British Rail Class 378

British Rail Class 378 Capitalstar
London Overground Class 378 at Wandsworth Road
The interior of a Class 378 unit
In service	29 July 2009 – present
Manufacturer	Bombardier Transportation
Built at	Derby Litchurch Lane Works
Family name	Electrostar
Replaced	Class 172 Class 313 Class 508 A60/A62 Stock
Constructed	2008–2011 (plus additional vehicles in 2015)
Number built	57
Successor	Class 710[a]
Formation	5 cars per unit: DMOS-MOS-PTOS-MOS-DMOS
Fleet numbers	378135–378154 378201–378224 378225–378234 378255–378257
Capacity	1,178 total (186 fixed seats, 86 tip-up seats, and up to 906 standees)
Owners	Transport for London[1]
Operators	London Overground
Lines served	East London line North London line South London line West London line Watford DC line
Specifications
Car body construction	Welded aluminium body with steel cab ends
Train length	101.350 m (332 ft 6.2 in)
Car length	DMOS vehs.: 19.995 m (65 ft 7.2 in) Others: 19.660 m (64 ft 6.0 in)
Width	2.800 m (9 ft 2.2 in)
Height	3.774 m (12 ft 4.6 in)
Floor height	1.151 m (3 ft 9.3 in)[2]
Doors	Double-leaf pocket sliding, each 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) wide (2 per side per car)
Wheel diameter	840 mm (2 ft 9 in) (nominal)[2]
Wheelbase	Over bogies: 2.600 m (8 ft 6.4 in) Over bogie centres: 14.173 m (46 ft 6.0 in)
Maximum speed	75 mph (121 km/h)
Weight	DMOS vehs.: 45.5 t (44.8 long tons; 50.2 short tons) MOS vehs.: 41.1 t (40.5 long tons; 45.3 short tons) PTOS vehs.: 39.9 t (39.3 long tons; 44.0 short tons) Total: 212.8 tonnes (209.4 long tons; 234.6 short tons)
Steep gradient	1 in 29[2]
Traction motors	3 per motor car, each of 600 kW (800 hp)
Power output	2,400 kW (3,200 hp)[2]
Electric system(s)	750 V DC third rail 25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead (378/2 only)
Current collector(s)	Contact shoe (DC) Pantograph (AC) (378/2 only)
Bogies	Powered: Bombardier P3-25 Unpowered: Bombardier T3-25
Braking system(s)	Electro-pneumatic (disc) and regenerative/rheostatic (Knorr-Bremse EP2002)
Safety system(s)	AWS TPWS Tripcock (378/2 only)[2]
Coupling system	Dellner 12
Multiple working	Within class, and with Classes 375, 376, 377, and 379
Seating	Longitudinal
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Notes/references
Sourced from [3] and [4] unless otherwise noted.

The British Rail Class 378 Capitalstar^[5] is an electric multiple unit passenger train specifically designed for the London Overground network. It is part of Bombardier Transportation's Electrostar family. A total of 57 five-car trains have been built – most of which were originally built as three- or four-car units.

The Class 378s were ordered in August 2006 in response to passenger dissatisfaction with existing mass-transit trains operated by Silverlink, such as the ageing fleet of Class 313. The procurement of a modern replacement was viewed as yielding better performance than the refurbishment of the existing units. Accordingly, a total of 57 Class 378s were manufactured at Bombardier's Derby site, the first example of which entered revenue service during July 2009. The type's introduction was roughly half a year later than originally planned, largely as a result of difficulties with multiple suppliers.

In design terms the train is broadly similar to the Class 376 trains operated by Southeastern, featuring the same wider metro-style sliding pocket doors for more efficient boarding and alighting. However, it also has significant differences from the Class 376, such as fully longitudinal seating similar to that used on London Underground rolling stock to give more standing and less seating capacity and reduce overcrowding, the interior having been optimised for the high-volume metro-style services being operated by London Overground.

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