Editing Silverlink (section)

==Rolling stock==
Silverlink inherited a fleet of [[British Rail Class 117|Class 117]] and [[British Rail Class 121|Class 121]] [[diesel multiple unit]]s, and [[British Rail Class 313|Class 313]] and [[British Rail Class 321|Class 321]] [[electric multiple unit]]s, from [[British Rail]].

To replace the elderly Class 117s and 121s, which operated the Gospel Oak - Barking and Bletchley - Bedford services, seven [[British Rail Class 150|Class 150 ''Sprinters'']] were transferred from [[Central Trains]] in summer 1999; an eighth followed in 2006.<ref>{{cite magazine |title= | magazine = [[Today's Railways UK]] |issue=63 |date=March 2006 |page=37}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=May 2023}} Pending the Sprinters' arrival, Silverlink hired [[British Rail Class 31|Class 31]] locomotives from [[FM Rail|Fragonset]] to top and tail [[British Railways Mark 2|Mark 2]] carriages on Bletchley - Bedford services in 1998/99.

The Class 313s operated Metro services on the electrified routes; they were joined on the Euston - Watford Junction service in 2003 by three [[British Rail Class 508|Class 508]]s transferred from [[Merseyrail]]. The Class 321s operated County services to [[Northampton railway station|Northampton]] and Birmingham; they were joined in 2005 by new [[British Rail Class 350|Class 350]]s. The Watford Junction - St Albans Abbey service was operated for many years by Class 313s, but later was usually operated by Class 321s with Silverlink Metro drivers and Silverlink County guards.

On 16 July 2004, [[Virgin Trains]] announced that it was withdrawing most of its stops at [[Milton Keynes Central railway station|Milton Keynes Central]], which were used by up to 6,000 passengers a day. Commuters became unhappy at the prospect of switching to older Silverlink trains, and a longer journey. Silverlink countered this with the temporary usage of ex-Virgin stock, still in Virgin colours.<ref>{{cite news |title=Commuters angry over train switch |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/3901883.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=16 July 2004 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130122215/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/beds/bucks/herts/3901883.stm |archive-date=30 November 2020 |access-date=25 January 2007}}</ref>

The [[Strategic Rail Authority]] decided to divert thirty four-carriage [[Siemens Desiro]] trains from an order placed by [[South West Trains]] to provide stock with faster acceleration for the [[West Coast Main Line]] operators. These trains, the Class 350s, were not allocated to a specific operator, but were instead used jointly by Silverlink and Central Trains, both owned by National Express.

Pending the arrival of these trains, from September 2004 Silverlink introduced two sets of [[British Rail Mark 3|Mark 3]] carriages, formerly of Virgin Trains, hauled by Virgin [[British Rail Class 87|Class 87]] and [[DB Cargo UK|EWS]] [[British Rail Class 90|Class 90]] electric locomotives on peak-hour Northampton services.<ref>{{cite magazine |title = Loco-hauled Cobblers to return from September |magazine = The Railway Magazine |issue = 1240 |date = August 2004 |page = 6}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title = The end for loco-hauled Cobbler services |magazine = [[Today's Railways UK|Entrain]] |issue = 45 |date = September 2005 |page = 15}}</ref> Additionally, five Class 321s were hired from [[National Express East Anglia|One]], another National Express-owned operator.

===Fleet===
{| class="wikitable"
|----- bgcolor=#f9f9f9
! rowspan="2" |Class
! rowspan="2" |Image
! rowspan="2" |Type
! colspan="2" |Top speed
! rowspan="2" |Number
! rowspan="2" |Routes operated
! rowspan="2" |Built
! rowspan="2" |Period used
! rowspan="2" |Notes
|----- bgcolor=#f9f9f9
!mph
!km/h
|-
|[[British Rail Class 121|121 ''Bubble Car'']]
|[[File:19880827-Paddington-Class121.jpg|118px]]
|rowspan="2"|[[Diesel multiple unit|DMU]]
|70
|112
|4
|rowspan="2"|Gospel Oak to Barking Line<br>Marston Vale Line
|1960
|1997–2001
|Replaced by Class 150s.
|-
|[[British Rail Class 150|150/1 ''Sprinter'']]
|[[File:Silverlink 150128 Barking.jpg|118px]]
|rowspan="2"|75
|rowspan="2"|120
|8
|1984–1987
|1999–2007
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[British Rail Class 313|313/1]]
|rowspan="2"|[[File:Silverlink 313122 at Kensington Olympia 03crop.jpg|118px]]
|rowspan="7"|[[Electric multiple unit|EMU]]
|23
|Silverlink Metro:<br>North London Line<br>West London Line<br>Watford DC Line
|1976–1977
|1997–2007
|Refurbished between 1997 and 2001.
|-
|colspan="7"|[[File:313 Silverlink Metro and London Overground.png|600px]]
|-
|[[British Rail Class 321|321/4]]
|[[File:321409 HarrowWealdstone.jpg|118px]]
|rowspan="2"|100
|rowspan="2"|160
|37
|Silverlink County:<br>Northampton Line<br>St Albans Abbey Line
|1989–1990
|1997–2007
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[British Rail Class 350|350/1 ''Desiro'']]
|rowspan="2"|[[File:350115 at Euston 1.jpg|118px]]
|30
|Silverlink County:<br>Northampton Line
|2004–2005
|2004–2007
|Shared use by [[Central Trains]] and Silverlink on the southern section of the West Coast Main Line.
|-
|colspan="7"|[[File:CT SL Class 350-1 w-pantograph.png|600px]]
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[British Rail Class 508|508/3]]
|rowspan="2"|[[File:508302 at South Hampstead.jpg|118px]]
|75
|120
|3
|Silverlink Metro:<br>Watford DC Line
|1979–1980
|2003–2007
|Refurbished 2003.
|-
|colspan="7"|[[File:508Silverlink.png|600px]]
|}

[[File:North Woolich (closed) station Mk1.png|thumb|right|200px|Class 313 at [[North Woolwich railway station|North Woolwich]] in 2001, closed in 2006.]]