#3759
British Rail Class 421
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Holgate Road carriage works· from 1964· class of 4-car EMU, (4-BIG, 4-CIG) bought for Brighton Line electrification
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Unit 1498 4CIG at North Weald 2012: Sunil060902· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. Class 421 4-CIG 1309: Tutenkhamun Sleeping· CC BY 2.0
- 3. Class 421 4-CIG 1883: Tutenkhamun Sleeping· CC BY 2.0
- 4. Class 421; 4-CIG 7302: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 5. Class 421; 4-CIG 7339: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 6. Class 421; 4-CIG 7344: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 7. Class 421; 4-CIG 7355: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 8. Class 421; 4-CIG 7356: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 9. Class 421; 4-CIG 7410: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 10. Class 421; 4-CIG 7420: hugh llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 421 (4-CIG) electric multiple units were built at British Rail's Holgate Road carriage works in York, England, between 1964 and 1972. The trains were built in two batches and were initially introduced on services on the Brighton Main Line; later, they were introduced on services to Portsmouth. They replaced older Southern Railway-designed trains, such as the 5-BEL Brighton Belle and 4-COR. The fleet's lifespan was 46 years.
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 62 years ago, in 1964.
- 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.
- 80.8 m long: about 18 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 46 years (1964–2010).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1964
- in service from
- 1964
- retired
- 2010
- status
- retired
- number built
- 166
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Holgate Road carriage works
- operators
- British Rail, South West Trains, Connex South Central, Connex South Eastern, Network SouthEast, Southern, South Eastern Trains
- top speed
- 145 km/h
- power
- 746 kW
- formation
- Driving trailer + Motor coach + Trailer/Buffet + Driving trailer
- length
- 80.8 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q3303603, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 421 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.