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Home > British Rail Class 489

Class 489, no. 9107 at Wirksworth Station on 17th April 2003. This unit is one of two preserved on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway in Derbyshire. Class 489, no. 9108 at London Victoria on 18th March 2003. This unit carries the InterCity Gatwick Express livery. Class 489, no. 9110 at London Victoria on 18th March 2003. This is one of only two units still in service with Gatwick Express.

1 Description

The British Rail Class 489 (or GLV) is a type of electrical multiple unit, specially converted for use on Gatwick Express trains, from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport.

The units were converted from Class 414 driving motors cars, by Eastleigh works in 1983-84, for use on the new Gatwick Express service. They were used to allow push-pull operations, on the London-end of the rakes of Class 488 stock, with a Class 73 locomotive used for propulsion. The units were used as baggage cars.

Units were given unit numbers in the range 489101-489110, with individual carriages numbered 68500-68509. However, the set numbers on the end were applied in typical Southern style, showing only the last four digits (i.e. 9101-9110) in both top corners.

The units were originally painted in BR Blue/Grey livery, which was quickly replaced by InterCity livery. The final livery carried by these units is a variation of the InterCity livery, with a claret stripe and Gatwick Express lettering.

2 Current Operations

Upon privatisation of British Rail, the Gatwick Express franchise was won by the National Express GroupThis article is about the National Express Group; for information on the member of the group which trades under the National Express brand, see National Express article. National Express Group plc is a UK based transportation group, operating airport, bus.

2.1 Gatwick Express

Immediately after privatisation, the Class 489 fleet was exclusively used by Gatwick Express on all their London Victoria-Gatwick Airport shuttles. However, new units, in the form of Class 460London Victoria on 27th April 2003. This is one of eight units operated by Gatwick Express on dedicated services to Gatwick Airport. The British Rail Class 460 (or 8Gat) electrical multiple units were built by Alstom at Washwood Heath from 2000-01. These 'Juniper' units were built from 2000, with the aim of completely replacing the old stock. By 2001, sufficient new trains were in service to allow six Class 489 units to be removed from traffic, leaving four units retained as cover in case of failure of one of the new trains. Two of these have since been withdrawn, but, in 2004, two units (nos. 9104/110) were still in use, as reliability of the 'Juniper' units has not improved sufficiently to totally replace all the old trains.

2.2 Other Operators

Since finishing with Gatwick Express, several units have been sold to other operators, although none have returned to traffic.

• GB RailfreightClass 66, no. 66713 'Forest City' on display at Crewe Works open day on 1st June 2003. This locomotive is one of seventeen operated by GB Railfreight. GB Railfreight is a British Freight Operating Company. It is part of First Group. Fleet Details External have purchased units 9105 and 9106. These were part of a bulk purchase that included six Class 73 locomotives and numerous stock. The locomotives have now been returned to service, but the units are stored at Norwich Crown Point depot.
• Network Rail have purchased two units, 9102 and 9109. It is not known if they will be returned to use, and are currently in storage.

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