British Rail Class 325

The BR Class 325 was a fleet of sixteen four-car dual-voltage electric multiple unit sets built in 1995–96 by ABB Transportation at Derby, designed not for passenger use but as dedicated postal trains for Royal Mail's Travelling Post Office and mail distribution network. The Class 325 was the first purpose-built postal EMU in Britain, replacing the locomotive-hauled Travelling Post Office trains that had carried mail overnight on the main lines since the 1830s with a high-speed, self-propelled electric alternative capable of 100 mph running on the electrified West Coast Main Line.

The Royal Mail had been searching for a modern replacement for the ageing locomotive-hauled Travelling Post Office stock for several years. The locomotive-hauled TPO trains required dedicated locomotive haulage, had a maximum speed limited by the coaching stock, and were increasingly expensive to operate and maintain. The solution was a dedicated EMU with dual-voltage capability — able to draw power from the 25 kV AC overhead on the West Coast Main Line and the 750 V DC third rail on Southern Region routes — and with a body structure specifically designed for mail handling rather than passenger carriage. Each four-car set featured large roller-shutter loading doors on each vehicle, internal mail cage systems for efficient sorting and distribution, and no passenger accommodation at all.

The sixteen sets were built to Royal Mail's specification by ABB Transportation at Derby and entered service in 1996, working overnight mail trains on the WCML between London (Willesden), Warrington, Glasgow, and associated routes. They represented a significant investment in the modernisation of Britain's postal logistics network and, at 100 mph, were considerably faster than the locomotive-hauled trains they replaced.

The Class 325s' primary Royal Mail role came to an abrupt end in 2003 when Royal Mail controversially ended its use of the rail network for mail distribution, citing costs and the restructuring of its logistics model around road transport. The sixteen sets were placed in storage, their dedicated purpose apparently exhausted after only seven years. However, the sets were subsequently acquired by DB Schenker (later DB Cargo) and returned to use on Royal Mail contract parcels services and general network mail duties, a role in which a number of sets were still active as of 2026 — nearly thirty years after their original construction, still operating on the same West Coast routes for which they were designed.