The Alstom Coradia Juniper series is a family of

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

trains built by

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

Transport Birmingham for use on the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

network in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. The family is related to the Coradia 1000 series of

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

s. There are currently two types in service with various TOCs, with a total of 76 units in service (36 class 458s and 40 class 334s). All Class 460s are now converted to Class 458/5s for South Western Railway. Class 458534 Blue at Clapham

Variants

Class 334

The Class 334 is an

EMU The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

in service with

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail (), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise as an operator of las ...

on the suburban network around

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, mainly operating services from

Edinburgh Waverley Edinburgh Waverley (also known simply as Edinburgh; ) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. The station serves as the northern terminus of the East C ...

via Airdrie and

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

on the

North Clyde Line The North Clyde Line (defined by Network Rail as the ''Glasgow North Electric Suburban'' line) is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. The route is operated by ScotRail. As a result of the incorporation of the Airdrie–Bathgate rail ...

and some services on the

Argyle Line The Argyle Line is a suburban railway located in West Central Scotland. The line serves the commercial and shopping districts of Glasgow's central area, and connects towns from West Dunbartonshire to South Lanarkshire. Named for Glasgow's Arg ...

. Class 334 trains are powered using overhead wires. A total of 40 three car units are in use (numbered 001–040), of which 38 were delivered starting in 1999, although due to teething problems, they did not enter service until 2001. The technical issues resulted in 2 extra units being delivered as compensation.

Class 458

The Class 458 ''Juniper'' (also known as 5JUP) is operated by

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

on services from

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a major central London railway terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Undergroun ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a cro ...

, Windsor & Eton Riverside, and circular metro routes from Waterloo via

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and

Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...

. As with all electrically powered trains on the former Southern Region, the Class 458 units are powered using . Initially, a total of thirty 4-car units were built, with deliveries beginning in 1998, with the full complement in service by 2004. However, they suffered from leaky roofs and failing electronics and were therefore stored from 2004 to late 2005, being replaced by more Class 450 units on the routes they operated. For a brief period, they were subleased to Gatwick Express, but were never used on Gatwick Express Services. In 2013, former operator

South West Trains Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited, trading as South West Trains (SWT), was an English train operating company owned by Stagecoach, which operated the South Western franchise between February 1996 and August 2017. SWT operated the majori ...

and Porterbrook began the process of creating a new, 36-strong fleet of 5-car trains by reforming and partially rebuilding the vehicles from the Class 458 and Class 460 fleets; by creating 30 units utilising the original Class 458/0 vehicles, with an extra ex-Class 460 vehicle per unit to create 5-car units, and an additional 6 new 5-car units created entirely from ex-Class 460 stock. The new units have been renumbered as the Class 458/5. They entered service in March 2014. Work included complete reconstruction of cabs and gangways, as well as changes to the passenger areas. The units are painted into the same livery as the Class 450 units (they previously were painted in the South West Trains Express livery carried by the Class 444, 158 and 159 units). This process was completed in 2016. The original 30 ex-Class 458/0 units are numbered 458501–458530, and are distinguishable from the ex-Class 460 stock (458531-458536) by noting the different ribbon-glazed windows on ex-Class 460 units, different door window sizes and the lack of a pantograph recess on ex-Class 460 units. This means that if future conversion to OHLE is required for this fleet, the process will be much simpler on 458501-458530 than 458531–458536. All units are now in

- branded

livery, and were due to be replaced on all South Western Railway routes by new Class 701 units from 2019 to 2020. During March 2021 SWR cancelled the withdrawal plans of their 458s and instead returned their Class 442s to their lessor. SWR cited that 458s would be their replacement

Class 460

The Class 460 ''Juniper'' electric multiple units (also known as 8GAT) were originally built for use on the dedicated

Gatwick Express Gatwick Express is an express rail passenger service between , , and in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, Southern and Great N ...

airport service to

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named afte ...

. The units were delivered between 2000 and 2001 and like the similar Class 458 they were powered using . The fleet consisted of 8 units in total numbered 460001–008, each formed of 8 vehicles (driving motor luggage van, two intermediate 1st-class/composite trailers, two intermediate 2nd-class motor carriages, an intermediate 2nd-class trailer, another 2nd-class motor carriage, and a 2nd-class driving motor). Following their removal from the Gatwick Express franchise in September 2012 a decision was made to reform and merge the Class 460s with the Class 458 vehicles in order to form 36 x 5-car trains to boost capacity on the

network. The first two of the 5-car sets were delivered in October 2013. Passenger service had started in March 2014.

References

{{commons category, Alstom Coradia Juniper British Rail electric multiple units Train-related introductions in 2000