British Rail Class 313

British Rail Class 313 electric multiple units were built by BREL at York Works between February 1976 and April 1977 and were the first second-generation EMUs to be constructed for British Rail. They were also the first British Rail units fitted with both a pantograph for 25 kilovolt AC overhead lines and shoegear for 750 volt DC third rail supply, and the first units in Britain to have Multi-Function couplers, which allow both physical coupling and also the connection of control electric and air supplies to be carried out without the need to leave the cab. After the withdrawal of most first-generation stock, they are now the oldest EMUs in regular service on the UK mainland's rail network; as of 2012, the youngest class 313 unit is now 35 years old.

Read more about British Rail Class 313:  Description, Operations, ERTMS Trials On The Hertford Loop, Fleet Details, Gallery

Famous quotes containing the words british, rail and/or class:

    The inhabitants of St. John’s and vicinity are described by an English traveler as “singularly unprepossessing,” and before completing his period he adds, “besides, they are generally very much disaffected to the British crown.” I suspect that that “besides” should have been a “because.”
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Old man, it’s four flights up and for what?
    Your room is hardly any bigger than your bed.
    Puffing as you climb, you are a brown woodcut
    stooped over the thin rail and the wornout tread.
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)

    Class is rarely talked about in the United States; nowhere is there a more intense silence about the reality of class differences than in educational settings.
    bell hooks (b. c. 1955)