British Rail Class 460

The British Rail Class 460 Coradia Juniper was a class of electric multiple unit passenger trains built by Alstom at Washwood Heath between 1999 and 2001, part of Alstom's Coradia Juniper family with Classes 334 and 458. For its entire service life it operated Gatwick Express services between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. National Express and the lessor Porterbrook ordered eight eight-car units, numbered 460001 to 460008, each formed of two driving motor cars, three intermediate motor cars and three intermediate trailer cars, and the fibreglass nosecones earned the class the nickname Darth Vaders. Delivery began in 2000, but entry into service was delayed by defects in the braking systems, air conditioning and train management software, and only after an extensive programme of repairs by Alstom did reliability allow the full withdrawal of the ex-BR stock in 2005. After their withdrawal by Gatwick Express in 2012, the fleet was merged with the Class 458 fleet and rebuilt to form the Class 458/5 used by South Western Railway from 2013.