British Rail Class 466



The Class 466 750 V DC third rail electric multiple unit (EMU) is a suburban EMU, which operates with Class 465 EMUs in southeast London and Kent on the Southeastern network. It is a member of the Networker family of trains.

Description
There are just 43 units, numbered 466001 to 466043.

Class 466 units are used by Southeastern Railway' Metro routes in multiple with Class 465/0, Class 465/1, Class 465/2 and other Class 466 units. Additionally, Class 466 units are now also operating on outer suburban routes with Class 465/9 units, although quite a few routes are being replaced with Class 375 Electrostars. They are also used as individual units on rural routes, mainly the Sheerness Line between Sittingbourne and Sheerness, and the Medway Valley Line from Strood to Maidstone West and Paddock Wood, displacing the class 508s which operated these branch lines.

These two-car EMUs are formed of a driving motor carriage (DMOS: Driving Motor Open Standard) and a driving trailer carriage (DTOSL: Driving Trailer Open Standard Lavatory); all on board seating is standard accommodation. A Solid State Traction Converter package controls 3-phase AC Traction motors, which allows for Rheostatic or Regenerative Dynamic braking. Primary braking system is electro-pneumatically actuated disc brakes, which is blended with the Dynamic brakes. Tachometers on every axle of the unit provide for Wheel Slip/Slide Protection. A solid state Auxiliary Converter provides 110 V DC and 240 V AC supplies; this is the source of the loud buzzing noise which can be heard when the train is stationary. The Aux Converter is located on the driving trailer, along with the toilet. The units use air-operated sliding plug doors.

The Class 466 EMUs were built between 1993 and 1994 by GEC Alsthom (Metro-Cammell) in Birmingham, for the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail. They were inherited by Connex South Eastern and its successors South Eastern Trains and currently Southeastern. Each of these units is 20.89 m x 2.82 m in dimension and the maximum speed is 75 mph.

There are a total of 43 Class 466 EMUs on the UK rail network. These are all owned by Angel Trains, leased and operated by Southeastern Railway. All these units have recently been fitted with new information boards with automatic announcements.

Wabtec Rail Limited has been awarded the contract by Angel Trains for the C6 overhaul of their Class 465 and 466 EMU’s and the C4 overhaul of their Class 466 EMU’s. The units are currently leased from Angel Trains by London South Eastern Railway (Southeastern).

There are 50 x 4 car Class 465 units to undergo C6 overhaul and 43 x 2 car Class 466 units to undergo both C4 and C6 overhaul. The first unit is due on works in March 2010 and the last unit is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

The overhauls will be carried out in Wabtec Rail’s Heavy Shop and will be Project Managed by Mark Kynman who successfully managed the recently completed project for the refurbishment of the NXEC HST Trailer Cars.

This contract builds upon the already strong and successful relationship between Wabtec Rail and Angel Trains.

February 2007 Collision
From the RAIB report (Crown copyright 2007): On 5 February 2007 a bridge inspection unit working on the M20 was deployed over a railway bridge between Maidstone Barracks and Aylesford stations. The gantry on the bridge inspection unit was struck by a scheduled passenger train, causing significant damage to the leading carriage and wrecking the gantry. The train driver and the sole passenger were slightly injured. Nobody was on the gantry at the time. At 22:25 hrs on 5 February 2007 Southeastern train 2T83, the 21:57 hrs Paddock Wood to Gillingham (Kent) struck the "Moog" gantry which was foul of the up line. The train was a 2 car electric unit of class 466 (466041) and was carrying a driver and one passenger. The collision speed was 65 mph. The leading carriage suffered substantial damage to the cab and forward saloon areas. The driving cab roof was ripped open at the right hand side.