LNER Tyneside electric units

LNER electric units
North Tyneside electric train at North Shields
In service	1937–1967
Manufacturer	Metropolitan Cammell
Formation	2-car sets
Operator(s)	London and North Eastern Railway
Specifications
Electric system(s)	600 V DC third rail
Current collection method	Contact shoe
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The LNER electric units were electric multiple units that ran on the Tyneside Electrics, a suburban system based on the English city of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1937 the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) received articulated twin passenger electric units to replace the NER electric units that had been built in 1904–15 by the North Eastern Railway. The order including some single-unit motor parcel vans and motor luggage vans. In the 1960s declining passenger numbers and the high cost of renewing life-expired electric substation equipment across the system led to the replacement of the electric multiple units with diesel multiple units and the units were all withdrawn in 1967.

In 1937 the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) updated and expanded the original North Eastern Railway of the electric suburban Tyneside system. The original NER electric units built in 1904–15 were replaced with 64 new articulated twins, 112 feet 7 inches (34.32 m) long, and two luggage vans. Two new parcel vans were built in 1938.

First class accommodation was provided when built but this was abolished on 4 May 1959 and all accommodation became second class (third class was redesignated second class throughout BR on 3 June 1956). Painted red and cream when new, in 1941 the stock was painted blue and off-white and green in the 1950s. Four versions of articulated twin were built: 12 x motor 3rd + trailer 3rd (designated Type A), 16 x luggage motor 3rd + trailer 1st (Type B), 18 x motor 3rd + trailer 3rd (non-driving) (Type C) and 18 x luggage motor 3rd + trailer 1st (non-driving) (Type D). Types A and B could be used as 2-car sets but Types C and D, with no driving cabs in the trailers, would be made up into longer sets with up to eight cars. The trailers of the Type B and Type D units each had 28 first-class seats, plus 32 (Type B) or 36 (Type D) seats which could be used for either first class or third class as required.