger and already have high-backed seats (although of a different design). Also, on the newly released sets, new CCTV cameras and flooring have been installed; this was not mentioned on the original refurbishment plan.
All units have now been 'refreshed' and have been painted into Southern green colours. No. 456006 has been completed in a new, one-off promotional livery for rail safety on the Southern network. 456013 will now have an experimental cab-cooling system installed and 456022 will have some experimental air-conditioning fitted, in an effort to make drivers' jobs more comfortable.
Southern has now removed the toilets from the trains, to provide more capacity. Despite this the Class 456 EMU trains have lost two seats from each pair, due to a space being cleared for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Read more about this topic: British Rail Class 456