British Rail Class 321
The British Rail Class 321 is a class of electric multiple unit passenger trains built by British Rail Engineering Limited's York Carriage Works in three batches between 1988 and 1991 for Network SouthEast and Regional Railways. The class uses alternating current overhead electrification. The design was successful and led to the development of the similar and.
After operating for various trains operating companies after the privatisation of British Rail, they were latterly operated by Greater Anglia until April 2023. Some have been converted to Class 320 and are operated by ScotRail.
Description
Three sub-classes were built. The first two were built for the Network SouthEast sector for operation on services from and, while the third was built for Regional Railways for use on West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive services from. As part of the privatisation of British Rail, ownership of the class passed from British Rail to the Eversholt Rail Group in April 1994.Each unit consists of four carriages: all units have a maximum speed of.
They have been modified by the different rail companies which use them. The modifications include new seats, paintwork, lighting and passenger information systems.
The trains have been nicknamed "Dusty Bins" by some enthusiasts, after the TV game show "3-2-1" which featured a mascot called "Dusty Bin".
Class 321/3
In September 1987, Network SouthEast ordered 46 four-car units for use on services from to and, which became Class 321/3. The first was unveiled on 15 September 1988. A further 20 were ordered later. Units were numbered 321301–321366. The DTSO vehicle was equipped with a small area between the driver's cab and the first set of doors that could be used for the conveyance of parcels or luggage; this was indicated by a P following the unit number on the front of that vehicle.These units replaced slam-door,, and units on trains to and Southend-on-Sea; they worked services on the newly electrified routes to and. They also displaced many slam-door units, which moved over to the London, Tilbury and Southend line. Some of the Class 309s were retained until 1994, and 24 of the newer Class 312 units were retained long-term to work services to and peak services to Clacton, Ipswich and. Units carried Network SouthEast livery from new.
The first of 30 321/3 units to be refurbished at Doncaster Works, as part of the Renatus project which modernised the stock with features such as new air conditioning and heating, seating and wi-fi was completed in December 2016.
Class 321/4
In October 1988, a second batch of 30 was ordered. It was intended that 25 be used on Great Eastern Main Line services and five on West Coast Main Line services, but, in the event, all were delivered to Bletchley TMD for use on the latter. A further 18 followed. Units were numbered 321401–321448. The first was delivered in July 1989. As with subclass /3 units, the DTSO vehicles were equipped with a parcels area indicated by suffixing a P to the unit number.These were built for outer-suburban services on the West Coast Main Line, from London Euston to, and. They displaced the then-recently cascaded dating from 1981, which had themselves only just been introduced to the route to replace.
Eleven 321/4s were transferred for Great Eastern Main Line services. Following this, their first class area was reduced in size to standardise with the 321/3s in use on that route. This involved removing the centre partition and double doors and reupholstering the first class style 2+2 seats in the declassified area into the same fabric as the standard class seats. Later, the first class 2+2 seats in this declassified area were replaced with the standard style 2+3 seating. These 11 were also fitted with a facility to lock out the power door operation within the unit to permit operation of 12-car trains on the Braintree and Southminster branch lines, where some platforms were only long enough for 8-car trains.
The 11 Great Eastern sets passed to First Great Eastern in January 1997, moving with the franchise to National Express East Anglia in April 2004 and Greater Anglia in February 2012. The 37 West Coast sets passed to Silverlink in January 1997, moving with the franchise to London Midland in November 2007. In 2006, 321407 and 321423 were loaned by Silverlink to Northern Rail, while the 321/9s were being overhauled. In 2007, 321408 and 321428 were loaned by Silverlink to c2c operating services out of, while one was repaired and another was undergoing tests in the Czech Republic.
Following the delivery of the fleet, 13 Class 321/4s were transferred from London Midland to First Capital Connect and overhauled by Wabtec's Doncaster Works. These passed with the franchise to Great Northern in September 2014. London Midland also released 17 for transfer to National Express East Anglia. The remaining seven passed to Abellio ScotRail in 2015, after being converted to three-car at Doncaster Works.
