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British Rail Class 323
Northern Trains Class 323 at Liverpool Lime Street in 2021
Interior of a refurbished Arriva Rail North Class 323 unit
In service	7 February 1994 – present
Manufacturer	Hunslet Transportation Projects Holec Ridderkerk UK
Order no.	DMS vehicles: 31112 & 31114 PTS vehicles: 31113
Built at	Leeds, United Kingdom Raimeca, France
Replaced	Class 116 Class 304 Class 305 Class 308 Class 309 Class 310 Class 312
Constructed	1992–1995
Refurbished	2011–2013 2018–2021
Number built	43
Number in service	34
Successor	Class 730 (West Midlands Railway)
Formation	3 cars per unit: DMS-TS-DMS
Diagram	DMS vehicles: EA272 TS vehicles: EH296
Fleet numbers	323201–323243
Capacity	As built: 284 seats Refurbished: 277 seats
Owners	Porterbrook
Operators	Current: Northern Trains Former: Central Trains First North Western London Midland Northern Rail Regional Railways West Midlands Railway
Depots	Current: Allerton (Liverpool) Future: Manchester International Former: Bletchley (Milton Keynes) Longsight (Manchester) Soho (Birmingham)
Lines served	Current: Crewe–Manchester line Glossop line Stafford–Manchester line Chat Moss line Liverpool–Wigan line Former: Birmingham to Worcester via Bromsgrove line Cross-City Line
Specifications
Car body construction	Aluminium alloy
Train length	70.18 m (230 ft 3 in)
Car length	DMS vehs.: 22.810 m (74 ft 10.0 in) TS vehs.: 22.840 m (74 ft 11.2 in)
Width	2.800 m (9 ft 2.2 in)
Height	3.769 m (12 ft 4.4 in)
Floor height	1.156 m (3 ft 9.5 in)
Doors	Double-leaf sliding plug, each 1.305 m (4 ft 3.4 in) wide (2 per side per car)
Wheelbase	Over bogie centres: 16.000 m (52 ft 5.9 in)
Maximum speed	90 mph (145 km/h)
Axle load	Route Availability 3
Traction system	As built: Holec GTO-VVVF Post-2016: Alstom IGBT-VVVF
Traction motors	8 × Holec DMKT 52/24 asynchronous three-phase AC
Power output	1,168 kW (1,566 hp) total
Electric system(s)	25 kV 50 Hz AC Overhead
Current collector(s)	Pantograph (Brecknell Willis)
UIC classification	Bo′Bo′+2′2′+Bo′Bo′
Bogies	DMS vehicles: RFS BP62 TS vehicles: RFS BT52
Braking system(s)	Westcode EP (disc) and regenerative
Safety system(s)	AWS TPWS (plus provision for BR ATP)
Coupling system	Tightlock
Multiple working	Within class (max. 4 units)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Notes/references
Sourced from Webber 1999 unless otherwise noted.

The British Rail Class 323 is a class of electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger train built by Hunslet Transportation Projects and Holec. All 43 units were built from 1992 through to 1995, although mockups and prototypes were built and tested in 1990 and 1991.

Entering service in 1994, the 323s were among the last trains to enter service with British Rail before its privatisation in the mid-1990s. The units were designed to operate on inner-suburban commuter lines in and around Birmingham and Manchester with swift acceleration and high reliability. Of the 43 units built, 34 are in service with Northern Trains, with the remaining 9 being in storage.

The units are known for their rapid acceleration, being the fastest-accelerating trains on the UK rail network.

Background

In 1990, the Regional Railways sector of British Rail tendered an order for new EMUs, both to replace older electric units around Birmingham and Manchester, and to work services on the newly electrified Birmingham Cross-City Line. In June 1990, the contract was awarded to Hunslet Transportation Projects of Birmingham, a new company set up by a team of engineers and managers who had left Metro-Cammell, a Birmingham-based train manufacturer at the time. It won the contract in competition with six other European train builders. The trains were designed in Birmingham, but built and fitted out at the Hunslet works in Leeds, with the traction motors supplied by the Dutch firm Holec.

