THE May timetable change saw, as planned, Govia Thameslink Railway withdraw all its Class 455 EMUs from the Southern network. The final working, which actually took place in the early hours of the first day of the new timetable, but formed part of the previous day’s diagrams, was the 2U76 00.25 London Victoria-Norwood Junction on May 15. The unit, No. 455843, then ran the short distance to Selhurst depot.
Despite the fleet run down having begun in March, large numbers of Southern’s ‘455s’ saw use in the final days of operation. One notable working occurred on May 12, when Nos. 455818/32 formed an additional 2Z55 20.03 Victoria-Tattenham Corner and 2Z56 21.30 return. Class 455s have had no regular booked workings on the branch to Tattenham Corner for several years.
On the penultimate day (May 13), 26 sets – Nos. 455802/04/05/07/08/12/13/15/17-23/29/30/32-34/36/37/42-45 – could all be found in service, while Nos. 455835/41 were being prepared for the following day’s Branch Line Society ‘Metro Marauder’ railtour. The pair visited various locations not normally associated with the class, including Brighton, Lewes, Charing Cross Blackfriars and Sevenoaks. Other units in traffic on May
