Class 305 Electric Multiple Units

305519 at Edinburgh Waverley305519 at Edinburgh Waverley History

The class 305s were a 4 car slam door EMU, which were built by British Railways Doncaster works in 1960.  They are most well known for operating on commuter routes in and out of London Liverpool Street and London's Fenchurch Street stations for over 30 years and later on some commuter services around Manchester before being replaced by more modern rolling stock.

However, a small fleet of them found their way north to Edinburgh!

Introduction to Service

The East Coast Main Line was electrified in 1991 along with the Drem to North Berwick branch giving the option of replacing the aging diesel multiple units already operating the services (with equally aging electric multiple units). Five class 305s, (305501, 502, 508, 517 & 519) which had been withdrawn from service in the London area, were repainted into Regional Railways livery and transferred up to Scotland to operate services between Edinburgh Waverley and North Berwick.

The five class 305s shuttled up and down between Edinburgh Waverley and North Berwick without incident for 10 years, only straying from this line to work empty to and from Shields Depot in Glasgow for maintenance.

305519 at Edinburgh Waverley305519 at Edinburgh Waverley Withdrawals

With the introduction of the class 334s in Glasgow and the withdrawal of the equally elderly class 303 fleet, the run down of the class 305 fleet began in July 2001, with some of the class 305's duties being taken over by spare class 318s and DMUs.   

305502 and 305508 were the first of the five class 305s to be withdrawn and were hauled south to Immingham for scrapping along with 303014 on 7th November 2001.  305501 and 305519 were also withdrawn before the end of 2001, leaving 305517 as the final unit in service, lasting until 25th January 2002, when it operated the 17.15 North Berwick - Edinburgh service. Only 6 days after it's final run, 305517 (along with 501 and 519) were hauled south to Immingham for scrapping.  Only a few months later, the class 322s would be introduced to the North Berwick service, with enhancements to the service and some workings to Glasgow.

Fleet list (Scotrail units only)