The PEP (Prototype Electro Pneumatic Train) Stock were prototype

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 ...

s used on

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 Southern and Scottish Regions during the 1970s and early 1980s. They were forerunners of the

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'' electric multiple unit fleet. Three units were built, one two-car unit (2001), and two four-car units (4001/4002). Under

TOPS Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), ...

, the driving cars were originally classified as Class 461 with the non-driving motor cars as Class 462. They were later reclassified as Class 445 (4PEP) and Class 446 (2PEP). Internal layout was for commuter services; low-backed, bus-style 2+2 seating in open saloons, wide gangways with

hanging strap In urban public transport, provision is made for standing passengers, often called straphangers or standees, to rationalize operation and to provide extra capacity during rush hour. On crowded rapid transit urban lines, while most travelers may ...

s, and no lavatory facilities. They were the first electric multiple units designed by British Rail with electric sliding doors, outside the

Scottish Region The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex-London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creation ...

. They were unable to operate with any other stock due to their new coupling system. Externally, 2001 was finished in unpainted aluminium, while 4001/4002 were painted in all-over

Rail Blue The history of British Rail's corporate liveries is quite complex. Although the organisation was associated with ''Rail Blue'' from the mid-1960s to the 1980s, a number of other schemes were also used, especially when it was split into operatin ...

. In passenger use, they normally operated together as a ten-car formation.

Design

On the 4-PEP units the non-driving cars were powered, similar to London Underground practice at the time, but a departure from previous British Railways designs where there had not been any 4-car units with all axles powered. Also introduced for the first time was rheostatic braking with cam-controlled analogue logic, and fluorescent lighting working at 50 Hz. Interior design was open saloons with 2+2 seating, although this was not considered to be finalised until after trial running, and also included communicating doors between coaches and between units, with the driving cars having 2 pairs of sliding doors each and 3 pairs on the non-driving coaches.

Passenger use

All three units were initially assigned to the South Western Division of the Southern Region, based at Wimbledon Park and Strawberry Hill. Upon arrival, they were used under an extensive testing programme prior to entering full passenger service in June 1973, on services from

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to , and . In August 1973, all three units were moved to the South Eastern Division, where they worked services from

Cannon Street Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the north of the City. It is the site of the ancient London S ...

/ to , and . Although capable of being used as a single 10-car formation on the SED, a number of failures saw them returned to the SWD after a month.

Departmental use

After the units were withdrawn from passenger service, they continued to be used by the Research department for further tests. For this purpose, the units and individual carriages were all renumbered into the departmental series. The two Class 446 power cars were teamed with a newly built pantograph trailer and became

Class 920, number 920001. This was then used for the development of Classes 313–315. The two Class 445 four car sets became

Class 935, numbered 056 and 057 in the Southern Region departmental (non-revenue earning) unit series. 056 saw little use, being stored at Wimbledon Park until June 1980, when it was transferred to the

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Production classes

The production-run classes which are most visibly similar to the prototype Stock are the dual voltage 750 V DC / 25 kV AC Class 313, the 25 kV AC Classes

314 __NOTOC__ Year 314 ( CCCXIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rufius and Annianus (or, less frequently, year 1067 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 314 ...

and

315 __NOTOC__ Year 315 (Roman numerals, CCCXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, year 1068 ''Ab urbe c ...

, and the 750 V DC Classes

507 __NOTOC__ Year 507 ( DVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Anastasius and Venantius (or, less frequently, year 1260 ''Ab urbe condita ...

and

508 __NOTOC__ Year 508 ( DVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Venantius and Celer (or, less frequently, year 1261 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomi ...

. It was also planned that the rolling stock for the services through the proposed

Picc-Vic tunnel Picc-Vic was a proposed, and later cancelled, underground railway designed in the early 1970s with the purpose of connecting two major mainline railway termini in Manchester city centre, England. The name Picc-Vic was a contraction of the two ke ...

, intended as Class 316, would have formed part of the PEP family. However, subsequent builds have also drawn heavily on the experience gained by this stock. The PEP units had three sets of sliding doors on each of the non-driving cars for handling dense inner-suburban traffic. However, the Class 313 and all subsequent builds, including later Mark 3-based units, have only had two sets of doors per car.

Disposal

All three units were finally taken out of use in the mid-1980s. None of the cars have survived; 920001 was scrapped in 1987, 056 in 1986 and 057 in 1990.

Formations

The unit formations in passenger and departmental service were:

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:British Rail Class 445 445 445 British Rail Departmental Units Train-related introductions in 1971 750 V DC multiple units