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| == Former Operations == | == Former Operations == | ||
| === Scotland === | === Scotland === | ||
| ] operated 150s out of {{stnlnk|Edinburgh Waverley}} on ] services. Other workings included ] and ], as well as operating alongside other DMUs such as Class 158s on the ] services between ] through ] to ], ], ] and occasionally ]. | ], and its successor ] operated 18 150s out of {{stnlnk|Edinburgh Waverley}} on ] services. Other workings included ] and ], as well as operating alongside other DMUs such as Class 158s on the ] services between ] through ] to ], ], ] and occasionally ]. In May 2005 all 18 units werre transferred to Arriva Trains Wales.<ref>http://www.scot-rail.co.uk/page/class+150</ref> | ||
| === Eastern England === | === Eastern England === | ||
Revision as of 19:18, 6 December 2009
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| British Rail Class 150 "Sprinter" | |
|---|---|
 Newly refurbished First Great Western Class 150 No. 150265 at Newton Abbot, with a Paignton - Exmouth working. | |
 The refurbished interior of a First Great Western Class 150. | |
| Constructed | 1984 - 1987 |
| Specifications | |
| Car length | 64 feet (19.5 m) |
| Coupling system | BSI |
The British Rail Class 150 "Sprinter" diesel multiple units (DMUs) were built by BREL from 1984-87. A total of 137 units were built in three main subclasses, replacing many of the earlier first-generation "Heritage" DMUs.
Description
At the beginning of the 1980s, British Rail (BR) had a large fleet of ageing "Heritage" DMUs built to many different designs in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some of the more reliable types were retained and refurbished. However, BR decided to replace many of the non-standard or unreliable types with new 2nd generation units, built to modern standards. Two different types were pursued; low-cost "Pacers" built using bus parts and used on short-distance services; and "Sprinters" based on BR's Mark 3 bodyshell design, and used for longer-distance services.
Prototypes
In 1984, BREL built two prototype 3-car Class 150/0 units, numbered 150001 and 150002. 150001 was fitted with Cummins engines and Voith hydraulic transmission and 150002 was fitted with Perkins (Rolls Royce) engines and Self-Changing Gears mechanical transmission, at the same time Metro-Cammell built two prototype Class 151 units at its Washwood Heath plant.
The two types of unit were exhaustively tested, with the more successful leading to further orders for production units. In the event, the two Class 150 units proved to be more reliable, and as a result, an order for 50 two-car units was placed with BREL.
Both prototypes are still in service with London Midland. 150002 proved to be the worse of the two for reliability and was consequently chosen for use as the testbed for the Class 158, being re-geared to a maximum speed of 90 mph (140 km/h) and fitted with Cummins engines and Voith transmission and a Class 158 interior. One car was fitted with the Class 151 Twin Disc 'hot-shift' transmission which it used successfully once the control software was sorted out. To distinguish this unit it was reclassified as the Class 154. It has since been returned to its original state and number.
Production units
This second batch of fifty units were classified as Class 150/1 and numbered in the range 150101-150. Like the prototype units, they did not have front-end gangway connections. These units were mainly concentrated around Birmingham and Manchester, and in later years were restricted mainly to commuter services.
The final batch of 85 two-car units were built with front-end gangway connections, which allowed passengers to move between two units that were working in multiple. These units were classified as Class 150/2 and numbered in the range 150201-285. They had different interiors to the earlier units and were used on longer-distance services. The end gangways make them very similar in appearance to later batches of the electric Class 317, also based on the Mark 3 bodyshell.
Some of the Class 150/2 units were later disbanded, and the vehicles used to make some of the Birmingham and Manchester-based Class 150/1 units into 3-car sets. The units in Manchester were later returned to their original configuration, but the Birmingham-based units were renumbered into the 1500xx range by subtracting 100 from the previous number (e.g. 150103 became 150003).
The 450 Class is built using the Class 150 bodyshell and is operated by Northern Ireland Railways.
The trains were banned from using the Lickey Incline, south of Birmingham, in the early 2000s, because they could no longer cope with the gradient. This meant that the units which operated the Worcester to Birmingham via Lickey route were put on the Snow Hill Lines, swapping places with some Class 170s, which had operated on the Snow Hill Lines. This also helped reliability, as 150s could keep to the tight "stop-start" timetables better than 170s, due to their superior acceleration.
