| British Rail Class 508 | |
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Class 508 at Liverpool Lime Street |
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Class 508 interior |
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| In service | 1979 - Current |
| Manufacturer | BREL York |
| Family name | BREL 1972 "PEP" |
| Refurbishment | 27 Merseyrail sets 2002 - 2004 Alstom Eastleigh Works |
| Number built | 43 trainsets |
| Formation | 3 cars per trainset (originally 4 cars) |
| Capacity | 320 seats (as-built) 234 seats (508/1) 222 seats (508/1 modified, 508/2 & 508/3) 192 seats (Merseyrail refurbished) |
| Operator | Merseyrail |
| Specifications | |
| Car length | 19.8 m (65 ft) |
| Width | 2.82 m (9.3 ft) |
| Height | 3.58 m (11.7 ft) |
| Maximum speed | 75 mph (121 km/h) |
| Weight | 104.5 tonnes (102.8 long tons) |
| Power output | 656 kW (880 hp) |
| Electric system(s) | 750 V DC Third rail |
| Gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge |
The British Rail Class 508 electric multiple units ("EMUs") were built by BREL at York works in 1979-80. They were the fourth variety of BR's then-standard 1972 design for suburban EMUs, eventually encompassing 755 vehicles and five classes (313/314/315/507/508). They have mostly worked on the Merseyrail network since 1983, and continue to do so, now refurbished by Alstom's Eastleigh Works.
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The Class 508 EMUs were developed for Merseyside following extensive trials and testing of the 4Pep/2Pep stock built in the early 1970s. Testing of Class 313 stock took place on Merseyside, using 313003 and 313005. However, following planning and building, British Rail decided to divert the 508s to work alongside much older first-generation 4Sub EMUs in the London Waterloo area. Based at Strawberry Hill depot, they soon became very unpopular in the Southern region due to their being non-standard. Once a new build of Class 455 EMUs were complete the 508s were slowly sent to their originally intended home on the Merseyrail network, to work alongside the already well-established fleet of Class 507 EMUs working there since 1978.
All 43 508s are now formed of three cars, although they were four-car sets on the Southern Region. When sent to Merseyside one of the trailer cars was removed and incorporated into the 455/7 build of EMUs. The individual passenger door controls, which had been a feature of these units, were plated over before the units were sent north. Original plans were drawn up for 58 508s to be constructed, although costing issues limited the eventual number to 43. Carriage numbering is as follows:
Merseyrail operates 27 508s, which are used interchangeably between the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. They commonly work the following services:
Connex South Eastern leased 12 508s which were freed up by controversially cutting back Merseyrail's Wirral services in 1996 (508101/105/106/107/109/113/116/119/121/129/132/133), for operation on specific Kent services. This fleet was used due to lack of Networkers (Class 466s), particularly on the Medway Valley Line and the Isle of Sheppey Line. In September 2006 new operator Southeastern announced that a cascade of rolling stock would see Class 466 units replace the 508s on the Sheerness and Medway Valley lines in the December 2006 timetable. Following this timetable change there were only six units left in Southeastern operation based at Gillingham Depot. [1] There were five units in 'warm store' at Ashford Chart Leacon, and one unit, 508212, was heavily robbed to keep the surviving service units in operation, including the swap of its TSO coach with one from a service unit that ran into a tree on the Redhill-Tonbridge line. With the transfer of the Tonbridge to London via Redhill services to Southern, Southeastern placed its remaining fleet of Class 508s in store in December 2008.
Silverlink leased three 508s from Angel Trains in 2003 for operation on the Watford DC Line to assist its fleet of Class 313 EMUs. These were withdrawn following the delivery of new Class 378 Capitalstar units.
| Class | Operator | No. in service | Year Built | Cars per Set | Unit nos. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 508/1 | Merseyrail | 27 | 1979-1980 | 3 | 508103 - 508104, 508108, 508110 - 508112, 508114 - 508115, 508117, 508120, 508122 - 508128, 508130 - 508131, 508134, 508136 - 508141, 508143 | Converted from 508/0 |
| Class 508/2 | Stored | 12 | 508201 - 508212 | |||
| Class 508/3 | 3 | 508301 - 508303 |
Network Rail's Route Utilisation Strategy for the Merseyside region has called for an expansion to Merseyrail's current fleet to allow for both additional services and lengthening of trains to six cars. In December 2009 it was reported by various sources that the former Southeastern and London Overground units would be transferred to Merseyrail.[1][2] Two ex-Overground units were moved to Warrington Arpley yard in November 2009,[3] but returned south soon after. Meanwhile the ex-Southeastern 508s have moved to Telford Railfreight Terminal for storage.[4] On 21 July 2011 2 Ex-Southeastern 508s 508208 & 508211 were moved to Eastleigh For warm storage. The rest of Southeastern's 508s will be moved there. It is yet unclear as to whether the 508s are being moved there to be refurbished back into serviceable condition for Southern or Southeastern.
508s have appeared in many colours over their lifetimes, more so than any EMU of similar type.
In late 2004, to mark Liverpool's success in being named European Capital of Culture 2008, Merseyrail named 508136 'Capital of Culture'. This name was affixed using vinyl transfers as opposed to cast metal nameplates.
508118 was gutted by fire during 2001 at Birkenhead.
On 6 March 2007 a Class 508 (set 508210), forming the 0500 Tonbridge to Gatwick Airport service, derailed near Crowhurst, Surrey, after hitting a fallen tree on the line. None of the eight people on board were hurt.[5]
On 26 October 2005 a Class 508 (set 508124), forming the 2W43 17:06 West Kirby return via Liverpool Lime Street, derailed 200m short of Liverpool Central, caused by track gauge widening due to poor track condition. There were no serious injuries. The RAIB report[6] cited incompatibility between Class 508 (and 507) EMUs and the Liverpool Loop track as a causal factor, along with maintenance and other track design concerns.
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