Southern Railway (UK) classes 2-BIL and 2-HAL

The Southern Railway operated a total of 252 two-car EMU sets under the designation 2-BIL and 2-HAL, which had been built between 1935 and 1955. They were intended for long-distance semi-fast services and basically differed only in the number of lavatories. The older sets with two lavatories in total were designated 2-BIL (“2-car Bi-Lavatory stock”) and the newer sets with only one lavatory in total were the 2-HAL (“2-car Half-Lavatory stock”). They had a driving compartment on each end and each two-car set had two 275 hp traction motors in one bogie. In the sixties, the first ones were withdrawn and by 1971, the last ones were gone. In their last years, they became TOPS classes 401 and 402.

In 1963, the two driving trailers of one 2-BIL set were experimentally coupled to five 4-SUB trailers to be hauled by a diesel locomotive. Although they had been wired to receive electric power for heating from the locomotive, the cabs had not been connected to the multiple controls of the locomotive. So this composition called 7TC did not become a success. Six others had been rebuilt to 2-PAN Parcels and Newspapers stock in 1971, but only used for two years.