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Class 769 FLEX
A Class 319 electric train of the late 1980s, built for Thameslink, given a diesel generator under each driving car so it can run beyond the overhead wires. Porterbrook and Brush converted eight for Northern, which has run them since May 2021 between Southport, Wigan, Bolton, Manchester and Stalybridge.
Scale
about 265 ft (81 m) over couplers (added up as drawn)
Class 769 FLEX · schematic drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/769/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 1
NorthernNorthernBlue cab ends sweeping back to white, blue doors; colours from photographsShown aboveFormer liveries 1
Transport for WalesTransport for Wales liveryRan as Transport for Wales RailFormerNov 2020 to 19 May 2023Not drawn yet
- Type
- Bi-mode multiple unit (electric and diesel)
- Builder
- BREL, York (as Class 319s); converted by Wabtec Brush at Loughborough for Porterbrook
- Built
- 1988 (as Class 319/4s); converted from 2018
- In service
- since 2021
- Operators
- Northern
- Formation
- 4 cars: a motor car, a trailer with a toilet, and two driving trailers, each with a diesel generator underneath (DTSO-MSO-TSOL-DTCO, as built as Class 319/4s)
- Trains in fleet
- 8
- Fleets
- Northern: 8
- Top speed
- 100 mph (161 km/h) on electric power; about 87 mph (140 km/h) on diesel (Porterbrook's modelling, 2018)
- Power
- Bi-mode: 25 kV AC overhead, or two 390 kW MAN D2876 diesel engines driving ABB alternators, one under each driving trailer, feeding the Class 319's four GEC traction motors (990 kW) on the motor car · 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 325
- Train length
- about 265 ft (81 m) (added up as drawn)
- Car height
- 12 ft 5 in (3.774 m)
- Car width
- 9 ft 3 in (2.816 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Total capacity
- 286 or 303 seats and 105 or 109 standing per unit (Northern's 2022 contract)
- Status
- In service with Northern: eight units (769424, 431, 434, 442, 448, 450, 456 and 458), maintained at Allerton, with former Transport for Wales units hired in to cover overhauls at Brodie Engineering, Kilmarnock. Northern plans to replace them in 2032.
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DTSO | Driving trailer standard open, with a diesel generator (DTSO) | 65 ft 1 in19.83 m | 2 double |
| MSO | Motor standard open (MSO) | 65 ft 4 in19.92 m | 2 double |
| TSOL | Trailer standard open with lavatory (TSOL) | 65 ft 4 in19.92 m | 2 double |
| DTCO | Driving trailer composite open, with a diesel generator (DTCO) | 65 ft 1 in19.83 m | 2 double |
Sources
How we source figures → · Spotted a mistake? Tell us → (opens in a new tab)
Show the 25 sources from Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, Northern and 11 more
- Tulse Hill railway station MMB 14 319008.jpg (photograph: 319008's pantograph well and post insulators from above, close; CC BY-SA 3.0) Wikimedia Commons (mattbuck), 19 April 2012the pantograph's post insulators: ribbed, 4 sheds each (insulators in pantographs_mm; layout and proportion only, 319008's roof photographed close)
- Class 319 Electric Multiple Unit (issue 01, revision A) Porterbrook, August 2012, pp. 5, 34-37Class 319/4: 40 built in 1988 by BREL; DTSO-MSO-TSOL-DTCO; 65 ft 1 in (19.83 m; driving trailers) and 65 ft 4 in (19.92 m); 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) wide; 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m) high; bi-parting sliding doors at the thirds, four per car; four GEC G315BZ motors, 990 kW; 100 mph (161 km/h)
- Bi-Mode Good, Tri-Mode Better (Malcolm Dobell) Rail Engineer, 27 September 2018MAN D2876 engines of up to 390 kW with ABB alternators, raft-mounted, one under each driving trailer, adding about 7.5 t to it; about 550 kW at the motors; balancing speed about 87 mph (140 km/h) on diesel, 100 mph (161 km/h) on electric; conversion by Wabtec Brush at Loughborough; Northern's eight; GWR's 19 tri-mode
- Northern introduces bi-mode FLEX trains Northern (press release), 19 May 2021eight 769s from the May 2021 timetable, Southport to Stalybridge and Alderley Edge; built by Porterbrook with Wabtec/Brush
- Ex-Transport for Wales '769s' helping to cover Northern overhauls RAIL (Pip Dunn), 7 October 2025Northern's eight by number; overhauls by Brodie Engineering at Kilmarnock; former TfW 769421 and 769452 covering
- 2x Additional Cl. 769s to be leased to support driver training (notice 021961-2025) Find a Tender (Northern Trains Limited), 15 May 2025two more 769s leased, maintained at Allerton, Southport to Manchester Oxford Road and Stalybridge
- 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)eight four-car units (32 vehicles); 286 or 303 seats and 105 or 109 standing
