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Class 325
Royal Mail's own mail trains: sixteen four-car electric units built by ABB at Derby in 1995-96, on the Class 319's body with the Networker's cab, buffers and a buckeye so a locomotive could haul them off the wires, and roller-shutter doors for containers of mail, 235 to a unit. They ran at up to 100 mph (161 km/h) from Royal Mail's hub at Willesden to terminals such as Warrington, Shieldmuir near Glasgow and Low Fell on Tyneside, for EWS, then GB Railfreight and, from 2010, DB Schenker (later DB Cargo). Royal Mail stopped running its own trains in autumn 2024, citing the cost of electricity and the trains' age.
Scale
Class 325 · indicative drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/325/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 2
The same indicative drawing in each livery, each drawn from a cited source. The drawing above shows the largest fleet’s.
- Type
- Electric multiple unit (mail)
- Builder
- ABB Transportation, Derby (body shells by Bombardier Prorail, Wakefield)
- Built
- 1995–1996
- In service
- 1996–2024
- Formation
- 4 cars (DTV A, PMV, TAV, DTV B, as DB Cargo names them; DTPMV, MPMV, TPMV, DTPMV in Kent Rail's terms); units ran alone or coupled as 8 or 12 cars
- Trains in fleet
- 16
- Top speed
- 100 mph (161 km/h)
- Power
- 25 kV AC overhead and 750 V DC third rail · how it works
- Bogies
- BREL T3 trailer bogies (T3-7 on the Classes 319, 320 and 769; T3-16 on the 325); BREL P7 motor bogies (P7-4 on the Classes 319, 320 and 769; P7 on the 325) · drawn with the same bogie component as Class 320, Class 769 FLEX
- Train length
- 265 ft (80.80 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Status
- Withdrawn in 2024. Ten units have been scrapped: 325010 in 2012 and nine in late 2024. The other six (325001, 002, 005, 011, 014 and 015) are stored at Willesden, owned by Varamis Rail, which has not put them into service and may scrap them.
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DTV | Driving trailer van (DTV A and B; DTPMV) | 65 ft 5 in19.95 m | 2 single |
| PMV | Pantograph motor van (PMV; MPMV) | 65 ft 4 in19.92 m | 2 single |
| TAV | Trailer auxiliaries van (TAV; TPMV) | 65 ft 4 in19.92 m | 2 single |
Sources
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Show the 21 sources from Wikimedia Commons, RAIL, DB Cargo UK and 8 more
- DB Cargo UK: Class 325 EMU - Royal Mail (presentation, Technische Universitat Berlin, 20 November 2017) DB Cargo UK (Hans-Georg Werner, chief executive), 20 November 2017builder and place; 16 units built 1995-96; based on the Class 319 with the Networker cab fascia; 100 mph (161 km/h); car and unit lengths; formation and what each van carries; 25 kV pantograph and third-rail pickups; P7 and T3-16 bogies; 235 containers a unit; 4, 8 or 12 vehicles; operators to 2017; terminals; one unit scrapped for spares
- Class 325 Kent Rail (D. Glasspool), archived 8 January 2021ABB Derby, body shells by Bombardier Prorail; Class 319 profile and running gear, Networker cab; buffers and buckeye; formation; third-rail shoes; introduction September 1996; red livery; EWS, GBRf (December 2004) and DB Schenker (June 2010)
- Royal Mail awards rail contract to DB Schenker DB Schenker Rail (UK) (press release), June 2010 (archived 6 March 2012)DB Schenker's contract from 2010: London, Warrington and Glasgow
- Royal Mail to stop moving post by rail on cost grounds RAIL, 10 July 2024Royal Mail ends its own trains in October 2024, on cost grounds
- More Class 325s go for scrap but Royal Mail is open to selling remaining units RAIL, 27 November 2024nine units sent for scrap in late 2024; 325010 scrapped in 2012; six left at Willesden PRDC
- Varamis vows to fight on after pausing operations amid safety and financial concerns RAIL, 6 August 2025the six saved by Varamis Rail and stored at Willesden PRDC
- Varamis planning comeback as driver training and proving runs begin RAIL, 15 September 2026Varamis has run nothing since June 2025; its 325s likely to be scrapped
- Vehicle Diagram Book No. 210 for Electric Multiple Units (including A.P.T.), with the Class 318 (EE227, EE228, EC207; October 1986), Class 319 (EE233, EE234, EC209, EH234; January 1988) and Class 321 (EE236, EC210; October 1988) diagrams British Railways Board, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department (PDF copy by J. D. Faulkner, 2012, from the book lent by Eddie Knorn; copyright BRB Residuary Ltd), 1986-1988, pp. EE233 (Class 319 DTS(A)), EC209 (Class 319 MS)the 319 body the drawing uses: lengths, bogie centres, height, width, the pantograph well
