British Rail Class 507


The British Rail Class 507 is a type of electric multiple-unit passenger train built by British Rail Engineering Limited at Holgate Road carriage works in two batches from 1978 to 1980. They were the second variety of British Rail's standard 1972 design for suburban EMUs derived from PEP stock, which eventually encompassed 755 vehicles and five Classes. The 507s were the first variant to be 750 V DC third rail only. They have worked on the Merseyrail network from new, and continue to do so, having been refurbished by Alstom's Eastleigh Works. The Class 507 unit is now years old, making them among the oldest units still in service on the UK mainland rail network, after the Class 313.

History

With the Class 502 units life-expired, unable to cope with the demands of the new "Link" tunnel and approaching 40 years old, by 1977 a replacement was sought. Owing to the success of the Class 313 fleet on suburban services from King's Cross, four sets were temporarily transferred to Merseyside and based at Hall Road TMD. Sets 313013/063 were used for clearance trials on the Southport, Ormskirk and Kirkby-Garston lines. The results showed that a similar type of stock would be suitable for the Merseyrail Northern Line.
Initially, 47 sets were ordered but cost issues forced this number to be reduced to 38 units, then 30 by early 1978 when the first sets were under construction. Ultimately, 33 units were built between September 1978 and October 1979.
The first set was delivered to Birkenhead North depot during September 1978, with the first test run taking place on 9 October 1978.
On 25 October 1978, a Royal Special involving units 507001 and 507002 conveyed HM the Queen and several other VIPs on a special service between Moorfields and Kirkby. Following the journey, she declared the new-look Merseyrail network officially open. The first passenger working occurred on 1 November 1978 with 507001 working the 0739 Southport-Liverpool Central with a commemorative headboard. It worked between Liverpool and Southport for the remainder of the day, while 507002 operated between Liverpool and Ormskirk. Further 507s steadily entered service and the 502s were in turn withdrawn. By mid 1980, Northern Line services were entirely in the hands of the 507s, and all of the sets were in service by October 1980.
Following privatisation, the 507s were used interchangeably between both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line, working a further four routes regularly. A host of new liveries appeared following sectorisation of British Rail. The remaining 32 units were refurbished by Alstom Eastleigh during 2002-2005. They received new interiors, CCTV, light clusters dot matrix displays and the 2+3 seating replaced with 2+2 seats. Unit 507033 was the last Merseyside set to be refurbished, entering service having been named "Cllr George Howard" in August 2005.

Incidents

507022 was written off as a result of a serious collision with 507004 at Kirkdale TMD on 30 September 1991. Driving motor 64388 is now in 507004, as the latter's was damaged beyond repair, and the other motor carriage, renumbered, went to Glasgow-based 314203. To date, this is the only withdrawn Class 507 set.
Collisions with buffer stops at terminal stations have also occurred. Sets 507029 and 507032 both received damage due to overrunning at Kirkby in 1991 and 1997 respectively. Set 507019 was involved in a collision at West Kirby on 11 January 2007 and carriage 64423 had to be sent to Crewe Works for repair.
On 30 June 2009 unit 507002 without a driver rolled out of Kirkdale TMD, derailing at a set of points further down. The incident, which caused disruption to many services, was caused by failure to apply the brakes whilst maintenance was performed so that when isolating wooden paddles were removed from between the conductor rail and pick-up shoes, the train moved off without a driver on board. On 23 May 2011, it was announced by the Office of Rail Regulation that Merseyrail were fined £85,000 and ordered to pay legal costs of £20,970.15 due to the breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 leading to this incident.

Description

507s are formed of three cars, and numbered 507001 to 507033. Original plans were drawn up for 47; later 38 507s to be built, but costs enforced a reduction in the number. Sets are made up of two driving motor cars and a trailer. Car numbering is as follows:
Originally, each 3-car set seated 234 passengers, this figure being reduced to 222 following interior modifications during the 1990s. After the introduction of high back seats during refurbishment in 2004/2005 this was reduced to 192 with space for cyclists and disabled people improved.
The 507s replaced LMS-designed Class 502 EMUs on the Northern Line and Class 503 EMUs on the Wirral Line.

Current operations

From new, all 507s have worked the Merseyrail network. Sets have been used interchangeably between the Northern Line and the Wirral Line since 1997, so work the following:

Northern Line

Livery details

507s have appeared in various colours over their lifetimes.
Merseyrail expected that the 507s and 508s would be withdrawn around 2014 and replaced by a new EMU, but this was postponed following a refurbishment. In May 2012, Merseytravel announced that it had formally begun a project for replacement of the 507s and 508s. The fleet received a refresh package including external re-livery, internal enhancements and engineering work.
In January 2016 Merseytravel announced the short list of companies bidding to build new trains which will replace the Class 507 and Class 508s on the Merseyrail network. In December 2016, Merseytravel announced that Stadler had won the £460 million contract and that the new trains would be delivered from summer 2019 with all the old trains replaced by 2021.
YearQuantity in
service at
start of year		Quantity
withdrawn		Numbers
1991331507022

Naming

Named units are as follows: