The Southern Railway created numbering and classification systems for its large fleet of Electric multiple units that were perpetuated by the Southern Region of British Rail until the early 1980s, when the impact of TOPS was felt. Even now, some stock have still been allocated Southern-style classifications in a semi-official manner. The Southern Railway in the United Kingdom was the smallest of the four railway systems created in the Grouping ordered by the Railways Act of 1921. ... A multiple unit is a passenger train whose carriages have their own motors, either diesel (DMUs) or electric (EMUs), and do not need to be hauled by a locomotive. ... Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system, from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... This article is about the railroad stock management system TOPS. For the DEC PDP-10 operating systems, see TOPS-10 and TOPS-20 The Total Operations Processing System, better known by its initials TOPS, is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock (railroad cars) owned by a...

Unit Numbering

Unit numbers were allocated in a series commencing from 1001, which followed the set numbers given to semi-fixed formations of hauled coaching stock, 1-1000. Different types of unit were given numbers according to the following division:

 1001-1200: Unpowered trailer units for working with 3Sub stock (this series was later expanded to include unit numbers 989-1000) 1201-1800: 3Sub stock (ex-LSWR units had 1200 added to their original number) 1801-1999: Two-car inner-suburban stock (e.g. 2Nol) 2001-2899: Two-car outer-suburban stock (e.g. 2Bil) 2901-3999: Four-, five- and six-car outer-suburban stock (e.g. 4Lav) 4001-4999: Four-car inner-suburban stock (4Sub and 4DD) 5001-5599: British Railways four-car inner-suburban stock (4EPB) 5601-6999: British Railways two-car stock (e.g. 2Hap) 7001-7999: British Railways four-car outer-suburban stock (e.g. 4Cig) 8001: Temporary eight-car formation (8Vab) S1-S101: Departmental (non-revenue earning) stock 

This series was perpetuated by the Southern Region of BR, though with modifications, as older set numbers were reused for the following different types:

 001-099 : Parcels and departmental stock (Former Sxxx units renumbered into this series) 301-999 : Trailer Control stock (first digit indicated number of cars, e.g. 301 = 3TC) 1001-1499: Diesel Electric Multiple Units (e.g. 6S) 

The 2Pep stock reused number 2001, the 4Rep stock reused numbers from 3001 and the 4Pep stock reused numbers 4001/4002. This series was abandoned only in 1983, when units were renumbered to fit in with the TOPS classification system, which had already (nominally) been in use for a decade!

Classification

The early AC overhead electric multiple unit types were referred to by a two-letter code. This was adapted for the DC third rail system that was adopted as standard by the Southern Railway, with unit type being given a three-letter code (sometimes two-letters) prefixed by the number of carriages within each unit, e.g. 4Sub for a 4-car Suburban type set.

The Southern Region of British Rail perpetuated this method of classification, and the same principles were also adopted for their fleet of diesel-electric multiple unit stock, but these types used only single letter codes. The last type to be officially allocated a designation in this series was the Pep stock of the early 1970s. However, some types built since then have been given semi-official designations in this style. Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system, from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ...

NB: This was different from the system used by British Rail (adopted from the LNER) to indicate the type of non-powered coach -- see British Rail coach designations. The London Midland & Scottish Railway and the London & North Eastern Railway both developed a system of identifying carriages by means of alphabetic codes. ...

AC Overhead EMUs

The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation CP to the fleet of AC electric multiple units used on lines in the Crystal Palace area. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation CW to the fleet of AC electric multiple units used on line between Coulsdon and Wallington. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation SL to the fleet of AC electric multiple units used on the South London lines. ...