Initially 37 units were ordered, with the option for fourteen more. Eighteen would be needed for the Cross-City Line, while the remainder would replace older units (such as the Class 304 and Class 310); ultimately a total of 43 three-car units were actually built. When the electrification of the Leeds/Bradford – Skipton/Ilkley Airedale/Wharfedale Lines was confirmed in the early 1990s, Regional Railways and West Yorkshire PTE applied to the government for fourteen units to add to those already on order. At the time, government spending on the railways was restricted due to the impending privatisation of British Rail and eventually, when funding was not forthcoming, the order was cancelled. Instead 21 second-hand Class 308 units from Network SouthEast were used until new Class 333 EMUs entered service in 2001.

The units are known for a distinctive whine made during acceleration or deceleration, rising/falling through multiple phases falsely suggestive of a motor connected to a gearbox with a great many ratios, caused by use of a gate turn-off thyristor-based inverter as part of the traction control circuitry that drives the three-phase AC motors, a common setup in the early-to-mid 1990s which is notably also present in the Networker family of EMUs. The "gear-changing" effect is produced by the simplification of the PWM pulse pattern so as not to overload the thyristor, which switches at lower frequencies than later implementations of the variable-frequency drive and hence produces a lower-pitched sound.

Service history

British Rail service

The Class 323s were initially beset with a number of technical problems related to their traction motors, doors, traction converters, gearbox and vibration at high speed which took several years to resolve, preventing them from entering service. The first unit finally entered revenue-earning service on 7 February 1994. A mixed fleet of elderly diesels which the 323s had been intended to replace, as well as some elderly Class 304, Class 308 and Class 310 electric units, were drafted in to operate Cross-City Line services until the problems were resolved. Electric services began on 26 November 1992 on the northern section of the Cross-City Line, before the entire route was energised in June the following year. The 323s became reliable enough to operate a full service in 1995.

Post-privatisation service

As part of the privatisation of British Rail, all 43 were sold to Porterbrook in 1994 and allocated to the Central Trains and North West Regional Railways shadow franchises.

West Midlands

Central Trains inherited from British Rail a fleet of 26 units in two blocks; 323201–323222 and 323240–323243. In November 2007, these passed to London Midland when it took over the franchise.

In December 2017, West Midlands Trains took over the West Midlands franchise, and the 323s passed to that company.

In mid-to-late 2019, a number of West Midlands Trains' Class 323 units were used for an in-service pilot test of retrofitted Double Variable-Rate Sanders, sponsored by the Rail Safety and Standards Board. The test demonstrated that the new sanding equipment significantly improved braking performance in low-adhesion conditions.

To celebrate 30 years service in the West Midlands unit 323221 was repainted into the Centro livery.

To celebrate 30 years of operation of Soho Depot where the West Midlands fleet is maintained, the West Midlands fleet had Soho LMD 1993 Cross City Line Diamond logos applied to them.

A farewell tour was held on 29 September 2024 to mark the withdrawal from service of the West Midlands fleet. The West Midlands fleet was withdrawn from service the same day.

The West Midlands Class 323 fleet was replaced by the Class 730.

North West

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The units were used to replace older stock of Classes Class 304 and Class 305, although some of the latter were retained in reserve until 2000. They are used on the Manchester electrified network, primarily to the south of the city.

At the time of the privatisation of British Rail, the Regional Railways North West franchise was re-branded North Western Trains, and it inherited 17 of these units (323223–323239). North Western Trains became First North Western in 1998 and its operations were taken over by Northern Rail in 2004. All passed to Arriva Rail North with the franchise in April 2016, and then to current operator Northern Trains on 1 March 2020.

The 323s were planned to leave Arriva Rail North in December 2018 when replaced by the Class 331 fleet, but this did not occur. Instead, the Class 323 fleet was retained – and was enlarged with a cascade of 17 units from West Midlands Railway taking place between October 2023 and July 2024

The 17 West Midlands Railway units to be transferred to Northern once the Class 730s enter service, started to receive "digital modifications" in 2023. The first of these trains (323208) was transferred to Northern in October 2023.

The fleet is currently maintained at Allerton TMD, with units terminating in Manchester stabled at Stockport Edgeley carriage sidings where they receive overnight cleaning as well as Ardwick TMD operated by Siemens, where they are washed alongside the Class 185 TransPennine Express fleet. The 323s were formerly maintained at Longsight Electric TMD.

