The third rail was mainly used on the Southern Region although there were a few isolated uses in other parts of the UK. The London and South Western Railway were an early adopter of third rail electrification whilst the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway went with an early form of overhead line electrification. When the two companies were amalgamated in the 1920s (together with the South Eastern and Chatham Railway + others) during the Grouping to form the Southern Railway, they adopted the third rail system overall due to several reasons including cost. The LB&SCR overhead line equipment was removed in favour of the third rail. When the Great Eastern was electrified later after the second world war they opted to use the overhead line equipment instead as it was considered more reliable and cheaper. The rolling stock in use seen in this video are designed for the route that they will run on and as such wouldn't have had the ability to switch from one electrical system to another. You would get similar trains from a family of units that would be designed for each electrical system, for example the Class 315's 313's and 508 all look similar on the outside but all have been designed to use a different electrical system. the 315's seen in this video are overhead only, the 313's would have been dual voltage and can use both the third rail and overheads whilst the 508's were third rail only. This is a very simplified history that goes into so much more detail.
Nice to see the DBSOs still in use on the Norwich to Liverpool Street services.
Miss the original class 360 livery & even 4 spacious cars
The original West Anglian Great Northern Travelcard livery on 315845 is featured in the video
Was my Favourite livery out of the 315’s during WAGN. Along with the FGE and the purple WAGN livery on both Class 315’s and Class 317’s
Very good! Always good to see a bit of history before the station (and line) got different OHL masts.
Quick question, can the trains not be powered with a third powered rail on the track instead of overhead lines?
Thank you
The third rail was mainly used on the Southern Region although there were a few isolated uses in other parts of the UK. The London and South Western Railway were an early adopter of third rail electrification whilst the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway went with an early form of overhead line electrification. When the two companies were amalgamated in the 1920s (together with the South Eastern and Chatham Railway + others) during the Grouping to form the Southern Railway, they adopted the third rail system overall due to several reasons including cost. The LB&SCR overhead line equipment was removed in favour of the third rail. When the Great Eastern was electrified later after the second world war they opted to use the overhead line equipment instead as it was considered more reliable and cheaper. The rolling stock in use seen in this video are designed for the route that they will run on and as such wouldn't have had the ability to switch from one electrical system to another. You would get similar trains from a family of units that would be designed for each electrical system, for example the Class 315's 313's and 508 all look similar on the outside but all have been designed to use a different electrical system. the 315's seen in this video are overhead only, the 313's would have been dual voltage and can use both the third rail and overheads whilst the 508's were third rail only. This is a very simplified history that goes into so much more detail.
4:49 Elizabeth line colours, now we know it was a thing back in the early 2000’s
I'm guessing that was likely ex-WAGN colours.
that's WAGN colours, nothing to do with elizabeth line
Elizabeth Line
Before the age of smartphones………
5:41 this shouldn’t be here
I believe One used to run diesel services between Lowestoft and Liverpool Street. That's why you have 170s all the way down here.