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Class 333
Siemens and CAF's electric train for West Yorkshire's Airedale and Wharfedale lines out of Leeds and Bradford Forster Square, based on the Heathrow Express Class 332. Ordered by Angel Trains in 1998 to replace Class 308s, the 16 were built as three-car units and later lengthened to four.
Scale
Class 333 · indicative drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/333/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 1
NorthernNorthernwhite, with an indigo field behind each cab; indigo doors; a yellow frontShown aboveFormer liveries 2
Northern Spirit red (Commons: 'Northern Spirit red livery')Ran as Northern Spirit, then Arriva Trains Northern, then Northern RailFormer2000 to 2008Not drawn yet
West Yorkshire Metro / Northern Rail (Commons: 'West Yorkshire PTE/Northern livery')Ran as Northern Rail, then Arriva Rail North (for West Yorkshire PTE's Metro)Former2008 to 2018-2020Not drawn yet
- Type
- Electric multiple unit
- Builder
- Siemens Transportation Systems (main contractor) and CAF, which built the bodies and assembled the trains at Zaragoza
- Built
- 2000 (as three-car units); a fourth car added to each later
- In service
- since 2001
- Operators
- Northern
- Formation
- 4 cars (DMSO-PTSO-TSO-DMSO); built as three-car units and lengthened with a trailer
- Trains in fleet
- 16
- Fleets
- Northern: 16
- Top speed
- 99 mph (160 km/h)
- Power
- 25 kV AC overhead: Siemens three-phase (IGBT) traction, four motors on each driving car, 1,400 kW in all, with regenerative braking · how it works
- Bogies
- CAF bogies (Class 333), built at Beasain
- Car width
- 9 ft 0 in (2.75 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Air-conditioned
- Yes
- Seats per train
- 360
- Total capacity
- 360 seats and 107 standing, 467 in all (Northern's 2022 contract): the three-car units' 260 seats, in rows of 3+2, and the added trailer's 100
- Status
- In service with Northern: 16 four-car units, between Leeds, Bradford Forster Square, Skipton and Ilkley. Northern plans to replace them in the second phase of its new-train programme.
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMSO | Driving motor standard open (DMSO) | 77 ft 11 in23.74 m | 2 double |
| PTSO | Pantograph trailer standard open, with the transformer and toilet (PTSO) | 76 ft 7 in23.35 m | 2 double |
| TSO | Trailer standard open (TSO), the added car | 76 ft 7 in23.35 m | 2 double |
Sources
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Show the 25 sources from Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, Angel Trains and 9 more
- Class 333 Angel Trains, accessed 7 October 2026Siemens/CAF; 16 four-car units; DMSO 77 ft 11 in (23.74 m), trailers 76 ft 7 in (23.35 m); width 9 ft 0 in (2.75 m); 100 mph (161 km/h); DMSO-PTSO-TSO-DMSO; Siemens traction motors
- Class 333 makes its debut Railway Gazette International, 1 May 2000ordered by Angel Trains in April 1998 (£58.3m); Siemens main contractor, CAF bodies and assembly at Zaragoza; based on the Class 332; three-car, 260 seats in 3+2; pantograph, transformer and accessible toilet on the centre trailer; twin-leaf doors 3 ft 11 in (1.2 m) wide; 77 ft 11 in and 75 ft 11 in (23,739 and 23,140 mm) over couplers; bogie centres 52 ft 6 in (16,000 mm); bogie wheelbase 8 ft 2 in (2,500 mm); wheels 2 ft 10 in (860 mm) new; bogies and couplers by CAF at Beasain; Brecknell Willis pantograph; Woodville gangways; 1,400 kW; regenerative braking; plan for a 100-seat trailer; maintained by Siemens at Neville Hill
- Trains: Reference List (issue September 2006) Siemens Transportation Systems, September 2006, p. 13entered service in 2001, replacing Class 308s on the Airedale and Wharfedale lines; 16 built; three-car; 1,400 kW; 160 km/h (99 mph); air-conditioned; IGBT three-phase traction
- Suburban train, Northern Spirit (project page) CAF, accessed 7 October 202616 trains bought by Angel Trains from CAF between 2000 and 2002, later new intermediate cars; train length 226 ft (68,750 mm; three cars)
- DfT OLR Holdings Limited and Northern Trains Limited 2022: services contract (public register copy, version 1.1x) Department for Transport, 24 February 2022, pp. 145-146 (Appendix 1 to Schedule 1.6, Table 1)16 four-car units (64 vehicles); 360 seats and 107 standing
- Our fleet: now and into the future (Stakeholder Conference presentation) Northern (Northern Trains Limited), November 2025Class 333s in Northern's fleet; to be replaced in the programme's second stage
- British Rail Class 333 Wikipedia, accessed 7 October 2026first service 12 January 2001; built to 2003 (cross-check)
- 333013 Skipton 020925 (photograph, kitmasterbloke, CC BY 4.0) Wikimedia Commons, 2 September 2025the cab, the leading bogie, doors, windows, the pantograph's car and end, and the Northern livery (layout and colour only)
- 333010, Bradford Forster Square, September 24th 2022 (photograph, Southsea_Matt, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons, 24 September 2022the cab front and its coupler (livery and layout only)
- Class 333 Northern Rail Diagram (Unisouth, CC BY-SA 3.0) Wikimedia Commons, accessed 10 October 2026the order of doors and windows (layout only)
