#6032
British Rail Class 508
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by British Rail Engineering Limited· from 2024· Class of electric multiple unit
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 20190820-Merseyrail-508131: Alex Noble· CC0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 508 (4PER) electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains were built by British Rail Engineering Limited, at Holgate Road carriage works, York, in 1979 and 1980. They were a variant of British Rail's standard 1972 design for suburban EMUs, eventually encompassing 755 vehicles and five classes (313/314/315/507/508). They mostly worked on the Merseyrail network from 1982 until withdrawal on 16 January 2024.
who runs it
base stats
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 2 years ago, in 2024.
- 19.8 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Seats 320: 6 full city buses (~50 seats each).
- Served for 45 years (1979–2024).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 2024
- in service from
- 1979
- retired
- 2024
- status
- retired
- number built
- 43
- kind
- Electric multiple unit
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- British Rail Engineering Limited
- operators
- British Rail, Connex South Eastern, London Overground, South Eastern Trains, Merseyrail, Southeastern, Silverlink, Merseyrail Electrics
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- —
- formation
- As built, 4 cars per unit:, DMSO, Driver's cab, Motor car, Standard class, Open saloon-TSO, Trailer car, Standard class…
- length
- 19.8 m
- capacity
- 320 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q3303668, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 508 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.