#3274· Class 411
British Rail Class 411
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Eastleigh Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Works· from 1956· class of 4-car British electric multiple units
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 1586 at London Victoria: Image by Phil Scott ( Our Phellap )· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. BR Class 411 1599: Murgatroyd49· CC BY 4.0
- 3. Class 411; 4-CEP & 3-CEP 1507: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 4. Class 411; 4-CEP & 3-CEP 1536: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 5. Class 411; 4-CEP & 3-CEP 1585: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 6. Class 411; 4-CEP & 3-CEP 411 509: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 7. Class 411; 4-CEP & 3-CEP 411 511: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 8. Class 411; 4-CEP & 3-CEP 411 515: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 9. Class 411; 4-CEP & 3-CEP 7139: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 10. Class 411; 4-CEP & 3-CEP 7142: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 411 (4CEP) electric multiple units were built at Eastleigh works from 1956–63 for the newly electrified main lines in Kent. These units, which used the British Railways Mark 1 bodyshell, were based on the earlier Southern Railway 4 COR design, built in 1937. Variants of the class 411 design included the Class 410 and Class 412 4 BEP units, which contained a buffet car in place of a standard trailer.
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 70 years ago, in 1956.
- Top speed is 1.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- 746 kW is about 9 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 27 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 80.8 m long: about 18 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 49 years (1956–2005).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1956
- in service from
- 1956
- retired
- 2005
- status
- retired
- number built
- 135
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Eastleigh Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Works
- operators
- British Rail, Network SouthEast, South West Trains, Connex South Central, Connex South Eastern, South Eastern Trains
- top speed
- 145 km/h
- power
- 746 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 750 V DC third rail
- formation
- power car + 2 trailer cars + power car
- length
- 80.8 m
- weight
- 159 t
- Dutch name
- Class 411
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1979316, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 411 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.