Unique passenger door controls
When introduced, the Class 150s had unique interior door open/close buttons that were square, blue in the North of England/Southern Scotland and Yellow/orange in the south, and lit up turquoise in the North or bright yellow in the South of England/Wales when the doors were enabled.
The illumination feature was intended to aid visually impaired people, although they did not meet current standards set out by disability regulations because they had no raised braille and are too small for some disabled people to locate.
As a result of this, the blue buttons are being replaced by the standard EAO series 56 'easy to see, easy to press' raised circular door button, with braille writing for the visually impaired, over a yellow surround to comply with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations.
Current Operations
Northern England
After privatisation First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern operated Class 150/1 and 150/2s on their routes. The First North Western units underwent refurbishment by Hunslet-Barclay in Kilmarnock.
Northern Rail now operates the 150s in the north of England. Both the former First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern 150s are now based at Northern's Newton Heath (Manchester) depot, with the former First North Western 158s taking the 150s places at Northern's Neville Hill (Leeds) depot. All Northern 150s contain high density 2+3 seating.
South-West England
After British Rail ceased to exist, Wessex Trains started to operate 25 Class 150/2 units serving regional services in South-West England. The units saw use on a wide variety of local services, including:
- Wessex Main Line - Bristol-Southampton
- Heart of Wessex Line - Bristol-Weymouth
- Golden Valley Line - Cheltenham-Swindon
- Tarka Line - Exeter-Barnstaple
- Avocet Line - Exeter-Exmouth
- Riviera Line - Exeter-Paignton
- Looe Valley Line - Liskeard-Looe
- Atlantic Coast Line, Cornwall - Par-Newquay
- St Ives Bay Line - Penzance-St Ives
- Tamar Valley Line - Plymouth-Gunnislake
- Maritime Line - Truro-Falmouth
They also worked some longer distance services over the Great Western Main Line and South Wales Main Line between Cardiff, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance.
The units were refurbished by Wessex Trains, improvements included: Installation of DPTAC 'easy to see, easy to press' tactile Passenger Door Control buttons, non slip vinyl flooring, high backed seats in a 2+2 arrangement and refurbished toilet area. The units were again refurbished by FGW with CCTV being fitted
On 10 December 2006, the fleet was reduced to eight, with the others being handed to Arriva Trains Wales. Ten additional Class 150/1 units are expected for the region in 2009; two from London Overground and eight from London Midland; these units are to replace Class 142 Pacers.
Wales
Following privatisation, Wales and Borders continued to use the fleet of Class 150 units on branch line services as well as the commuter services around Cardiff known as the Valley Lines. They have also been used on the Borderlands Line between Bidston (Merseyside) and Wrexham and the Conwy Valley Line, when a single car Class 153 does not offer sufficient capacity.
The 'Wales and Borders' franchise passed to Arriva Trains Wales, who progressively built up their fleet of Class 150s with units acquired from various other franchises. The first expansion of the fleet was in May 2005, when twelve ScotRail units moved to Arriva. On 10 December 2006, Arriva Trains Wales received eight further Class 150s from First Great Western (in ex-Wessex livery), as part of a national fleet shuffle. In November 2007, ten Class 150/2 units were transferred from the West Midlands as the Central Trains franchise came to an end. London Midland (the successor to Central Trains) has acquired Class 170s to replace them.
In 2008 six of these units were sub-leased to First Great Western to allow several Class 158s to be reformed into 3-coach units to provide extra capacity on Portsmouth Harbour-Cardiff services.
Midland region
Following privatisation both Silverlink and Central Trains operated Class 150s in the middle regions of England.
The Central Trains Class 150 units were mainly used on regional services around the midlands, they were also been used on the Birmingham to Lincoln and Derby to Matlock, Nottingham to Worksop and on the Crewe to Skegness route. When Centro was replaced by Network West Midlands, some units were repainted into the new livery (as seen in the photo). Some were also partly grouped into 150/1 and 150/2 combined units, having 150/1 ends and a 150/2 unit as a centre car.
In November 2007, London Midland acquired much of these routes as part of the franchise change and inherited the Class 150 units used previously by both of these companies.