- Class 333 Arriva Northern Diagram with Pantograph (Vauxhallvauxhall, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons, 22 December 2019doors, windows, door colours, and the pantograph and roof well on the PTSO; the cab's shape (Kyle's chosen reference, 11 October 2026): the front's rake, the fairing, the orange line, the black and yellow, the glass, the lamps and the cab door, scaled by the drawing's bogie centres, body's foot and roof
- 333002 DMSO Vehicle Exterior Livery (photograph, Peter Skuce, public domain) Wikimedia Commons, 2009the bogie frame and cover, near side-on (layout only)
- 333013, Leeds, September 24th 2022 (photograph, Southsea_Matt, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons, 24 September 2022the leading bogie and livery (layout and colour only)
- 333015 End Profile (photograph, TheJRB, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons, 18 October 2014the nose, valance, coupler, cab door and steps (layout only)
- Northern-333011-coupling (photograph, Chris McKenna (Thryduulf), CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons, 26 February 2006the cab-front coupler's parts, which the diagram doesn't draw (layout only)
- 333001-Leeds-P1560655 (photograph, citytransportinfo, CC0) Wikimedia Commons (from Flickr), 14 May 2019the cab's colours (black, glass, lamps) and a cross-check of the diagram's cab (layout and colour only)
- 333015, Leeds, September 24th 2022 (photograph, Southsea_Matt, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons, 24 September 2022the indigo field to the body's foot; a cross-check of the cab (layout and colour only)
- British Rail Class 333s at Guiseley railway station (30th December 2014) 005 (photograph, Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons, 30 December 2014a cross-check of the diagram's front and fairing outline (outline only)
- End of the sidings at Skipton - geograph.org.uk - 6943731.jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) Stephen Craven, via geograph.org.uk and Wikimedia Commons, 23 August 2021layout of the underframe (the DMSO's valance and grille, near side-on; layout only)
- Class 333 EMU (55053269206).jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Samson Ng (D201@EAL), via Flickr and Wikimedia Commons, 23 July 2025layout of the underframe (every car type's valance, grilles and section counts, and the valance's depth; layout only)
- 333013 Skipton 020925 (photograph, kitmasterbloke, CC BY 4.0) Wikimedia Commons, 2 September 2025layout of the underframe (the PTSO's grilles, the DMSO's grille and joints; oblique, layout only)
- 333002 DMSO Vehicle Exterior Livery (photograph, Peter Skuce, public domain) Wikimedia Commons, 2009layout of the underframe (the DMSO's two-section grille; cross-check only)
- Northern class 333 electric multiple unit at Ilkley - geograph.org.uk - 7808110.jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) David Robinson, via geograph.org.uk and Wikimedia Commons, 20 June 2024layout of the underframe (the DMSO's and PTSO's grilles; oblique, cross-check only)
- British Rail Class 333 Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
- 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 fourth cars: Railway Gazette (2000) reported a plan to add a 100-seat trailer to eight units; CAF says only that new intermediate cars were bought later; Wikipedia gives construction to 2003. Angel Trains lists all 16 as four-car
- Trailer length: Angel Trains gives 76 ft 7 in (23.35 m) for both trailers; Railway Gazette (2000) gave 75 ft 11 in (23,140 mm) over the couplers for the original centre trailer
- Top speed: Angel Trains gives 100 mph (161 km/h) and Siemens 160 km/h (99 mph); Railway Gazette (2000) printed 150 km/h (93 mph)
- First service: Siemens says 2001; Wikipedia gives 12 January 2001
- Car height: not found in a published source, so none is shown
- The toilet: Railway Gazette (2000) puts it in the centre trailer, which carries the pantograph and transformer
- Bogie and drawing figures: bogie centres, wheelbase and wheel diameter come from Railway Gazette (2000) alone
- The driving cars' length over couplers as drawn: 74 ft 5 in (22,688 mm), against the published 77 ft 11 in (23,739 mm; Railway Gazette, 2000): the cab follows the 2019 Commons diagram, whose nose stands 9 ft 0 in (2,748 mm) ahead of the leading bogie, 1 ft 5 in (421 mm) shorter than the published length allows, and the coupler's face is drawn 1 ft 3 in (370 mm) ahead of the nose, as photographs show it, not stretched to make up the 3 ft 5 in (1,051 mm); the published figure stands (job c333, 12 October 2026)
- The underframe: no drawing of the 333's side has been found. The DMSO's valance and grille are read off a near side-on photograph (to about 150 mm); the trailers' off photographs about 20 degrees off the side (to about 1 ft 8 in (500 mm)), with the grilles drawn at the DMSO's section size; the PTSO's second grille differs between units (333013 has one, 333014 none) and its place is not settled; the DMSO's joints to about 1 ft 4 in (400 mm); the dark between the trailers' valances and their rear bogies is not readable
- The years of the former liveries come from Wikipedia's class article and the other sources listed, and haven't been checked against a second source.
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