British Rail Class 314

British Rail Class 314
First ScotRail Class 314 at Patterton in 2011
Interior of a ScotRail refurbished Class 314 unit in August 2018
In service1979–2019
ManufacturerBritish Rail Engineering Limited
Built atHolgate Road Works, York
Family nameBREL 1972
Constructed1979
Entered service1979
Refurbished
  • 2006–2007
  • 2009–2010
  • 2011–2013
Scrapped2019–2020
Number built16
Number preserved1 (Converted into Class 614)
Number scrapped15
Successor
Formation3 cars per unit:
DMSO-PTSO-DMSO
Diagram
  • DMSO vehicles: EA206
  • PTSO vehicles: EH211
Fleet numbers314201–314216
Capacity212 seats
Operators
Depots
Lines served
Specifications
Car body constructionSteel underframe with aluminium body and roof
Car length
  • DM vehs.: 19.800 m (64 ft 11.5 in)
  • Trailers: 19.920 m (65 ft 4.3 in)
Width2.820 m (9 ft 3.0 in)
Height3.582 m (11 ft 9.0 in)
Floor height1.146 m (3 ft 9.1 in)
DoorsDouble-leaf pocket sliding, each 1.288 m (4 ft 2.7 in) wide (2 per side per car)
WheelbaseOver bogie centres:
14.170 m (46 ft 5.9 in)
Maximum speed70 mph (113 km/h)
Weight
  • DMSO: 34.6 t (34.1 long tons)
  • PTSO: 33.0 t (32.5 long tons)
  • Total: 102.2 t (100.6 long tons)
Traction motors
  • 8 total; 4 per DMSO vehicle
  • (GEC G310AZ or Brush TM61-53, interchangeably)
Power output660 kW (880 hp)
Electric system(s)25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead
Current collector(s)Pantograph
UIC classificationBo′Bo′+2′2′+Bo′Bo′
BogiesBREL BX1
Minimum turning radius70.4 m (231 ft 0 in)
Braking system(s)Electro-pneumatic (disc)
Safety system(s)
Coupling systemTightlock
Multiple workingWithin class
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Notes/references
Specifications as at August 1982[1] except where otherwise noted.

The British Rail Class 314 was a class of alternating current electric multiple unit (EMU) trains built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Holgate Road carriage works in 1979. They were a class of units derived from British Rail's 1971 prototype suburban EMU design which, as the BREL 1972 family, eventually encompassed 755 vehicles over five production classes (313, 314, 315, 507 and 508).[2]

The Class 314 fleet was used to operate inner-suburban services on the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport rail network in and around Glasgow, most typically on the Argyle, North Clyde, Cathcart Circle, Paisley Canal and Inverclyde lines. The units, formed of three cars each, worked either independently or in six-car pairs.

Although the fleet had undergone a number of life-extension overhauls and upgrades, it was withdrawn from service in 2018–2019 as a result of non-compliance with the requirements of the Persons with Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability (PRM-TSI),[a] which became legally binding at the end of December 2019. It was replaced, for the most part, by cascaded Class 318 and Class 320 units following the introduction of the Class 385 fleet.

Following withdrawal, all but one unit was scrapped; the remaining unit has been converted to act as a technology demonstrator using hydrogen-powered fuel cells and was reclassified into Class 614 in October 2021.

  1. ^ Vehicle Diagram Book No. 210 for Electric Multiple Units (including A.P.T.) (PDF). Derby: Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department, British Railways Board. August 1982. EA206, EH211 (in work pp. 14–15, 280–281). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2023 – via Barrowmore MRG.
  2. ^ "The twilight zone". Railways Illustrated. No. 249. November 2023. pp. 50–53.


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