#3347
British Rail Classes 201, 202 and 203
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Eastleigh Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Works· from 1957· three related classes of diesel-electric multiple units used on the London to Hastings line
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Hastings set 1004: Dave coxon at English Wikipedia· Public domain
what is it?
Class 201, Class 202 and Class 203 were the TOPS codes for a series of diesel-electric multiple units built for the Southern Region of British Railways in 1957–86. They were classified by the Southern Region as 6S, 6L and 6B respectively, and known collectively as the Hastings Diesels or Hastings Units. They were built for service on the Hastings Line, which had a restricted loading gauge due to deficiencies in the construction of the tunnels when the line was built between 1845 and 1852.
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 69 years ago, in 1957.
- 373 kW is about 4 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 109 m long: about 24 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 29 years (1957–1986).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1957
- in service from
- 1957
- retired
- 1986
- status
- retired
- number built
- 138
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Eastleigh Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Works
- operators
- Southern Region of British Railways
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- 373 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- formation
- DMBSO-TSOL-TSOL-TFK-TSOL-DMBSO (6S, 6L), DMBSO-TSOL-TBU-TFK-TSOL-DMBSO (6B)
- length
- 109 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q23070981, Wikipedia: British Rail Classes 201, 202 and 203 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.