DC Third Rail EMUs

Class 489, no. ... The British Rail Class 419 Motor Luggage Vans (or MLV) were built from 1951-61 by BR at Eastleigh Works. ... British Rail allocated Class 499 to a fleet of six luggage vans used in electric multiple unit formations on boat train services between London and Dover. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2Bil to the electric multiple units built during the 1930s to work long-disatnce semi-fast services on the newly electrified lines from London to Eastbourne, Portsmouth and Reading. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2Hal to the electric multiple units built during the late 1930s to work long-distance semi-fast services on the newly electrified lines from London to Maidstone and Gillingham (Kent). ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2Nol to the electric multiple units built during the 1930s from old London and South Western Railway carraige bodies on new underframes. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2Hal to the electric multiple units built during the late 1930s to work long-distance semi-fast services on the newly electrified lines from London to Maidstone and Gillingham (Kent). ... The Pep Stock were prototype electric multiple units used on British Rails Southern Region during the early 1970s. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2SL to the small fleet of electric multiple units dedicated for use on the South London lines. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2Wim to the small fleet of electric multiple units dedicated for use on the Wimbledon to Croydon line. ... Class 421/3, no. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation Sub to the wide variety of electric multiple units that were used on inner-suburban workings in the South London area. ... The British Rail Class 438 (or 4TC) is an unpowered electrical multiple unit built by BR at York Works from 1966-67 and 1974. ... The British Rail Class 486 (or 3Tis) electrical multiple units were original built for the London Electric Railway from 1923-31 as their Standard tube stock. ... Class 411 4Cep no. ... Class 421/3, no. ... Class 404 4Cor, no. ... The British Rail Class 413 (or 4Cap) units were formed in 1982 by permanently coupling two Class 414 2Hap units together. ... Class 411 4Cep no. ... Class 421/3, no. ... Class 404 4Cor, no. ... Class 450 at Woking The British Rail Class 450 third rail DC EMU began service during 2004. ... The two 4DD electric multiple units were the only double-deck trains to run on the main line railway network in Britain. ... Class 404 4Cor, no. ... Class 458, no. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 4Lav to the electric multiple units built to work the semi-fast services on the route between London and Brighton. ... The Pep Stock were prototype electric multiple units used on British Rails Southern Region during the early 1970s. ... Class 404 4Cor, no. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation Sub to the wide variety of electric multiple units that were used on inner-suburban workings in the South London area. ... The British Rail Class 438 (or 4TC) is an unpowered electrical multiple unit built by BR at York Works from 1966-67 and 1974. ... Class 411 4Cep no. ... The British Rail Class 485 (or 4Vec) electrical multiple units were original built for the London Electric Railway from 1923-31 as their Standard tube stock. ... Class 423, no. ... Class 423, no. ... Class 423, no. ... Class 423, no. ... Former 5Bel carriage, 284 Vera at London Victoria on 15th August 2003. ... Class 444, no. ... The British Rail Class 438 (or 4TC) is an unpowered electrical multiple unit built by BR at York Works from 1966-67 and 1974. ... Class 442, no. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designations 6Pul, 6Cit and 6Pan to the different types of electric multiple unit built to work the routes between London and Brighton, West Worthing and Eastbourne. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designations 6Pul, 6Cit and 6Pan to the different types of electric multiple unit built to work the routes between London and Brighton, West Worthing and Eastbourne. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designations 6Pul, 6Cit and 6Pan to the different types of electric multiple unit built to work the routes between London and Brighton, West Worthing and Eastbourne. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designations 6Pul, 6Cit and 6Pan to the different types of electric multiple unit built to work the routes between London and Brighton, West Worthing and Eastbourne. ... The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 2Bil to the electric multiple units built during the 1930s to work long-disatnce semi-fast services on the newly electrified lines from London to Eastbourne, Portsmouth and Reading. ... Class 421/3, no. ... Class 460, no. ... Class 421/3, no. ... Class 423, no. ...

Diesel Electric Multiple Units

See Also: Class 207, no. ... Class 205, no. ... The British Rail Class 204 designation has been used twice for two different types of diesel-electric multiple units. ... The British Rail Class 202 (or 6L) diesel-electric multiple units were built from 1957-58 at Eastleigh and Ashford Works. ...

• British Locomotive and Multiple Unit Numbering and Classification
• List of British Rail classes
• British Rail brand names