In 2017, ten units were transferred from Great Northern to Greater Anglia. As at May 2018 the remaining three are to be converted by Wabtec at Kilmarnock to Class 320/4 for use with Abellio ScotRail. Another two were to follow.
Class 321/9
The final batch of three Class 321 units was constructed in 1991 and classified subclass /9. These units had a similar formation to the earlier units except that there was no first class seating. They were ordered by Regional Railways for use on West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive services on the newly electrified Doncaster to Leeds route, entering service in 1993. From 1995, they also worked on Wharfedale line services from Leeds to. In March 1997, they passed with the Regional Railways North East franchise to Northern Spirit, which became Arriva Trains Northern in April 2001. In June 1998, they were loaned to GNER to operate Leeds to services, while its InterCity 225 fleet was grounded with mechanical issues. All three passed with the franchise to Northern Rail in December 2004.The Class 321/9 units were refurbished at Hunslet-Barclay in Kilmarnock from late 2006 to early 2007. The refurbishment included a new livery, refurbished interiors and reliability improvements, similar to the Class 322 EMUs, which were also refurbished at Kilmarnock.
The units transferred to Arriva Rail North in April 2016 and then Northern Trains on 1 March 2020. With the now in service, the Class 321/9s were transferred to Greater Anglia to allow their to move to East Midlands Railway.
All 321/9 units were scrapped in 2022.
Current operations
Varamis Rail
In March 2021, Eversholt Rail Group announced its intention to convert 321334 for use as a parcels train. In July 2021, Eversholt and Wabtec revealed 321334 in the Swift Express livery. If successful further units could be converted.In November 2021, it was announced that four more Class 321s would be converted to Swift Express, with the first of these units expected to be delivered in February 2022. In 2022, it was announced that an unnamed customer had secured its first unit, later confirmed as Varamis Rail, which launched a service between Scotland and Birmingham in January using unit 321334. The final two were scheduled to be completed in September 2022. In September 2023, it was announced that Eversholt had abandoned the Swift Express project despite four Class 321 units having been converted. Varamis Rail announced that it was considering taking over the project. In early 2024, Varamis Rail bought the four converted units from Eversholt.
Former operations
Silverlink / London Midland / London Overground
Silverlink inherited 37 of the 48 Class 321/4 units. In September 2003, their Class 321 units were temporarily withdrawn following the discovery of loose bolts on brake discs in some units.In September 2004, London Euston to Birmingham local services were divided into two separate services: Silverlink retained London to Northampton services, while fellow National Express subsidiary Central Trains took over all local services between Northampton and Birmingham. Initially, Central Trains hired Class 321 units from Silverlink to work their new services, but the arrival of meant that very few Class 321 units were then required.
To accommodate this sub-lease, three Class 321/3 units were transferred from National Express East Anglia to Silverlink. These were not permitted north of Rugby, due to lack of the National Radio Network system and therefore could not be used on Central Trains services. This ceased in late 2005, with the introduction of Class 350 trains on the Birmingham to route. One of these sub-leased units was involved in a low-speed derailment at Watford Yard.
In May 2007, Central Trains began using Class 321 units on some morning services from Birmingham New Street to.
In November 2007, London Midland took over operation of the Class 321 fleet previously used by Silverlink and Central Trains. An order was placed by London Midland for 37 to replace the Class 321s.
London Midland withdrew most units, retaining seven. They were used for peak hour workings between London Euston and Northampton and on the Abbey line. In 2015, all seven were withdrawn for transfer to Abellio ScotRail to operate on Glasgow suburban lines, with the last withdrawn on 20 September 2015. They were replaced by. Two briefly operated for London Overground Rail Operations in late 2015, being revinyled in London Overground livery. The cascaded Class 321s were reformed to three-car units, by removing the TSO vehicle and reclassified as.
First Capital Connect / Great Northern
First Capital Connect received thirteen units from London Midland, following deliveries of the new Class 350/2s. The units worked on the Great Northern services from London King's Cross to and from December 2010 until May 2017. They passed with the franchise to Great Northern in September 2014.All were replaced in 2016 by, cascaded from the Thameslink route. Ten units moved to Ilford depot for use by Greater Anglia, with the remaining three converted to Class 320/4s for Abellio ScotRail.