The British Rail Class 466 Networker is a type of electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger train built by Metro-Cammell between 1993 and 1994. The units are currently operated by Southeastern.

Description

thumb|left|A Class 466 unit in Southeastern livery at Sheerness-on-Sea (2011)

The Class 466 EMUs were built between 1993 and 1994 by Metro-Cammell in Washwood Heath, for the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail. As part of the privatisation of British Rail, all were sold to Angel Trains. These provide six-car or 10-car suburban services out of , and main line stations to various destinations in south-east London and Kent.

Before this, however, they were also often used as individual units on branch lines, mainly:

  • the Sheerness Line between and , displacing the Class 508/2s which operated on this branch line
  • the Bromley North branch between and
  • the Medway Valley line between , and .

During this time, they sometimes ran doubled-up to make four-car units, which helped reduce the poor adhesion along the line with single two-car units. The units have since been replaced on the Medway Valley line and the Sheerness line with units (predominately the three-car variants) in 2012 and 2019 respectively. The units were replaced with four-car Class 465 units on the Bromley North line in January 2021.

These two-car EMUs are formed of a driving motor carriage (DMSO: Driving Motor Standard Open) and a driving trailer carriage (DTSOL, with lavatory); all on-board seating is standard accommodation.

In early 2025, some of the Class 466 fleet began to be sent for scrapping.

Preservation

In mid 2026 it was announced that 466043 had been preserved.

Fleet details

{| class="wikitable"

|+ style="text-align: left;" | Units:

! Class

! Operator

! Qty.

! Year built

! Cars per unit

! Unit numbers

|-

! rowspan="3" align="center" |466

| Southeastern

| align="center"|16

| rowspan="3" align="center" |1993–1994

| rowspan="3" align="center" |2

|466003, 466006, 466008, 466011, 466018–466019, 466021–466023, 466026, 466034–466035, 466038–466040, 466042

|-

|Preserved

|align="center"| 1

|466043

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ style="text-align: left;" | Vehicle number ranges:

Models

Hornby produced a ready-to-run model of the Class 466 between 1998-2012. It has a plastic body with a diecast chassis construction with directional lighting.

References