Buy Train Simulator Classic Train Simulator: BR Class 402 '2-HAL' EMU Add-On PC key

Train Simulator Classic Train Simulator: BR Class 402 '2-HAL' EMU Add-On adds the Southern Railway’s 2-HAL electric multiple unit to Train Simulator. Derived from the 2-BIL, the 2-HAL fleet was built to serve newly electrified main lines in Kent. The add-on includes the train in Southern Green and BR Blue liveries, along with three career scenarios for the Chatham Main Line - London-Gillingham Route Add-On.

The 2-HAL in service

The Southern Railway ordered 76 new units from Eastleigh and Lancing Works. They were similar in specification to the older 2-BIL, but had half as many toilets and a different appearance because of differences in construction. The units were completed before Kent’s electrification project, so they initially ran suburban services from London Victoria on the Southern Railway’s central section.

The 2-HALs reached Kent in July 1939, working commuter services on the Chatham Main Line to Maidstone and Gillingham. Sets typically ran in 8- or 10-car formations, splitting at the relocated Swanley station so each half could serve one destination. On North Kent “metro” services from London Charing Cross and Cannon Street, they split at Strood to serve the same two towns. They also operated weekend excursions between Gillingham and Portsmouth, mainly for naval personnel but also open to regular passengers. A second batch was ordered at the outbreak of the Second World War.

The fleet survived the war and later moved to the Brighton Main Line as part of the 1955 Kent Coast electrification scheme. Reclassified as BR Class 402, the trains made their final passenger journeys on the Coastway routes out of Brighton. Some were converted for parcels, but all services ended in 1971; the entire fleet was later scrapped, and none entered preservation.

Train and scenarios

The add-on’s train features an early ‘Southern Region style’ cab, dynamic headcodes and a detailed period passenger compartment view. Its liveries have era-appropriate equipment: Southern Green has a whistle, while BR Blue has a two-tone horn.

The three career scenarios offer alternative-reality journeys imagining that some 2-HALs survived into preservation:

• Hals Odyssey
• A Journey with Hal
• Hal and The Smoke