Class 371, Class 381 and Class 471 were proposed

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 ...

classes from the Networker family of trains intended to operate long distance services in the

south-east of England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England that are in the top level category for statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, ...

. Due to

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

's financial limitations in the

early 1990s recession The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incum ...

, and the break-up of NSE in the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the Rail transport in Great Britain, railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely compl ...

from 1994, none of the trains were ordered.

Class 371 and 381

Classes 371 and 381 were intended as the so-called "Universal Networker", a dual voltage train capable of operating using both 25 kV AC from

overhead wire An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union of Railways for the te ...

and 750 V DC from

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...

. It was planned that Class 371 would be used on the enhanced Thameslink 2000 services while Class 381 would be utilised on various long-distance routes across the

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the networ ...

(NSE) sector, including Kent Coast services from

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great N ...

services from King's Cross and London, Tilbury and Southend (LTS) services from

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many cor ...

. Due to

's financial limitations in the

, and the break-up of NSE in the

from 1994, neither train was ordered.

Class 471

Class 471 was the proposed "Main Line Networker" intended for long-distance

services from London to Kent and Sussex. Intended as four car units, the Class 471 was to have featured an end gangway to allow passage between two connected units, with seating in 2+2 and 2+3 arrangements. First class seating was to be in side corridor compartments, but the seats (3 across with small table/bin between them) were to be no wider than standard class. The publicity sheet promised air conditioning, trolley catering, telephone area, carpeting throughout, customer operated power doors, individual reading lights in first class, high backed seats for comfort, public address system and dot matrix on board information system. A mock-up was unveiled in August 1991, baring a resemblance to the Class 442 "Wessex Express" units operating to the South-West, but with sliding doors. Entry into service was due by 1993. However, due to

's financial limitations in the

, and the break-up of NSE in the

from 1994, the train wasn't ordered. Class471MockUp006.jpg, Front end mock up at London Victoria Station Class471MockUp002.jpg, Corridor of First Class section of mock up Class471MockUp003.jpg, Interior of First Class compartment of mock up Class471MockUp004.jpg, Interior of Standard Class of mock up

Alternative

The cancellation of the Class 371, 381 and 471 led to an alternative proposal. This involved the construction of a new batch of dual voltage units, classed as Class 365 using the existing Class 465 bodyshell, at the same time converting them for long-distance usage. A total of 41 units were built, with 25 for the Great Northern routes from Kings Cross and 16 for Kent Coast routes. The Class 319 were the primary dual voltage commuter unit operating over the Thameslink route for nearly 30 years, but have been replaced by Class 700, part of the Siemens

Desiro City The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of Diesel multiple unit, diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens, Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, ...

family. Meanwhile, the ''

Electrostar The Bombardier Electrostar (sold as the ADtranz Electrostar until 2001) is a family of electric multiple-unit (EMU) passenger trains manufactured by Bombardier Transportation (formerly Adtranz) at their Derby Litchurch Lane Works in England be ...

'' series is utilised over several long-distance routes in the South-East. Both the Class 375 and Class 377 ''Electrostars'' have dual voltage sub-classes, as does the Class 387 that were temporarily operated by Thameslink while Class 700s were being delivered. The Class 365 fleet was used on the Great Northern routes, however was scrapped in the early 2020s. The Class 357 is used on LTS services.

References

{{British Rail EMU

371 __NOTOC__ Year 371 (CCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Petronius (or, less frequently, year 1124 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...

Abandoned trains of the United Kingdom