In the future the fleet will be stabled and maintained at Manchester International Depot.

Refurbishment

As part of a refurbishment in the early 2000s, the Class 323 fleet received guard's door control panels in the trailer vehicles.

Class 323s operated by both Northern Trains and West Midlands Railway received a full refurbishment between 2018 and 2021, with the first refurbished units delivered to West Midlands Railway in February 2019, and the first Arriva Rail North unit (323234) returning on 22 October 2019. The rest of fleet was refurbished to the same standard over the following years.

These works involved the replacement of seat covers, interior and exterior repainting (into the new livery of their respective operators), the installation of a new passenger information system and wheelchair call-for-aid buttons, and the addition of an accessible toilet in place of the original small toilet cubicles, among other modifications. The last Class 323 unit to be refurbished (323224) returned to Northern Trains on 23 January 2021, while the last West Midlands Railway 323 unit was returned in 2020.

Many of these changes were a requirement of the PRM (Persons with Restricted Mobility) TSI, with which all UK trains have to be compliant.

Accidents and incidents

On 18 December 2008, unit 323231 collided with a Nissan 4x4 which had rolled down the embankment from a delivery company car park at North Rode, Congleton. The unit spent 16 months out of service to undergo repair as a result.

On 17 December 2019, unit 323234 derailed in the Ardwick train depot. The train rolled approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) away from the railhead and where it had ended up. No one was hurt in the accident as it occurred at a low speed.

Fleet details

Named units

The following units received names:

• 323201: Duddeston (de-named)
• 323202: Butlers Lane (de-named)
• 323203: Aston (de-named)
• 323204: Selly Oak (de-named)
• 323205: Blake Street (de-named)
• 323206: Barnt Green (de-named)
• 323207: Bournville (de-named)
• 323208: Five Ways (de-named)
• 323209: Birmingham New Street (de-named)
• 323210: Shenstone (de-named)
• 323211: Four Oaks (de-named)
• 323212: Bromsgrove (de-named)
• 323213: Sutton Coldfield (de-named)
• 323214: Wylde Green (de-named)
• 323215: Gravelly Hill (de-named)
• 323216: University (de-named)
• 323217: Chester Road (de-named)
• 323218: Lichfield City (de-named)
• 323219: Kings Norton (de-named)
• 323220: Lichfield Trent Valley (de-named)
• 323221: Northfield (subsequently de-named)
• 323222: Redditch (de-named)
• 323240: Erdington (de-named)
• 323241: Dave Pomroy 323 Fleet Engineer 40 Years Service. (de-named)
• 323242: Alvechurch (de-named)
• 323243: Longbridge (de-named)

Awards

At the 2023 Gold Spanner awards, the West Midlands Trains Class 323 fleet won a Silver spanner award for the "most improved Ex-BR EMU fleet over the past year".

At the 2024 Gold Spanner awards, the Northern Trains Class 323 fleet won a Silver Spanner award.

Notes

1. Hunslet Transportation Projects Limited (HTPL) sold its Birmingham-based design, engineering, and project management functions – including responsibility for the Class 157 and 323 contracts – to the Dutch electrical engineering firm Holec [nl] in March 1994.
2. Assembly
3. Bodyshells only
4. Between Birmingham and Bromsgrove.
5. The Alstom IGBT system delivers improved reliability, though – in order to avoid the need for expensive recertification – it is configured to emulate as exactly as possible the control and electromagnetic interference characteristics of the original system.
6. Both types of bogie are derived from the British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) BT13 design. RFS Industries was formed in 1987 through a buy-out by former BREL managers of British Rail's Doncaster Wagon Works.
7. The regenerative system is the primary brake for the train in normal operation, blended with the friction brakes as required. Emergency braking uses the friction brakes alone, at a force 30% above the normal 'full service' application.