- EVL-CO-2004069 Rev C: Class 465/0 and 465/1 DMOS livery drawing Eversholt Rail (released by Southeastern under FOI: 'Livery designs'), Rev C 26 September 2011; released 13 September 2022, pp. views 01, 02, 1:20 cabthe Networker cab's profile, used for the 325's cab
- Class 325.png: side-profile illustration of a Royal Mail Class 325 (CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (WestRail642fan), 19 July 2018layout and livery: doors, yellow lines, grille, pantograph end (never dimensions)
- 325001 at Crewe (photograph, 30 March 2001, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Steve Jones), 30 March 2001the original livery (layout and colour only)
- 325011 at Slindon (photograph, 28 March 2002, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Steve Jones), 28 March 2002the original livery and the driving van's doors (layout and colour only)
- British Rail Class 325 Wikipedialead only: dates, height and width (not stated), the six's owner
- DB Cargo UK: Class 325 EMU - Royal Mail (presentation, Technische Universitat Berlin, 20 November 2017) DB Cargo UK (Hans-Georg Werner, chief executive), 20 November 2017, pp. 10-11bogie types: P7 under the motor van, T3-16 under the driving and auxiliaries vans
- Greater Anglia 321314: 'Greater Anglia 321314 (62988, motor bogie).JPG' and 'Greater Anglia 321314 (78062, non-powered bogie).JPG' (photographs, 17 September 2023, CC BY-SA 4.0) Geof Sheppard, via Wikimedia Commons, 2023the bogies: the P7-4 motor and T3-7 trailer bogies' layout (a Class 321's, near side on; photographs, layout only), and the cab-door steps on the driving trailer's cab-end bogie (78062's: two treads about half the cab door's width, 0.30 to 0.79 of it behind its front edge, on an upright post from the bogie frame) (the 325's T3-16 not seen close)
- BREL Mark 3 EMU cab ends in photographs: 'Greater Anglia Class 321 (321301).jpg' (2015; CC BY-SA 4.0, Samson Ng), 'ScotRail Class 320 No. 320416 at Partick.jpg' (2017; CC BY-SA 4.0, ScottD2998) and 'Royal Mail Class 325 325001 (40897762764).jpg' (2018; CC BY 2.0, Kat's Transport Photography) Wikimedia Commons, 2015-2018cross-check of the cab-door steps (photographs, layout only; none resolves them)
- Bedford railway station MMB 19 319365.jpg and MMB 20 319365.jpg (photographs: 319365's raised pantograph against the sky from the platform, near side on; CC BY-SA 3.0) mattbuck, via Wikimedia Commons, 11 June 2011the pantograph's insulators hidden in the well, the base frame on the roof line (track level, layout only)
- 325012, Mill Meece (photograph, 18 January 2024, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 18 January 2024the cab coupler: its kind, heads and heights (set BC4, 20 October 2026; layout only for photographs)
- 325012, Meece Brook, The Rowe, Staffs (photograph, 20 September 2017, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 20 September 2017the later livery; the doors unchanged (layout and colour only)
- 325 015, Mill Meece (photograph, 18 January 2024, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 18 January 2024the driving van's other side: its doors in the same places (layout only)
- A Guide to Overhead Electrification (132787-ALB-GUN-EOH-000001, rev 10) Network Rail (prepared by Alan Baxter), February 2015, p. 39the contact wire in the In operation drawing: 15 ft 5 in (4.7 m) above rail, Network Rail's normal height
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unverified
- The last Royal Mail runs: RAIL (July 2024) said rail would end in October 2024; Wikipedia gives 21 September 2024, citing The Railway Magazine (October 2024), not seen
- Varamis Rail's ownership of the six: RAIL (August 2025) says Varamis saved them from scrap and they are stored at Willesden; Wikipedia names it the owner (citing The Railway Magazine, May 2025, not seen). Forum posts say they were still there, unused, in August 2026
- Introduced 1996: Kent Rail gives September 1996 for the general introduction; DB Cargo says only built 1995-96
- Height and width: not found for the 325 itself; the drawing uses the 319's printed 12 ft 5 in (3,774 mm) and 9 ft 3 in (2,816 mm; Wikipedia gives 12 ft 5 in (3.78 m) and 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m), uncited)
- Power: DB Cargo gives 1,160 kW a unit; Wikipedia 990 kW (citing Traction Recognition, 2007, not seen). Neither is stated
- Drawing: indicative; the body, bogie positions, door openings and underframe are estimates (see the drawing's notes)
- The bogie types: DB Cargo gives P7 and T3-16; drawn as the 319's P7-4 and T3-7, laid out from a Class 321's; the T3-16 (also said to be under the Class 465) not seen close
- Royal Mail red (later): when the yellow lines were dropped: not found; photographs show them in 2002 and not in 2017
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