The British Rail Class 314 was a class of alternating current electric multiple units (EMUs) built by BREL in 1979. They were the third class of units derived from British Rail's 1971 prototype suburban EMU design which, as the BREL 1972 family, eventually encompassed 755 vehicles over five production classes (313, 314, 315, 507 and 508).The Class 314 fleet was used to operate inner-suburban services on the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport rail network in and around Glasgow, most typically on the Argyle, North Clyde, Cathcart Circle, Paisley Canal and Inverclyde lines. The units, formed of three cars each, worked either independently or in six-car pairs. Although the fleet had undergone a number of life-extension overhauls and upgrades, they were withdrawn from service in 2018–2019 as a result of non-compliance with the requirements PRM-TSI regulations, which became legally binding at the end of December 2019. They were replaced, for the most part, by cascaded Class 318 and Class 320 units following the introduction of the Class 385 fleet. Following withdrawal, all but one unit was scrapped; the remaining unit has been converted to act as a technology demonstrator using hydrogen-powered fuel cells and was reclassified into Class 614 in October 2021. |
|
Type of Unit |
AC EMU |
Builder |
British Rail Engineering Limited, York |
Build Dates |
1979 |
Total Built |
16 3-car Sets |
Power Output |
880 hp |
Top Speed |
75 mph |
Passenger Capacity |
212 seats |
Operated By |
British Rail BR ScotRail ScotRail (National Express) First ScotRail Abellio ScotRail |
Main Duties |
Local Passenger |
In Service Until |
2019 |
Surviving Examples |
1 |