West Midlands bids farewell to its ‘workhorse’ Class 323s

After 30 years of service, the last of the West Midlands Class 323 electric multiple units (EMUs) ran on Birmingham’s busy Cross-City Line at the end of September. It followed a phased introduction of the replacement Class 730 EMUs over the summer. The ‘323s’ have been a workhorse of the West Midlands region since they were introduced in the mid-1990s. In all, 26 three-car trains were built by Leeds-based Hunslet. The majority have now been cascaded to Northern Trains. The trains, which are known for the distinctive whining noise they make when accelerating, have clocked up hundreds of millions of passenger journeys, travelling millions of miles across the West Midlands rail network. The introduction of the new Class 730s, built at Alstom in Derby, was initially delayed by manufacturer issues…

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RAIL (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 1019

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