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The British Rail Class 442 ''Wessex Electric'' (or 5WES) electrical multiple units were introduced in 1988 on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo to Southampton Central, Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth. Twenty-four of these 5-car units were built in 1988/89 by BREL at its Derby works. Their introduction coincided with the completion of electrification from Bournemouth to Weymouth. Post-privatisation, the entire fleet was operated by South West Trains up until February 2007, when the Class 442 services were replaced by Class 444 and Class 450 Desiros. In 2008 Southern began refurbishing the units for the Gatwick Express service from Brighton to Gatwick Airport and London Victoria. The Southern refurbishment and overhaul programme meant by September 2012 the fleet had replaced all the Class 460 Juniper units. This was a controversial move, because the Class 442s are older than the Class 460s and have lower acceleration, although they underwent an extensive refurbishment to give them the extra luggage space needed for airport rail links. It is due to be replaced on Gatwick Express services by 2016 with the new . The class holds the world speed record for a third rail train with , attained on 11 April 1988. ==Description== The Class 442 "5WES" or "Wessex Electric" is based on the British Rail Mark 3 carriage bodyshell, and has a number of features which distinguish it from the slam-door units it replaced: * Vehicle length is , as opposed to . * All vehicles are air-conditioned, and have powered internal doors and external plug doors. * Units consist of five vehicles, and operate as 5-car or 10-car trains, replacing 4-car units which operated as 4-, 8- or 12-car trains. * Maximum permitted speed is . As was common on the British Rail Southern Region, many electrical components – including traction motors and electrical control gear – were salvaged from the Class 432 units they replaced. For this reason the older 4REP and 4TC units had to be withdrawn before their replacements were built. The Class 442 "Wessex Electric" was one of the first types to make extensive use of plastics in construction, and earned the nickname among staff and rail enthusiasts of "Pigs" or "Piggies".〔(Hentis-rail - Tribute to the Wessex Electrics )〕 When they were first introduced the units were plagued by minor technical failures, but they have subsequently become among the most reliable EMUs operating in the UK. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「British Rail Class 442」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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