The British Rail Class 460 (8-GAT) was a class of electric multiple-unit passenger trains built by Alstom at Washwood Heath between 1999 and 2001. They were part of Alstom's Juniper family, which also includes Classes and . For the entirety of their service life they operated Gatwick Express services between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. Following their withdrawal by Gatwick Express in 2012, the fleet was merged with the mechanically similar Class 458 fleet and extensively rebuilt to form a fleet of 36 units—designated Class 458/5—that are now used by South Western Railway. History National Express (NX) began operating the Gatwick Express franchise in April 1996, having been awarded a 15-year contract to do so by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising as part of the privatisation of British Rail. The company was required as part of the award to replace the existing Gatwick Express rolling stock, which had already been in service for more than 12 years when National Express had inherited it from British Rail. Accordingly, NX and rolling stock lessor Porterbrook placed an order with Alstom for the construction and delivery of eight eight-car units, enough to run services at 15-minute intervals at peak times. All eight units, numbered 460001–460008, were manufactured at the former Metro-Cammell works at Washwood Heath in Birmingham, which Alstom had acquired in 1989. Each unit was formed of two motor cars with driver's cabs, three intermediate motor cars, and three intermediate trailer cars. One driving car, coded and usually kept at the London end of the train, consisted of a large luggage compartment and a small section of first-class seating, while the other driving car was fitted with standard-class seating throughout. The fibreglass nosecones—which earned the class the nickname Darth Vaders among some rail enthusiasts—concealed the anti-climbers and an emergency coupler. One bogie on each motor car was fitted with traction motors. Delivery of the new units began in 2000, but their entry into service was delayed by a number of defectsparticularly concerning the braking systems, air-conditioning, and Train Management System (TMS) software. Only after an extensive program of repairs and modifications by Alstom did the fleet's reliability reach a level sufficient to allow full withdrawal of the ex-BR stock in 2005. On 22 June 2008 the lease for the Class 460 fleet was transferred to Southern when the standalone Gatwick Express franchise was merged into the Southern-operated South Central franchise, as