References

1. Webber 1999, Table 1 'Chronology'. "Hunslet TPL (Engineering and Project Management) becomes Holec Ridderkerk (Birmingham) Limited, latterly Holec Ridderkerk UK Limited: 15 March 1994".
2. Williams, Philip (23 March 1994). "Hunslet has had enough of 'misery line' battles". Birmingham Post. Midland Independent Newspapers. p. 9. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
3. ^ Fox, Peter (1994). British Railways Pocket Book No. 4: Electric Multiple Units (7th ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. pp. 38–39. ISBN 9781872524603.
4. Walmsley, Ian (January 2024). "'323s' say Bye, bye Brum". Pan Up. Modern Railways. Vol. 82, no. 915. pp. 39–43.
5. Cite error: The named reference 444SWT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ "Class 323 Electric Multiple Unit Traction Upgrade". Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 5 May 2017. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
7. ^ "Class 323 Overhaul". Wolverton: Gemini Rail Group. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
8. ^ Gemini Rail Group (23 January 2021). "Last class 323 PRM refurbished unit returned to Northern Trains". LinkedIn. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
9. ^ "Class 323". Modern Locomotives Illustrated. No. 228. Stamford: Key Publishing. December 2017. pp. 49–53.
10. ^ "Charity train ride raises £22,000 as West Midlands Railway bids farewell to Class 323 fleet". Mynewsdesk. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
11. ^ Class 323 Driver's Manual (PDF). Northern Rail Limited. 19 May 2013. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
12. "New era of rail travel to begin as West Midlands Railway unveils electric train fleet". West Midlands Railway. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
13. "Class 323 EMUs to remain in traffic with Northern". Rail Magazine. No. 886. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media. August 2019. p. 30.
14. ^ "Manchester depot revitalised". Rail Magazine. No. 975. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media. 25 January 2023. p. 27.
15. Russell, David (December 2024). "Class 323". Units. Rail Express. No. 343. p. 23.
16. "Exploring the "Elgar Line" to Hereford". Today's Railways UK. No. 261. November 2023. pp. 40–47.
17. ^ Class 323 Electric Multiple Unit (PDF) (1A ed.). Derby: Porterbrook Leasing Company. November 2013. pp. 16, 19–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
18. ^ Walmsley, Ian (23 February 2017). "A Traction Heart Transplant". Modern Railways. Stamford: Key Publishing. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
19. Marsden, C. J. (2007). "Class 323". Traction Recognition. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 184–185. ISBN 978-0-7110-3277-4. OCLC 230804946. OL 16902750M.
20. Webber 1999, p. 56.
21. "Catalogue Description: RFS Industries Ltd, Records 1987–1989". The National Archives. DZ MD/574. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
22. Webber 1999, p. 59.
23. "Class 323 Data Sheets". Porterbrook Leasing Company. Archived from the original on 10 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
24. ^ Plisner, Peter (17 April 2024). "A found farewell to Cross City stalwarts". Feature Rolling Stock. Rail Magazine. No. 1007. pp. 38–43.
25. ^ Boynton, John (1993). Rails Across The City; The Story of the Birmingham Cross City Line. Kidderminster: Mid England Books. ISBN 0-9522248-0-1.
26. Ward, Kris. "A Brief History of the Hunslet Engine Co". Leeds Engine Builders. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
27. "Electric Multiple Unit Class 333, UK". Siemens AG. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
28. "Electric Traction Control". The Railway Technical Website. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
29. Webber 1999, p. 49.
30. Boynton, John (1999). A Century of Railways around Birmingham and the West Midlands, Volume Three: 1973–1999. Kidderminster: Mid England Books. ISBN 0-9522248-6-0.
31. "Class 323 - London Midland". Derby: Porterbrook Leasing Company. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
32. "Class 323 - Northern". Derby: Porterbrook Leasing Company. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
33. Dobell, Malcolm (29 June 2020). "A little sand in the right place works wonders". Rail Engineer. Coalville: Rail Media Group. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
