#5326

British Rail Class 444

🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Siemens Mobility· from 2004· a British electric multiple-unit passenger train

4 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences

1. 20220912 SWR 444029: Alex Noble· CC0
2. 51133180752 1a510547ce o (444042 at SOA) (XAM-E1): CA850 (with cropping and exposure alterations by XAM2175 )· CC BY-SA 2.0
3. Class 444 at Poole: Fasty8gaming· CC BY-SA 4.0
4. Class 444 Desiro EMU: Samson Ng . D201@EAL· CC BY-SA 4.0

what is it?

The British Rail Class 444 Desiro is a third-rail electric multiple-unit passenger train built by Siemens Transportation Systems in Austria between 2002 and 2004. The Class 444 currently operate on express passenger services for South Western Railway. The class first entered service with South West Trains in 2004.

who runs it

South West Trains South Western Railway

base stats

speed 161 km/htop speed

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 22 years ago, in 2004.
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.
Still in service after 22 years.

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

spec sheet

built: 2004
in service from: 2004
status: in service
number built: —
kind: multiple unit
traction: electric
origin: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
builders: Siemens Mobility
operators: South West Trains, South Western Railway
top speed: 161 km/h
power: —

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

Sources: Wikidata Q838484, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 444 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.