British Rail Class 370
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| British Rail Class 370 "Advanced Passenger Train" |
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 Class 370 leaving London Euston |
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| In service | 1980-1986 |
| Manufacturer | BREL |
| Family name | APT |
| Number built | 3 trainsets |
| Formation | 12 cars per trainset |
| Operator | InterCity |
| Lines served | West Coast Main Line |
| Specifications | |
| Height | 3.5 m |
| Maximum speed | 155mph (249 km/h) (Design) 125mph (200 km/h) (service) |
| Weight | 434 t |
| Voltage | 25 kV AC Overhead |
British Rail's Class 370 tilting trains, also referred to as APT-P (meaning Advanced Passenger Train Prototype), were the pre-production Advanced Passenger Train units. Unlike the earlier experimental gas-turbine APT-E unit, these units were powered by 25kV AC overhead electrification and were used on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central.
Due to ongoing technical problems with these pre-production units, and a lack of cash or political will to take the project forward, the planned APT-S production-series units were never built, but did influence the design of the later InterCity 225 sets designed for the East Coast Main Line electrification. The technology was later sold to Fiat and used as the basis for their Pendolino trains which have been used world wide including the West Coast Main Line.
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[edit] Numbering
Units were numbered 370001-370006 (plus a spare driving car labelled 370007) and were formed as follows:
- 48101-48107 - Driving Trailer Second
- 48201-48206 - Trailer Second
- 48401-48406 - Trailer Restaurant Second Buffet
- 48301-48306 - Trailer Unclassified
- 48501-48506 - Trailer First
- 48601-48606 - Trailer Brake First
- 49001-49006 - Non-Driving Motor
A full train was made up of two units running back-to-back, with the two motor cars adjoining. The motor cars had no seating accommodation or through-gangway, so the two halves of the train were unconnected for passengers.
[edit] Withdrawal
All six units were withdrawn during 1985-1986, and most cars were quickly scrapped. Only a handful of cars have survived;
- 49006 is a Non-Driving Motor Car, and is at the National Railway Museum's Locomotion annexe in Shildon
- The Railway Age, a museum located next to Crewe station, has a rake of six cars formed into a single train:
- 48103 - Driving Trailer Second
- 48404 - Trailer Restaurant Second Buffet
- 48603 - Trailer Brake First
- 49002 - Non-Driving Motor
- 48602 - Trailer Brake First
- 48106 - Driving Trailer Second