34. "West Midlands Trains turns back the clock with retro repaint for Class 323". Today's Railways Uk. No. 252. February 2023. p. 55.
35. Hilbert, Martyn (May 2024). "The West Midlands Class 323s". Feature Rolling Stock. Railways Illustrated. No. 255. pp. 62–65.
36. Barrow, Keith (22 January 2016). "CAF to supply 98 trains for Britain's Northern franchise". International Railway Journal. Falmouth: Simmons-Boardman Publishing. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
37. Franchise Agreement - Northern (Rail Public Register Copy) (PDF) (6.2 ed.). London: Department for Transport. 22 December 2015. Schedule 1.7, Table 1, Note H (pp. 146, 150). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
38. "Likely removal of North West '323s' angers user group". Rail Magazine. No. 782. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media. 2 September 2015.
39. ^ Russell, David (September 2024). "Cross-City '730' workings Increase". Units. Rail Express. No. 340. p. 22.
40. Dunn, Pip (15 November 2023). "West Midlands Trains sends its first '323' to Northern". Rail Magazine. No. 996. p. 22.
41. "Digital mods for 323s". Today's Railways UK. No. 257. July 2023. p. 62.
42. "West Midlands Trains sends its first '323' to Northern". Rail Magazine. No. 996. 15 November 2023. p. 22.
43. "The first in fleet refurb makes its way back to Allerton". Wolverton: Gemini Rail Group. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
44. "A range of improvements are being made to trains on the Cross City line". Birmingham: West Midlands Trains. 22 February 2019. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
45. "Heavy rail fleets: 2020 targeted accessibility compliance". London: HM Government. 23 February 2017. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
46. Rail Accident Report 33/2009: Collision and derailment of a passenger train at North Rode, between Macclesfield and Congleton, 18 December 2008 (PDF). Derby: Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Department for Transport. December 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
47. Day, Rebecca (17 December 2019). "Manchester Piccadilly rail services face severe disruption after train derails at Ardwick". Manchester Evening News. Reach plc. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
48. Russell, David (July 2024). "More Class 323s head to Northern". Units. Rail Express. No. 338. p. 22.
49. Russell, David (August 2024). "Class 323". Units. Rail Express. No. 339. p. 22.
50. Pickering, Graeme (November 2024). "Multiple farewells for West Midlands Class 323 EMUs". Traction & Stock. The Railway Magazine. Vol. 170, no. 1484. p. 93.
51. ^ Butlin, Ashley (May 2024). "Multiple Units". Stock Update. The Railway Magazine. Vol. 170, no. 1478. p. 97.
52. ^ Butlin, Ashley (July 2024). "Multiplie Units". Stock Update. The Railway Magazine. Vol. 170, no. 1480. p. 91.
53. ^ Butlin, Ashley (November 2024). "Multiple Units". Stock Update. The Railway Magazine. Vol. 170, no. 1484. p. 95.
54. ^ Pritchard, Robert (July 2024). "EMUs". Stock Changes. Today's Railways UK. No. 269. p. 58.
55. "EMUs". Stock changes. Today's Railways UK. No. 262. December 2023. p. 63.
56. Bendall, Simon; Coward, Andy (June 2024). "Naming Update". Fleet Review. Railways Illustrated. No. 256. p. 25.
57. ^ Butlin, Ashley (February 2024). "Multiple Units". Stock Update. The Railway Magazine. Vol. 170, no. 1475. p. 89.
58. ^ Pritchard, Robert (June 2024). "EMUs". Rolling Stock News. Today's Railways UK. No. 268. p. 63.
59. ^ Russell, David (October 2024). "Depot Talk". Units. Rail Express. No. 341. p. 24.
60. "Stock Changes". Today's Railways UK. No. 252. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. February 2023. p. 57.
61. Butlin, Ashley (June 2024). "Multiple Units". Stock Update. The Railway Magazine. Vol. 170, no. 1479. p. 97.
62. "Record attendance as 2023 Golden Spanner winners revealed". Modern Railways. 24 November 2023.
63. "Golden Spanners Awards 2024: The Winners". Traction & Rolling Stock Special. Modern Railways. Vol. 82, no. 915. January 2024. pp. 66–68.

Sources

• Webber, B. (1999). "Class 323 Electric Multiple Units". Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. 213 (1): 49–62. doi:10.1243/0954409991531029. S2CID 109704714.

Further reading

• Marsden, Colin J. (2011). Traction Recognition (2nd ed.). Hersham: Ian Allan. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-0-7110-3494-5. OCLC 751525080.

• British Rail electric multiple units
• Train-related introductions in 1994
• 25 kV AC multiple units