88 RAIL EXPRESSSeptember 2019
UNITS David Russell
Northern '144s'
to be retained
into 2020
‘Pacers’ to stayinservice beyond end ofyear deadline.
NORTHERN is tokeep anumberofClass
144 units beyond the end of theyear,it
has been confirmed.
The news, whichwaswidely
expected,was confirmed by Rail
Minister Andrew Jones on July18, who
stated thatasmall number of units
would beretain ed forafew weeksto
maintainasmooth andreliable service.
He also said the 'majority' of the ‘142s’
–originallyearma rked forwithdrawal
betweenNovember 2018 and October
2019 –would be stoppedby the end of
the year,indicating that some of these
mayalso operate into2020.
The news comes as no surprise,
given the delays in the acceptance
of the Class 195 fleet, which has
delayedstafftraining and the
subsequent introduction of the units(see Headline News last issue).
It wasoriginallyplanned that the 23
Class 144s (13 two-car and 10 three-
carsets) would be among the first
‘Pacers’ to be stoppedby Northern, with
the firstexamplesgoing in September
2018 and all of the two-car setsby
January 5, 2019. Thiswould include
the ‘144E’, No. 144012, which is the
onlymember of the class to have been
upgraded asademonstrator to meet
PRM-TSIregulations(the newdisability
legislation that comes intoforceon
January 1, 2020). The three-car sets
were due to be stopped onMarch31.
It is also looking likely that,
owing to the continued delays in the
introduction of Class 769 units that will
affect planned fleet cascades, GWR will
be retainingits Class 143s into 2020. ECLASS 175 ‘CORADIA’
THE first Class 175 to undergo an
interiorfacelift, No. 175002, emerged
from Alstom’s Widnes facility on July12,
returning to Chester beforere-entering
service thefollowing week. It carries
TransportforWales colours, as applied
to unrefurbished No. 175003forthe
TfW launch in November 2018.
Replacing No. 175002 at Widneswas
No. 175006, whichformedthe3B75
from Chester on July12.CLASS 195 ‘CIVITY’
FOLLOWING the introduction
into traffic of sevenunits (Nos.
195102/116-121) on July1,No.
195114 wasput intorevenue-earning
service on July2,giving eight sets to
coverthe sevendiagrams.
EarlyJulysaw the arrival at Allerton
of No. 195125by road, while on July8
No. 195105 became the first member
of the class toreach the east of the
Pennines when itrantoHudde rsfield
foruse asatraining set there.Twodays
later,No. 195110, which had previously
been used asadepot trainer,formed
the 5G18/12.13 Allerton-Huddersfield,
providing twotraining sets.
July13saw No. 195110 make
runs to BradfordForster Squareand
Todmorden, which No. 195105 also
undertook on July16. Twodayslater,
No. 195110ranfromHuddersfield to
Blackpool North andreturn.DEMU
CLASS 201/202 ‘HASTINGS’
JULY6saw Hastings Diesels Ltd’s
No. 1001work the‘DeanForest Foray’
chartertrain from Hastings toParkend
(on the DeanForest Railway). The unit
ranvia Guildford,Reading, Stroud and
Gloucester in both directions.EMU
CLASS 313
WITHDRAWN from trafficonJune
28, Nos. 313036/054were quic kly
disposed of,being dispatched to Sims
Metals at Newport on July1behind
No. 37884Cerpheus.Aweeklater
(July8), the same loco took Nos.
313025/053awayto Newportfor
scrapping, while on July15anidentical
move conveyedNos. 313038/042.Two
days later,Nos. 313040/058 departed
forthe scrapyardbehind Nos. 37800
Cassiopeia,this time running as the
5Q25/19.24 Hornsey-CF
Booth, Rotherham.
July22saw Nos. 313024/056
disposed of,the pair departing Hornsey
forNewport behind No. 37884. Their
departuretipped the half-way point in
the Great Northern ‘313’ disposals, with
23 sets from the original fleet of 44
having nowbeen sentforscrap.CLASS 317
THE second Class 317/5 to be sent
away forPRM (Persons ofReduced
Mobility) modifications, No. 317501,
left Ilfordfor Brodie, Kilmarnock late onMAIN LINE ‘FLIRT’:12-car Stadler-built Class745No.745003 passes NeedhamMarket on July19working the 14.46
Liverpool Street to Norwich test run, thereturn leg of the first daytime run along the full length of the GreatEasternMain Line.
Europhoenix loco No. 37608followedfromColch ester in case of difficulties.Keith Partl owDMU
CLASS 150 ‘SPRINTER’
STILLcarrying the old Northern
colours, No. 150117wasreleased
from Wabtec,Doncaster onJuly 6and
wasnoted passing Mirfield enroute
to Newton Heath. The sameday also
sawNo. 150118go the otherwayfrom
NewtonHeath toDoncaster.
Making itssecondattemptatbeing
releasedfollowi ng refurbishment
(havingfailed on June 22), No. 150273
ranfromKilmarnock toCarlisle on July 8,
whilethenextday No. 150269 left
NewtonHeath forKilmarnock.CLASS 155 ‘SUPER SPRINTER’
REFURBISHMENT of theClass
155 fleet hasbeencompleted, the
last set No. 155344 beingreleased
on June 29,afterwhich itformed
the5Q18/15.37 Kilmarnock-Neville Hill.
Oneset,No. 155346, still
requires some interiorwork to be
carried out.CLASS 158 ‘SPRINTER EXPRESS’
ApairofNorthern units Nos.
158867/905returned from Creweto
Neville Hill afterrefurbishmentby Arri va
TrainCare. Running in the opposite
direction later the same daywereNos.
1588 68/908.