- Passenger benefits key to Northern's lease of Class 350s Rail, 13 July 2026Northern plans to replace its 769s in 2032
- Our fleet: now and into the future (Stakeholder Conference presentation) Northern (Northern Trains Limited), November 2025769s in Northern's fleet, November 2025, and in the first replacement programme
- British Rail Class 769 Wikipedia, accessed 7 October 2026in service from November 2020 (cross-check)
- 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, EE234, EC209, EH234 (Class 319, January 1988)the drawing: the Class 319's dimensioned diagrams, measured; height 12 ft 5 in (3,774 mm), width 9 ft 3 in (2,816 mm)
- GWR fleet to shrink further as it abandons Class 769 introduction Railway Gazette / Rail Business UK, 23 December 2022GWR's 19 tri-mode 769s returned to Porterbrook unused in April 2023
- Manchester Newton Heath '769 434' (photograph, 1 November 2023, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Industrial Wales), 1 November 2023the drawing's livery and layout (photograph; layout and colour only)
- 769450 at Levenshulme (photograph, 4 June 2021, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Gerald England, from geograph.org.uk 6866047), 4 June 2021the livery of the whole unit (photograph)
- 769434 at Wigan North Western (photograph, 22 March 2024, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Foulger Rail Photos), 22 March 2024the cab end's livery and colours (photograph)
- 769448 at Manchester Piccadilly (photograph, 22 May 2021, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Jon David Houghton), 22 May 2021the front and its lamps (photograph)
- Northern Rail class 769 at Stalybridge in 2024 (photograph, 1 June 2024, CC BY 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Vanmanyo), 1 June 2024the front, the coupler and the cab side (photograph)
- TfW 769003 (77294) engine (photograph, 4 October 2022, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Geof Sheppard), 4 October 2022the drawing: layout of a driving trailer's diesel raft (photograph; layout only)
- Northern Class 769.png: side-profile illustration of a Northern Class 769 (CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (TheTransportHub), 14 May 2020the drawing: car order, pantograph end, both blue ends, the rafts' layout (never dimensions)
- British Rail Class 769 Wikipedia, accessed 7 October 2026bogie types: BREL P7-4 (motor) and T3-7 (trailer), the 319's, citing BR's Diagram Book 210
- 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)
- 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)
- British Rail Class 769 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
- Car figures: Porterbrook's 2012 figures for the Class 319/4, before conversion, and British Rail's 1988 diagrams of the 319; the diesel equipment is underneath and doesn't change the body (Rail Engineer)
- Introduced: Northern says the eight made their debut in the May 2021 timetable; Wikipedia gives November 2020
- Conversion dates: Rail Engineer saw the first units being converted in 2018, and the first was due to Northern in January 2019; when the last was finished isn't recorded
- Formation: the 319/4s had first class in the DTCO; whether Northern's units keep it isn't published, though the contract's seat counts (286 or 303) equal those it gives for Class 319s
- 750 V DC: the 319s were dual-voltage; Rail Engineer says only GWR's ordered units were to be tri-mode, so Northern's are listed as AC and diesel
- Replacement: Northern's November 2025 slide puts the 769s in the first replacement programme, with the 150s, 155s and 156s; RAIL (July 2026) gives 2032 for the 769s
- Height: the record gave Porterbrook's 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m; its 2012 Class 319 brochure); British Rail's Class 319 diagrams print 12 ft 5 in (3,774 mm), which the record and drawing now use, and 9 ft 3 in (2,816 mm) wide (Porterbrook: 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m))
- The drawing's diesel rafts, front lamps and trailer underframe: laid out from photographs and a Commons side diagram, not measured
- The drawing's toilet end: which end of the TSOL its toilets are at in the unit isn't seen in the photographs found
- Other operators: GWR handed its 19 tri-mode 769/9s back to Porterbrook unused in April 2023 (Railway Gazette, December 2022); Transport for Wales's are former units by 2025 (RAIL); no other operator is known to run 769s in 2026
- The bogie types: BREL P7-4 (motor) and T3-7 (trailer), the 319's, from Wikipedia, citing BR's Diagram Book 210
- 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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