page_title: British Rail Class 421
section_title: South West Trains
hierarchical_section_title: British Rail Class 421 / Privatisation to withdrawal / South West Trains
caption_attribution_description: English: Class 421 number 1497 prepares to leave Brockenhurst station with a 'Lymington Flyer' service on 22 May 2010. This was the last day of operation of "slam door" multiple units on the former Southern Region of British Railways. Following withdrawal this unit was preserved on the Mid-Norfolk Railway.
context_page_description: The British Rail Class 421 electrical multiple units were built at BR's Holgate Road carriage works between 1964 and 1972. Units were built in two batches, and were initially introduced on services on the Brighton Main Line. Later units were introduced on services to Portsmouth. These units replaced older Southern Railway-designed units, such as the 5Bel "Brighton Belle" units, and 4Cor units. Towards the end of their life, with the increasing use of newer trains which were equipped with sliding or plug doors, these trains were known commonly as "slam-door trains". The fleet's lifespan was 46 years.
context_section_description: South West Trains inherited a small fleet of twelve 'Phase 2' 4Cig units, and the larger fleet of 22 "Greyhound" units which had been modified to cut several minutes from journey times on the Portsmouth Direct line with its 1 in 80 gradients by adding a second stage of field weakening to improve performance at higher speeds (17% at 54 mph, 30% at 90 mph).
  In 1997 the fleet was augmented with the addition of eight 4Big units from Connex South Central. These operated with the counter in the buffet carriages locked out of use. By 1999 these units had been stored, but then eight additional "Greyhound" units were converted from the redundant 4Bigs. The units were reclassified as Class 421/8, and renumbered in the range 1392–1399. The modifications included the removal of the buffet carriages, which were replaced by spare intermediate trailers from mechanically similar 4Cep units. Most of these trailers came from 4Cep units to make 3Cep units, but a few came from withdrawn units. These trailers were immediately recognisable since although they had the same body profile as the rest of the unit the windows were different and they had InterCity70 seating. The buffet carriages were withdrawn, although many were saved for preservation.
  In December 2004 unit no. 1394 was reduced to a three-car unit with the removal of its Cep trailer. It was reclassified as Class 421/7, renumbered 1499, and dedicated to the Lymington Branch Line service, where it replaced the previous incumbent unit, no. 1198.
  Withdrawals of units started in mid-2004, when many new Class 444 and Class 450 "Desiro" units became available for service. By the end of 2004 just a handful of units remained in traffic. The final few units were withdrawn in May 2005, with the last in traffic being 1304/09/12/16, 1392/95/96/97/98, 1499 and 1881/90. The final slam-door service ran on 26 May from London Waterloo to Bournemouth using units 1396, 1398 and 4Vep 3536. Following withdrawal two units, nos. 1304 and 1881, were transferred to "warm storage" for use by Southern if required. Most of the other units were sent for scrap, with the exception of nos. 1392 and 1499.
  Services on the Lymington Branch Line were operated as a "heritage" operation using one of two refurbished 3Cig units, nos. 1497 and 1498. The two units were launched into service on 12 May 2005 having been repainted into heritage liveries, 1497 in blue and grey and 1498 in the green that the units carried when built. However, in May 2010, the new timetable changes saw the units replaced for more modern stock to save maintenance on a non-standard fleet of two units. As stated in the relevant timetable, "The slam door trains will be remembered with affection as they pass into history." The change took place on 22 May 2010 and the units have been replaced by a Class 158 on weekdays and a Class 450 Desiro at weekends. The class 421s have both been preserved due to historic significance.
caption: The last day of operation on the Lymington Branch Line
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