British Rail Class 360

Infobox DMU
name = British Rail Class 360 "Desiro"

---

imagesize = 300px
caption = 360118 at London Liverpool Street railway station
background = #6600FF
Manufacturer = Siemens
Family = Desiro
Formation = 4/5 cars per trainset
Built = 28 trainsets
InService = 2003 - Current
Weight = 170 tonnes
Capacity =
MaxSpeed = 100mph (161 km/h).
Gauge =
Brakes = Air regenerative
Engine =
Operator = National Express East Anglia
Heathrow Connect

The British Rail Class 360 electric multiple units were built by Siemens in two sub-types from 2000-2005. These units are part of the Desiro family.

Description

Unlike the South West Trains and West Coast Main Line Desiros, the Class 360 lacks inter-unit gangways. This was a late design change, as the Health and Safety Executive was not happy with the driver's forward visibility with the previous design's gangway cab.

The Class 360 is a modern unit with air conditioning and is powered by OHLE with a top speed of 100mph.

Current operations

National Express East Anglia

First Great Eastern ordered 21 4-car units to replace their elderly Class 312 slam-door units. They entered service in 2003, and by mid-2004 had completely replaced the old trains. They are primarily used on London Liverpool Street to Harwich, Clacton and during afternoon/evening rush hour Ipswich services, usually running as 4 carriages to Harwich and 8-12 carriages to Clacton and Ipswich.

Since they were built, First Group has lost the franchise to the National Express Group, who operate the Great Eastern routes as part of their 'one' franchise. Though operated by National Express East Anglia the 360 class is not maintained by the franchise, but is under contract from Siemens for routine maintenance.

They retain the First Group livery (unofficially known as Barbie [ [http://members.madasafish.com/~dysgraphyk/156/class156_liv-fg.htm 156 - First Group Livery ] ] ), because of the anti vandal paint used. A repaint would require a complete sanding down before any paint could be applied

The 360's are currently having their vinyls taken off, leaving them in a purple livery with white doors. However, NXEA are slowly repainting them in their livery as seen above as part of the brand rollout of National Express.

Heathrow Connect

Heathrow Connect runs four 5-car units operating London Paddington-Heathrow Airport stopping trains. They entered service on 12 June 2005. These units were originally intended as Class 350s for prospective spot hire.

Other Country Operator

State Railway of Thailand or SRT also operate 9 sets of Desiro Class 360/2 for Suvarnabhumi AirportRail Link (SARL) in Express and City-Line service.

Fleet Details

Gallery

References