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 replaced many of the non-standard or unreliable types with new 2nd generation units, built to modern standards. Two different types were persued; low-cost "Pacers" built using bus parts and used on short-distance services; and "Sprinters" built for longer-distance services.

In 1984, BREL built two prototype 3-car Class 150/0 units, numbered 150001 and 150002. 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 most successful leading to further orders for production units. In the event, the two Class 150 units proved to be the most reliable, and as a result, an order for 50 two-car units was placed with BREL.

Current Operations

As one of the most widely used type of DMU, following privatisation, the Class 150 fleet was divided among many different franchises. These are described below.

Anglia Railways / 'One' Railway

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, the Sudbury Branch Line and the Wherry Lines, as well as services from Ipswich to Cambridge and Peterborough.

Anglia Railways named most of its fleet after famous local figures.

All units in the Anglia fleet received the company's turquoise and white livery, the last unit (no. 150217) being repainted in March 2004.

On 1 April 2004, Anglia Railways became part of the new 'One' Railway franchise, which was operated by the National Express Group. Some of the Class 150 units have now transferred to other operators, having been replaced by Class 156 units cascaded from Central Trains.

Arriva Trains Wales

Central Trains

Northern

The new Northern Rail franchise started operations on 12 December 2004, and incorporates the previous operators Arriva Trains Northern and First North Western . Its fleet is a combination of class 150/1s, inherited from First North Western, and class 150/2s inherited from First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern (units previously with Valley Lines). While the North Western units have been tastefully refurbished by Hunslet-Barclay in Kilmarnock, the North Eastern ones continue in a rather bad condition with peeling paint work and mucky floors.

ScotRail / First ScotRail

Silverlink

Silverlink has a small fleet of seven Class 150/1 units, which are employed on Gospel Oak-Barking and Bletchley-Bedford services. The units were cascaded from Central Trains following delivery of new Turbostar units. They replaced the ageing fleet of Class 117 and Class 121 "First Generation" units.

All units carry Silverlink's purple and lime green livery. Most units have been named, three of which were transferred from the previously incumbent Class 121 units. The three units in question (marked with an asterisk) have the same last two digits as the "Bubblecars".

Leslie Crabbe was a long-standing railway employee, who worked on the Bedford-Bletchley "Marston Vale" route. The "Bletchley Seven" name refers to the fleet of seven Class 150/1 units in the Silverlink fleet.

Wessex Trains

Wessex Trains inherited a large fleet of 25 Class 150/2 units for regional services in South-West England. The units saw use on a wide variety of local services, including Bristol-Southampton, Bristol-Weymouth, Cheltenham-Swindon, Exeter-Barnstaple, Exeter-Exmouth, Exeter-Paignton, Liskeard-Looe, Par-Newquay, Penzance-St Ives, Plymouth-Gunnislake and Truro-Falmouth. They also work some longer distance services over the Great Western Main Line and South Wales Main Line between Cardiff, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance.

In recent years, many of the units in the Wessex Trains fleet have been named after local attractions. These are listed below.

All units have been refurbished and repainted in a new maroon-based regional advertising livery, each featuring a different West Country postcard.

Fleet Details