Class 321

The Class 321 is a type of EMU built by British Rail Engineering Limited in three batches between 1988 and 1991 at York Carriage Works. The design was successful and let to the development of the Class 320 and Class 322.

 

After operating for various TOCs after the privatisation of British Rail, they were later operated by Greater Anglia until April 2023. Some have been converted to Class 320 and are operated by ScotRail.

 

 

 

Description

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Three sub-classes were built. The first two were built for the Network SouthEast sector for operation on services from London Liverpool Street and London Euston, while the third was built for Regional Railways for use on West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive services from Leeds. As part of the privatisation of British Rail, ownership of the class passed from British Rail to the Eversholt Rail Group in April 1994.

 

They have been modified by the different rail companies which use them. The modifications include new seats, paintwork, lighting and passenger information systems.

 

The trains have been nicknamed "Dusty Bins" by some enthusiasts, after the TV game show "3-2-1" which featured a mascot called "Dusty Bin".

 

 

Class 321/3

In September 1987, Network SouthEast ordered 46 four-car units for use on services from London Liverpool Street to Cambridge and Southend Victoria, which became Class 321/3. The first was unveiled on 15 September 1988. A further 20 were ordered later. Units were numbered 321301–321366. The DTSO vehicle was equipped with a small area between the driver's cab and the first set of doors that could be used for the conveyance of parcels or luggage; this was indicated by a "P" following the unit number on the front of that vehicle.

 

These units replaced slam-door Class 305, Class 307, Class 308 and Class 309 units on trains to Clacton and Southend-on-Sea, and worked services on the newly electrified routes to Ipswich and Harwich. They also displaced many Class 312 slam-door units, which moved over to the London, Tilbury and Southend line. Some of the Class 309s were retained until 1994, and 24 of the newer Class 312 units were retained long-term to work services to Walton-on-the-Naze and peak services to Clacton, Ipswich and Witham. Units carried Network SouthEast livery from new.

 

The first of 30 321/3 units to be refurbished at Doncaster Works, as part of the Renatus project – which modernised the stock with features such as new air conditioning and heating, seating and Wi-Fi – was completed in December 2016.

 

Class 321/4

In October 1988 a second batch of 30 was ordered. It was intended that 25 be used on Great Eastern Main Line services and five on West Coast Main Line services, but in the event all were delivered to Bletchley TMD for use on the latter. A further 18 followed. Units were numbered 321401–321448. The first was delivered in July 1989. As with subclass /3 units, the DTSO vehicles were equipped with a parcels area indicated by suffixing a "P" to the unit number.

 

These were built for outer-suburban services on the West Coast Main Line, from London Euston to Northampton, Rugby and Birmingham New Street. They displaced the then-recently cascaded Class 317s dating from 1981 which had themselves only just been introduced to the route to replace Class 310s.

 

 

Eleven 321/4s were transferred for Great Eastern Main Line services. Following this, their First Class area was reduced in size to standardise with the 321/3s in use on that route. This involved removing the centre partition and double doors and re-upholstering the First Class style 2+2 seats (which were retained then) in the de-classified area into the same fabric as the Standard Class seats. Later the First Class 2+2 seats in this de-classified area were replaced with the standard style 2+3 seating. These 11 were also fitted with a facility to lock out the power door operation within the unit (a basic kind of Selective Operation) to permit operation of 12-car trains on the Braintree and Southminster branch lines, where some platforms were only long enough for 8-car trains.

 

The 11 Great Eastern sets passed to First Great Eastern in January 1997, passing with the franchise to National Express East Anglia in April 2004 and Abellio Greater Anglia in February 2012. The 37 West Coast sets passed to Silverlink in January 1997, passing with the franchise to London Midland in November 2007. In 2006, 321407 and 321423 were loaned by Silverlink to Northern Rail while the 321/9s were being overhauled. In 2007, 321408 and 321428 were loaned by Silverlink to c2c operating services out of Fenchurch Street while one Class 357 was repaired and another was undergoing tests in the Czech Republic.

 

Following the delivery of the Class 350/2 fleet, 13 Class 321/4s (401–410, 418–420) were transferred from London Midland to First Capital Connect and overhauled by Wabtec's Doncaster Works. These passed with the franchise to Great Northern in September 2014. London Midland also released 17 (421–437) for transfer to National Express East Anglia. The remaining seven (411–417) passed to Abellio ScotRail in 2015, after being converted to three-car Class 320/4 at Doncaster Works.

 

Class 321/9

The final batch of three Class 321 units was constructed in 1991 and classified subclass /9. These units had a similar formation to the earlier units except that there is no first class seating. They were ordered by Regional Railways for use on West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive services on the newly electrified Doncaster to Leeds route, entering service in 1993. From 1995 they also worked on Wharfedale line services from Leeds to Ilkley. In March 1997 they passed with the Regional Railways North East franchise to Northern Spirit, which became Arriva Trains Northern in April 2001. In June 1998 they were loaned to GNER to operate Leeds to London King's Cross services while its InterCity 225 fleet was grounded with mechanical issues. All three passed with the franchise to Northern Rail in December 2004.

 

The Class 321/9 units were refurbished at Hunslet-Barclay, Kilmarnock from late 2006 to early 2007. The refurbishment included a new livery, refurbished interiors and reliability improvements, similar to the Class 322 EMUs, which were also refurbished at Kilmarnock.

 

 

The units transferred to Arriva Rail North in April 2016, and then Northern Trains on 1 March 2020. With the Class 331s now in service, the Class 321/9s were transferred to Greater Anglia. They were leased to allow Greater Anglia's Class 360s to move to East Midlands Railway.

 

All 321/9 units were scrapped in 2022.

 

Renatus Project

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In December 2013 Eversholt rebuilt 321448 as a demonstrator at Doncaster Works for a proposed upgrade. It featured a new livery, completely refitted interior including two examples of sitting arrangements including 2+2 and 2+3, and a new First Class area. The demonstrator also featured air conditioning, not previously seen on Class 321 trains, along with fixed panel windows to replace opening windows and a new Vossloh Kiepe traction package.

 

The production run covered 30 units. The Vossloh Kiepe traction package was installed at Wolverton Works with the rest of the work performed at Doncaster. The first was completed in December 2016. In 2017 the prototype returned to Doncaster to be modified to the same specifications as the production units, including being refitted with hopper windows.

 

 

 

 

Current Operations

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In March 2021, Eversholt Rail Group announced its intention to convert 321334 for use as a parcels train. In July 2021, Eversholt and Wabtec revealed 321334 in the Swift Express livery.

 

In November 2021 it was announced that 4 more Class 321s would be converted to Swift Express, with the first of these units expected to be delivered in February 2022. In 2022 it was announced that an unnamed customer had secured its first unit, later confirmed as Varamis Rail which launched a service between Scotland and Birmingham in January using unit 321334. The final two were scheduled to be completed in September 2022.

 

In September 2023, it was announced that Eversholt had abandoned the Swift Express project despite four Class 321 units having been converted. Varamis Rail announced that it was considering taking over the project. In early 2024 Varamis Rail bought the four converted units from Eversholt.