The class holds the world speed record for a third-rail train, having attained 109 mph (175 km/h) on a test run prior to entering service.
In March 2021, South Western Railway purchased all 18 from Angel Trains, stripped the fleet of their recently refurbished equipment for parts and scrapped them. However they were again withdrawn in March 2020 due to services being reduced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From 2019, eighteen were leased by South Western Railway and were refurbished for use on London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour services. The units were withdrawn from Gatwick Express services in 2016 and from Southern peak-hour London Bridge to Brighton and Eastbourne services in March 2017. After a period in storage, they were leased to Southern for use on Gatwick Express services from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport and Brighton. Twenty-four five-car units were built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Derby Litchurch Lane Works.įollowing the privatisation of British Rail, the fleet was sold to Angel Trains and operated by South West Trains up until February 2007, when they were replaced by Class 444 and Class 450s. The British Rail Class 442 ( 5-WES) Wessex Electrics were electric multiple unit passenger trains introduced in 1988 by Network SouthEast on the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth to coincide with the electrification of the line from Bournemouth. Within class, and with locomotives of Classes 33/1 and 73/1 ġ,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1⁄ 2 in) standard gauge
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