British Rail Class 508

British Rail Class 508
Merseyrail Class 508 at Hightown The interior of a Merseyrail-refurbished Class 508 unit
In service	17 December 1979 – 16 January 2024
Manufacturer	British Rail Engineering Limited
Built at	Holgate Road Works, York
Family name	BREL 1972
Replaced	Class 503
Constructed	1979–1980
Refurbishment	2002–2004 at Alstom Eastleigh (27 Merseyrail units only) 2007–2008 at Wabtec Doncaster (6 Southeastern units only)
Number built	43
Number scrapped	41
Formation	As built, 4 cars per unit: DMSO-TSO-TSO-BDMSO After 3-car conversion: DMSO-TSO-BDMSO
Capacity	As built: 320 seats As three-car: 234 seats Three-car modified: 222 seats 508/2 units: 219 seats As refurbished: 192 seats
Operator	British Rail Connex South Eastern London Overground South Eastern Trains Merseyrail Southeastern Silverlink
Depot(s)	Birkenhead North (Wirral) Gillingham (Kent) Hall Road (Blundellsands Kirkdale (Liverpool)
Line(s) served	Wirral line Northern line
Specifications
Car body construction	Steel underframe and body frame, aluminium body and roof
Car length	DM vehs.: 19.800 m (64 ft 11.5 in) Trailers: 19.920 m (65 ft 4.3 in)
Width	2.820 m (9 ft 3.0 in)
Height	3.582 m (11 ft 9.0 in)
Floor height	1.146 m (3 ft 9.1 in)
Doors	Double-leaf pocket sliding, each 1.288 m (4 ft 2.7 in) wide (2 per side per car)
Maximum speed	75 mph (120 km/h)
Weight	DMSO vehicles: 36.15 t (35.58 LT; 39.85 ST) TSO vehicles: 26.72 t (26.30 LT; 29.45 ST) BDMSO vehicles: 36.61 t (36.03 LT; 40.36 ST)
Train heating	Electric heating (ducted warm air)
Current collection method	Contact shoe
UIC classification	Bo′Bo′+2′2′+Bo′Bo′
Bogies	BREL BX1
Braking system(s)	Electro-pneumatic (disc) and rheostatic
Safety system(s)	AWS TPWS
Coupling system	Tightlock
Multiple working	508/3: within subclass, and with Class 313 Others: within class, and with Class 507
Gauge

508138 bearing the 'Revised' livery, one of six 508s to receive this colourful variant.

A Class 508 in Connex livery leaving Norwood Junction.

508301 arrives at London Euston in October 2007, one month before becoming part of the London Overground fleet.

A Silverlink 508 at South Hampstead.

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.

British Rail Class 508 Media

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  A Class 508 DMSO vehicle converted for use as a translator coach

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  A Class 508 in as-delivered BR livery at Hampton Court, near London, in 1984.

Related pages

• British Rail Class 507
• Merseyrail