#4687· Class 321

British Rail Class 321

🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by British Rail Engineering Limited· from 1988· British electric multiple unit trainset

6 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences

1. 321903 B Doncaster: Peter Skuce· Public domain
2. 321344 at Colchester: Superalbs· CC BY-SA 4.0
3. Class 321 Cattawade: kitmasterbloke· CC BY 2.0
4. Colne Viaduct Colchester with Class 321 unit crossing: kitmasterbloke· CC BY 2.0
5. Stored Varamis Rail Class 321 units subject to vandalism at Carlisle: kitmasterbloke· CC BY 4.0
6. Southend Class 321 EMU in Dutch Railways livery named Amsterdam (1): Steven Duhig from Bowie, Maryland, USA· CC BY-SA 2.0

what is it?

The British Rail Class 321 is a class of electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains built by British Rail Engineering Limited's York Carriage Works in three batches between 1988 and 1991 for Network SouthEast and Regional Railways. The class uses alternating current (AC) overhead electrification. The design was successful and led to the development of the similar Class 320 and Class 322.

who runs it

Arriva Rail North Arriva Trains Northern Central Trains First Capital Connect First Great Eastern Greater Anglia London Midland London Overground Rail Operations Limited National Express East Anglia Network SouthEast Northern Rail Northern Trains Regional Railways Silverlink

base stats

speed 161 km/htop speed
seats 313passengers
built 117made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

First built 38 years ago, in 1988.
Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 15 minutes.
80.9 m long: about 18 cars parked nose to tail.
Seats 313: 6 full city buses (~50 seats each).
Still in service after 38 years.

multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.

spec sheet

built: 1988
in service from: 1988
status: in service
number built: 117
kind: multiple unit
traction: electric
origin: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
builders: British Rail Engineering Limited
operators: Arriva Rail North, Arriva Trains Northern, Central Trains, First Capital Connect, First Great Eastern, Greater Anglia, London Midland, London Overground Rail Operations Limited, National Express East Anglia, Network SouthEast, Northern Rail, Northern Trains, Regional Railways, Silverlink
top speed: 161 km/h
power: —
formation: 4 cars per unit;, 321/3 and /4 units:, DTCO, Driver's cab, Trailer car, Composite (first and standard class sections),…
length: 80.9 m
capacity: 313 passengers
Dutch name: Class 321

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q844103, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 321 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.