British Rail Mark 3
| British Rail Mark 3 | |
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First Great Western Mark 3 at Bristol Temple Meads in July 2008
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The interior of Standard Class aboard a First Great Western refurbished Mark 3 TS vehicle
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| In service | 1975-present |
| Manufacturer | British Rail Engineering Limited |
| Built at | Derby Litchurch Lane |
| Constructed | 1975-88 |
| Number built | 848 |
| Capacity | Locomotive hauled (typical):
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| Operator(s) |
Abellio ScotRail (from 2018) Arriva Trains Wales Caledonian Sleeper Chiltern Railways CrossCountry East Midlands Trains Grand Central Great Western Railway Greater Anglia Network Rail The Royal Scotsman Royal Train Virgin Trains East Coast |
| Line(s) served |
East Coast Main Line West Coast Main Line Midland Main Line Great Western Main Line Great Eastern Main Line Cross Country Route Chiltern Main Line Highland Main Line (from 2018) Glasgow to Aberdeen Line (From 2018) Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line (From 2018) |
| Specifications | |
| Car body construction |
Steel Fully Integral, monocoque |
| Car length | 23,000 mm (75 ft 5.5 in) |
| Doors | Hinged slam, centrally locked/automatic plug doors, centrally locked |
| Maximum speed | 125 mph (200 km/h) |
| Power supply | 3-phase 415/240V (Mark 3) 1000V DC (Mark 3A/B) |
| Bogies | BREL BT10 |
| Braking system(s) | Disc, Air operated |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger carriage developed in response to growing competition from airlines and the car in the 1960s. A variant of the Mark 3 became the rolling stock for the High Speed Train (HST).
Originally conceived as locomotive-hauled coaching stock, the first coaches built were for the prototype HST in 1972. Production coaches entered service between 1975 and 1988, and multiple-unit designs based on the Mark 3 bodyshell continued to be built until the early 1990s. The Mark 3 and its derivatives are widely recognised as a safe and reliable design, and most of the surviving fleet is still in revenue service on the British railway network in 2016.
Under the chairmanship of Stanley Raymond, it was decided to reduce journey times further on long-distance trains by increasing line speed to 125 mph where practical - the maximum considered possible on Britain's Victorian-age railway. At the end of 1968 proposals were submitted to the Commercial and Operating Departments of British Rail for a new fleet of third-generation standard coaching stock, designed to run at 125 mph.
The rapid development required for the HST in 1969 made the Mark 3 coach design the obvious choice for this train, and in 1972 the first Mark 3 coaches were built, ten for the prototype HST.
The Mark 3 looks similar to Mark 2D, 2E and 2F coaches, but is of a completely different design. It has a ridged roof and under-frame skirt compared with a smooth roof and visible below-frame equipment on the Mark 2.
The bodyshell is 75 feet (23 m) long, almost 10 feet (3.0 m) longer than the Mark 2, of full monocoque construction with an all-welded mild steel stressed skin, and has a reputation for its exceptional strength and crashworthiness. An important advance over its predecessor was the adoption of secondary air suspension between the body and the bogies, giving an exceptionally smooth ride. The bogies, classified BT10 (BT5 on the prototype vehicles), were designed specifically for the Mark 3 and have coil-spring primary suspension with hydraulic dampers, enabling a maximum speed of 125 mph (200 km/h) — the Mark 2 is limited to 100 mph (160 km/h). Disc brakes in place of the Mark 2 clasp brakes completed the engineering package enabling - in conjunction with wheel slip protection (WSP) - efficient deceleration from 125 mph and almost silent brake operation.
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Wikipedia