British Rail Class 455

British Rail Class 455
British Rail Class 455
	South Western Railway Class 455 train in 2024
	Interior of a refurbished South West Trains Class 455/9
In service	1983–present
Manufacturer	British Rail Engineering Limited
Built at	Holgate Road Works, York
Family name	BR Second Generation (Mark 3)
Replaced	Class 405; Class 415; Class 508;
Constructed	1982–1985
Scrapped	2022–present
Number built	137; (43 × 455/7,; with Class 508 TSO vehicles); (74 × 455/8); (20 × 455/9);
Number in service	78
Number scrapped	58
Successor	Class 701 (SWR); Class 377 (Southern);
Formation	4 cars per unit:; DTSO-MSO-TSO-DTSO
Diagram	455/7 & /9 DTSO vehs.: EE226; 455/8 DTSO vehs.: EE218; 455/7 & /9 MSO vehs.: EC206; 455/8 MSO vehs.: EC203; 455/7 TSO vehs.: EH219; 455/8 TSO vehs.: EH221; 455/9 TSO vehs.: EH224;
Fleet numbers	455701–455742; 455750; 455801–455874; 455901–455920;
Capacity	As built: 316 seats; SN refurb.: 307 seats; SWT refurb.: 244 seats;
Owners	Porterbrook
Operators	Current:; South Western Railway; Former:; Network SouthEast; Network SouthCentral; Connex South Central; Southern; South Western Railway (2017–2025); South West Trains;
Depots	Wimbledon (London);
Specifications
Car body construction	455/7 TSOs: aluminium; All others: steel;
Train length	81.16 m (266 ft 3 in)
Car length	DTSO: 19.83 m (65 ft 1 in); MSO/TSO: 19.92 m (65 ft 4 in);
Width	2.82 m (9 ft 3 in)
Height	455/7 TSOs: 3.58 m (11 ft 9 in); All others: 3.77 m (12 ft 4 in);
Floor height	1.14 m (3 ft 9 in)
Doors	Double-leaf pocket sliding; (2 per side per car)
Wheelbase	Over bogie centres:; 14.17 m (46 ft 6 in)
Maximum speed	75 mph (121 km/h)
Weight	DTSO: 29.5 t (29.0 long tons; 32.5 short tons); MSO: 45.6 t (44.9 long tons; 50.3 short tons); 455/7 TSO: 25.5 t (25.1 long tons; 28.1 short tons); 455/8 & /9 TSO: 27.1 t (26.7 long tons; 29.9 short tons);
Traction system	As built:; Camshaft-controlled DC; SWR refurbished:; Vossloh Kiepe IGBT-VVVF;
Traction motors	As built:; 4 × English Electric 507-20J,; each of 153 kW (205 hp); SWR refurbished:; 4 × TSA TME 52-35-4,; each of 250 kW (335 hp);
Power output	As built: 610 kW (820 hp); Refurbished: 1,000 kW (1,300 hp);
Acceleration	0.58 m/s2 (1.9 ft/s2)
Electric system(s)	750 V DC third rail
Current collector(s)	Contact shoe
UIC classification	2′2′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′+2′2′
Bogies	455/7 TSOs: BREL BX1; MSOs: BREL BP27; Others: BREL BT13;
Minimum turning radius	70 m (231 ft)
Braking system(s)	As built:; Electro-pneumatic (disc) and rheostatic (Westcode); SWR refurbished:; Adds regenerative; (Knorr-Bremse EP98);
Safety system(s)	AWS; TPWS;
Coupling system	Tightlock
Multiple working	Within class, and with Class 456
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The British Rail Class 455 is an electric multiple unit passenger train built by BREL between 1982 and 1985. It is operated on suburban services in Greater London and Surrey by South Western Railway, as well as formerly by Southern.