London Midland's large fleet includes the two prototype units 150001 and 150002, more than half of the 150/1 sub-class and a number of examples of 150/2. The fleet is based at Tyseley depot in south-east Birmingham and usage is concentrated on local stopping and semi-fast services on the Snow Hill Lines - Great Malvern, Worcester, Kidderminster and Stourbridge, along the Jewellery Line to Birmingham Snow Hill, then on to Shirley and Stratford-upon-Avon, or Solihull and Dorridge. In the rush hour they can also be seen working services to Leamington Spa.
London Midland has announced that they will replace most of their Class 150s with Class 172s.
London
The former franchise operator, Silverlink, had eight Class 150s; seven of the units were originally cascaded from Central Trains following delivery of new Turbostar units in 2000. They replaced the ageing fleet of Class 117 and Class 121 "First Generation" units. The eighth unit, no. 150121 was transferred to Silverlink in late 2005.
London Overground, who took over the franchise, also inherited the eight Class 150/1 units, six of which are employed on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line and two of which are on long term loan to First Great Western (see Wales section above).
All units have names. Three of the names (marked with an asterisk) were inherited from the previously incumbent Class 121 units.
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The units are to be replaced by a new fleet of 8 two-car Class 172 units in February 2010 operating exclusively on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line so the 150 units will be cascaded to East Midlands Trains.
Former Operations
Scotland
ScotRail, and its successor First Scotrail operated 18 150s out of Edinburgh Waverley on Fife Circle services. Other workings included Dundee and Carnoustie, as well as operating alongside other DMUs such as Class 158s on the Crossrail services between Newcraighall through Edinburgh to Bathgate, Stirling, Dunblane and occasionally Perth. In May 2005 all 18 units werre transferred to Arriva Trains Wales.
Eastern England
Anglia Railways initially inherited a small fleet of nine Class 150/2 units, later supplemented with a tenth. The units were based at Norwich Crown Point depot, and put to use on rural services in Suffolk and Norfolk. Lines using the units included the Bittern Line, the East Suffolk Line, and the Wherry Lines, as well as services from Ipswich to Cambridge. One unit each weekday was sub-leased to First Great Eastern for use on the Sudbury Branch Line. Anglia Railways named most of its fleet after famous local figures.
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On 1 April 2004, Anglia Railways became part of the new 'one' franchise. The Class 150 units were transferred to Arriva Trains Wales (no. 150245) and Central Trains (all other units), having been replaced by Class 156 units from Central Trains.
References and notes
- "System Data for Mechanical and Electrical Coupling of Rail Vehicles". Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- Further information about the testing and early days of the 150 prototypes with links to the 151s and 154 DMUs at http://www.traintesting.com/Class150.htm
- "EAO Series 56".
- http://www.thejunction.org.uk/flist_150.html
- http://www.thejunction.org.uk/flist_158.html
- TheJunction.org.uk: Fleet List
- The majority of the names are references to the Marston Vale Line on which they operated during Silverlink's franchise. Leslie Crabbe was a long-standing railway employee, who worked on the route. Richard Crane is the chairman of the Bletchley to Bedford Rail Users Association who has campaigned for the line to be retained and expanded. The Bedford to Bletchley Rail Users' Association - Committee (tauruspr.co.uk)
- The three units in question have the same last two digits as the "Bubblecars"
- The previous name, Bletchley Seven, referred to the original fleet of seven Class 150/1 units in the Silverlink fleet.
- http://www.scot-rail.co.uk/page/class+150
| British Rail Engineering Limited Mark 3 derived family | |
|---|---|
| Diesel | |
| Electric | |
| Hydrogen | |
| Multi-mode | |
| British Rail diesel Sprinters | |
|---|---|
| 20 m | |
| 23 m (Super Sprinter) | |
| 23 m (Express Sprinter) | |
| Unbuilt | |
| Diesel and alternative fuel multiple units of Great Britain | |
|---|---|
| Pre-TOPS | |
| First generation | |
| Second generation | |
| Post-privatisation | |
| Diesel-electric | |
| Alternative fuel | |
| Bi-mode | |
| First generation (original TOPS) | |
| Diesel-electric (original TOPS) | |
| Southern Region designations | |
| Design families | |