The Railway Magazine – August 2019

Thedriving cabofaClass 195.A331 cabdesk is similar,which allows driversto work

bothtypes of unit. ld and newunits side-by-side at Preston on June 26.

Thefirst servicetobeworkedby aNorthern

Class 195wasthe 04.53 Barrow-in-Furness-

ManchesterAirport, formed of unit

No.195116. Here, it has arrivedat Manchester

OxfordRoad on July 1.TONY MILES

Passengersusing Northern serviceshaveendured a

torrid time,travelling in trainswhichare overcrowded

andpasttheir ‘best by’date. On July 1, thefirst ofafleet

of 101Class195 and331 trains wasintroduced, which

is expect ed to star tand alleviate some of theproblems.

Chris Milnersamplesbothtrains.

F

OR several years, passengers havetaken

the promisefrom Governmentandthe

rail industr y‘Pacers’ will be replaced’

with apinch of salt.With severaldelays

and false starts,who can blamethem?However,

the realityist hat the ‘Pacer’replacement

programmehas fi nallybegun.

On July1,North ern(afranchiseoperated

by Arriva) introduced itsnewClass 195 DMU

and Class 331 EMU on to ninedia grams.

When the invitationto tenderforthe next

Northernfranchiseperiod from April 2016

was issued, it was stipulatedthenew franchisee

had toreplacethe Class142/144‘Pacer’ fleet.

Not only weretheylifeexpired,butbyt he end

of 2019 theywould nolonger meet changing

disabilityregulations.Ina ddition,passengers

have higher aspirati onsinrespect of traintravel,

and expectand deservebetter. The new trains

begintomeetthis.

Arrivatook the view the poorquality

‘Pacer’stock isan obstacleto enticingnew

passengersover to rail, and byinvesting in

new modern trains it would act asacatalyst for

passengergrowth.

New fleets–not only for Northern, but

introduced intoother franchises aswell –

would alsopermit acascade ofother unitsto

Northern,soastos tren gthening servicesin a

bid tocombatsomeoft he cancellationsand

overcrowding that has been at the forefront of

tran sportnewsinthe northfortoo long.

Net gain

These cascaded units–Classes 150,156,

158 and170–aregettingatotal refurbishment

(as areNorthern’s Class 155 and 333 units),

and the transformation of thesewillbethe

topic ofafuturefeature inTheRM.

In January2016, aheadoftakingover the

franchise in April,Arri va Northernconfirmed

to CAFanorder for 101 new electricanddiesel

trains.Theorder,worth £500million, with

financepro vided by Eversholt,wasformedof

23 two-and33three-carDMUsand 31 three-

and 12 four-car EMUs,all based onCAF’s

‘Civity’ platform.Atotal of 281 vehicles to

replacethe 214inthe ‘Pacer’fleet, anet gain

of 67 vehicles.

CAF waschosenbyArriva as they were

the only manufacturer ableto produce both

new dieselandelectric multiple unitsusing the

same platform. Thiswill provide familiarity for

drivers andreduce maintenance costs.

Both the driving and trailer cars for the

195 and331 fleetsare of identicalexternal

30 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019

NEWSTOCKFOCUS

CLASS 195 DMUs

AND331 EMUs