The Networker is a family of

multiple-unit A multiple-unit train (or multiple unit (MU)) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined, and where one or more of the carriages have the means of propulsion built in. By contrast, a locomotive-hauled train has all ...

passenger trains which operate on the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 ...

system. They were built in the late 1980s and early 1990s by

British Rail Engineering Limited British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was the rolling stock manufacturing and maintenance subsidiary of British Rail. It was established on 1 January 1970 by the British Railways Board to operate its 14 rolling stock maintenance centres and ...

(which became part of ABB in September 1992) and Metro Cammell. The trains were built for 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 of

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 ...

, which is where their name comes from.

History

At the launch of Network SouthEast in 1986, the 'Networker' series of trains was announced. It would be a new family of trains that would be introduced as a key part of NSE's wider plan to modernise their network. Specifically, it would replace various older types of trains, typically locomotive-hauled rakes of 'slam-door' carriages.Green and Vincent 2014, pp. 75–85. Unlike previous contemporary rolling stock units in Britain, Networker trains would use

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

bodies to save weight. Furthermore, electric units would feature modern AC traction motors and

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

. The design was to cover all requirements for future NSE multiple units, including new routes such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. NSE intended for fleet procurement to be performed in a rolling fashion, ordering around 300 carriages per year. The Networker was originally intended to become one of the largest families of trains, bigger even than the largely Mark 3-based ''Second Generation''. However, due to the recession in the early 1990s and 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, around 340 trains were built, substantially fewer than originally planned.

Variants

Diesel multiple units

Class 165

The Class 165 is a 2- and 3-car diesel multiple unit (DMU), built for outer suburban workings. Thirty-nine units were built for the Chiltern subdivision of Network SouthEast between 1990 and 1991 (Class 165/0), while thirty-seven were made for the Thames subdivision in 1992 (Class 165/1). Since privatisation, the Class 165/0 units have been operated by

Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways (legal name The Chiltern Railway Company Limited) is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Rail ...

, while the Class 165/1 units have been operated by Thames Trains, First Great Western Link, First Great Western and

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

in turn.

Class 166

The Class 166 is a faster, air-conditioned variant of the Class 165, built for main line workings. Twenty-one 3-car units were built for the Thames and North Downs subdivisions of Network SouthEast in 1992 and 1993.

Electric multiple units

Classes 316 and 457

These designations applied to a single four-car

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 ...

(EMU), converted from former Class 210 carriages, that was used as a research prototype. The unit was numbered as a Class 457 unit for trials with power from 750 V

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...

(DC)

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 ...

on Southern Region lines, then as a Class 316 unit for trials with power from 25 kV

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...

(AC)

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

equipment on lines north of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, for which one of its intermediate carriages was replaced with a Class 313 pantograph trailer.

Class 365

The Class 365 was a dual-voltage EMU. The train was ordered in 1993, following a financial battle between NSE and InterCity for investment.Green and Vincent 2014, pp. 124–125. Forty-one 4-car units were built from 1994 to 1995, the first sixteen fitted with pick-up shoes for power from third rail on services between London and Kent, and the other twenty-five fitted with pantographs for power from 25 kV AC overhead line equipment on services on the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

from London King's Cross to

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

and

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

. After use by a variety of operators, Great Northern withdrew its Class 365 fleet on 15 May 2021, and the fleet was subsequently scrapped.

Class 465

The Class 465 is a four-car EMU, powered from third rail. They were built by British Rail Engineering Limited (465/0), ABB (465/1), and Metro Cammell (465/2) in slightly different versions. Used by Network SouthEast, upon privatisation they passed to

Connex South Eastern Connex South Eastern was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Veolia Transport, Connex that operated the South Eastern franchise from October 1996 until November 2003. History On 13 October 1996 Veolia Transport, Connex comm ...

, then to

South Eastern Trains South Eastern Trains (stylised as Southeastern) was a publicly owned train operating company that operated the South Eastern Passenger Rail Franchise between November 2003, when it took over from Connex South Eastern, and 1 April 2006, whe ...

then to Southeastern and are currently operated by SE Trains.

Class 466

The Class 466 is a two-car EMU. It is powered from third rail and used extensively in multiple with 4-car 465s to provide 6-car and 10-car formations. 43 units were built between 1993 and 1994 by Metro Cammell (who built the 465/2s) using GEC traction. The arrival of Class 376 Electrostar trains saw some units move to rural lines to operate 2-car shuttles, displacing half of the Class 508s. In early 2025, scrapping began on the stored Class 466 units.

Unbuilt

Class 171

Class 171 was a long distance DMU that was proposed but never built. Originally, around seventy 'Turbo Express' trains were planned for long distance, unelectrified routes. However, Regional Railways had over-ordered Class 158 trains, and NSE agreed to take on the surplus units, introducing them from 1993 as Class 159 South Western Turbos. Therefore, Class 171 trains were no longer required.

Class 331 and 332

Class 331 and 332 were two middle distance EMU types that were proposed and never built. 300 Class 331 'Networker LT&S' carriages were planned, as part of a 'Total Route Modernisation' of the

London, Tilbury and Southend line The London, Tilbury and Southend line, also known as Essex Thameside, is a commuter railway line on the Rail transport in Great Britain, British railway system. It connects Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station, in central ...

. Instead, 74 Bombardier built Class 357 Electrostar trains entered service from 2000. Twenty Class 332 'Networker Heathrow' trains were planned to be built for Heathrow Express services. Instead, 14 CAF built Class 332 trains entered service in 1998 on Heathrow Express services.

Class 341 and 342

Class 341 and 342 were middle distance EMU types that were proposed but never built. Class 341 'Networker Crossrail' was intended to be the rolling stock for

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

prior to its cancellation in the early 1990s; the specifications for this class were later used in drawing up the rolling stock specifications for the current incarnation of Crossrail. The Class 342 was intended for use on domestic services using the Channel Tunnel Rail Link when it opened in 1994. In the end, these projects were cancelled, and no trains were constructed.

Class 371, 381 and 471

Class 371, 381 and 471 were three long distance EMU types that were proposed but never built. Classes 371 and 381 were proposed as the "Universal Networker", a dual voltage train type for a multitude of services including Kent Coast, Great Northern, Thameslink and LTS routes. Class 471 was the proposed "main line Networker" intended for long-distance services from London to Kent and Sussex. The Class 365 train was ordered in 1993, instead of the upgraded Class 471 series. Following the privatisation of British Rail from 1994, no more trains were ordered.

Comparison

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{British Rail EMU British Rail brands Multiple units of Great Britain Train-related introductions in 1990