was one of the final 303s in service being withdrawn on 29th December 2002. It was used as a depot shunter at Shields following withdrawal before being taken for scrapping in January 2003.

The original BEMU was a one-off unit, withdrawn before the introduction of TOPS. A new generation battery EMU (called an Independently Powered Electric Multiple Unit) was created in 2014, converted from a Class 379. [ citation needed] Class Hall, Stanley (2003). Beyond Hidden Dangers: Railway Safety into the 21st Century. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2915-6.When new, the units were initially numbered in the range 001-091, but were later renumbered to 303 001-091 when TOPS was introduced. Each unit consisted of 3-cars coupled together in a semi-permanent formation, and up to four sets could be operated in multiple to form up to a 12-car formation. Although 6-car formations were frequently operated, 9-car formations were operated occasionally. 12-car formations were usually only seen as a result of train failures or ECS workings to the depots at Shields Road or Hyndland. The two outer carriages of each unit were driving trailers, with an intermediate motor coach containing the motor bogies and electrical equipment. Units operated from the standard 25 kV alternating current (AC) overhead power lines system, with power collection via a Stone Faiveley AMBR pantograph on the motor coach. The technical description of the formation is DTSO+MBSO+BDTSO. Individual vehicle numbers are shown below. The Great Central Railway in 2002 - History". Greatcentraltoday.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24 . Retrieved 2010-09-05. Only 303032 survives and is based at the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway where it has operated in push pull mode with a diesel loco. Many modifications were made to the 303’s during the early years such as strengthening the entrance vestibule floors as stiletto heels were causing damage. 303035 was to be the subject of an experiment trialling plug doors made by a company called Peters. These doors opened outwards and slid along the body side just like the class 334's do today. 303035 was also fitted out with thrystor controls in 1967. The units had many features which made them state of the art at the time of their introduction. This included the use of pneumatically operated sliding passenger doors (the only Mark 1 based EMU to use this feature), with passenger-operated door opening buttons. In practice, the doors were usually operated by the train guard (later driver, after modification for driver-only operation).

After almost 25 years in service, the 303’s were beginning to show their age and a program of refurbishment was started in 1984. However before this was started, withdrawn vehicle 75850 from set 303084 was partially refurbished to evaluate how the refurbishment would look. was involved in an accident at Branchton on Wymess Bay line in 1994. Full unit was withdrawn and scrapped. From early in their lives the 303’s were allocated in such a way that they allowed 19 sets to be diagrammed to be out of traffic for repairs and modifications at a time, however this was seen as a waste of resources and in the 1980s surplus units were sent to England.In the early 1980s there was a proposal to close Marylebone and divert British Rail services via High Wycombe into nearby Paddington. There was also a plan to extend the Metropolitan Line to Aylesbury, so London trains via Amersham would be sent to Baker Street. Marylebone station was to be converted into a bus and coach station. London Underground said the Metropolitan Line could not cope with any more trains and was full up. However these plans were deemed stupid and clumsy, and were quietly dropped. Photograph courtesy John Perkins. 303-047-9 (RENFE 10373 on the bufferbeam) at Malaga on station duties. In practice, the Class 311 operated almost interchangeably with the Class 303 and could be found in service across the Glasgow electrified suburban network.

Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail. It was created in the year 1982. It finished operation in 1996, two years after privatisation. In the privatisation of British Rail, InterCity trains were divided up into several franchises. The Caledonian Sleeper are transferred to ScotRail, now First ScotRail. The funding of BR was reduced so they created the cheaper Pacer trains. The British Rail Class 143 is a diesel multiple unit, part of the Pacer family of trains introduced between 1985 and 1986. They originally worked around North East England but were later transferred to Wales. [13] It was made out of bus parts put on to lorry chassis and train wheels. Earlier units proved to be unreliable, but later units were of a better design.Marsden, Colin J. (1982). EMUs. Motive Power Recognition. Vol.2. Ian Allan. pp.40–41. ISBN 9780711011656. OCLC 16537600. British Transport Commission (1954). "Modernisation and Re-Equipment of British Rail". The Railways Archive. (Originally published by the British Transport Commission) . Retrieved 2006-11-25.