Page 88 - Rail Express - September 2019

UNITS
Northern '144s'
to be retained
into 2020
‘Pacers’ to stayinservice beyond end of year deadline.
NORTHERN is to keep anumberofClass
144 units beyond the end of the year,it
has been confirmed.
The news, which waswidely
expected,was confirmed by Rail
Minister Andrew Jones on July18, who
stated that asmall number of units
would be retained forafew weeksto
maintain asmooth and reliable service.
He also said the 'majority' of the ‘142s’ onlymember of the class to have been Oneset,No. 155346, still
–originallyearmarked forwithdrawal
betweenNovember 2018 and October
2019 –would be stopped by the end of
the year,indicating that some of these
mayalso operate into 2020.
The news comes as no surprise,
given the delays in the acceptance
of the Class 195 fleet, which has
delayedstaff training and the
subsequent introduction of the units
MAIN LINE ‘FLIRT’: 12-car Stadler-built Class 745No.745003 passes Needham Market on July19working the 14.46
Liverpool Street to Norwich test run, the return leg of the first daytime run along the full length of the Great Eastern Main Line. Mobility) modifications, No. 317501,
Europhoenix loco No. 37608 followedfromColchester in case of difficulties. Keith Partlow
88 RAIL EXPRESS September 2019
(see Headline News last issue).
It wasoriginallyplanned that the 23 NewtonHeath forKilmarnock.
Class 144s (13 two-car and 10 three-
carsets) would be among the first
‘Pacers’ to be stopped by Northern, with REFURBISHMENT of the Class
the first examples going in September
2018 and all of the two-car sets by
January 5, 2019. This would include
the ‘144E’, No. 144012, which is the
upgraded as ademonstrator to meet
PRM-TSI regulations(the newdisability
legislation that comes into forceon
January 1, 2020). The three-car sets
were due to be stopped on March31.
It is also looking likely that,
owing to the continued delays in the
introduction of Class 769 units that will TrainCare. Running in the opposite
affect planned fleet cascades, GWR will direction later the same daywereNos.
be retainingits Class 143s into 2020. E 158868/908.
DMU
CLASS 150 ‘SPRINTER’
STILLcarrying the old Northern
colours, No. 150117 wasreleased
from Wabtec, Doncaster on July 6and
wasnoted passing Mirfield en route
to Newton Heath. The sameday also
sawNo. 150118 go the other wayfrom
NewtonHeath to Doncaster.
Making itssecondattemptatbeing
released following refurbishment
(having failed on June 22), No. 150273
ranfromKilmarnock to Carlisle on July 8, FOLLOWING the introduction
while thenextday No. 150269 left
CLASS 155 ‘SUPER SPRINTER’
155 fleet hasbeencompleted, the
last set No. 155344 beingreleased
on June 29, afterwhich it formed
the5Q18/15.37 Kilmarnock-Neville Hill.
requires some interior work to be
carried out.
CLASS 158 ‘SPRINTER EXPRESS’
ApairofNorthern units Nos.
158867/905 returned from Creweto
Neville Hill after refurbishment by Arriva runs to BradfordForster Squareand
David Russell
CLASS 175 ‘CORADIA’
THE first Class 175 to undergo an
interior facelift, No. 175002, emerged
from Alstom’s Widnes facility on July12,
returning to Chester beforere-entering
service the following week. It carries
Transport forWales colours, as applied
to unrefurbished No. 175003 forthe
TfW launch in November 2018.
Replacing No. 175002 at Widnes was
No. 175006, which formed the3B75
from Chester on July12.
CLASS 195 ‘CIVITY’
into traffic of sevenunits (Nos.
195102/116-121) on July1,No.
195114 wasput into revenue-earning
service on July2,giving eight sets to
coverthe sevendiagrams.
EarlyJulysaw the arrival at Allerton
of No. 195125 by road, while on July8
No. 195105 became the first member
of the class to reach the east of the
Pennines when it rantoHuddersfield
foruse as atraining set there. Twodays
later,No. 195110, which had previously
been used as adepot trainer,formed
the 5G18/12.13 Allerton-Huddersfield,
providing twotraining sets.
July13saw No. 195110 make
Todmorden, which No. 195105 also
undertook on July16. Twodayslater,
No. 195110 ranfromHuddersfield to
Blackpool North and return.
DEMU
CLASS 201/202 ‘HASTINGS’
JULY6saw Hastings Diesels Ltd’s
No. 1001 work the‘Dean Forest Foray’
chartertrain from Hastings to Parkend
(on the Dean Forest Railway). The unit
ranvia Guildford, Reading, Stroud and
Gloucester in both directions.
EMU
CLASS 313
WITHDRAWN from trafficonJune
28, Nos. 313036/054 were quickly
disposed of,being dispatched to Sims
Metals at Newport on July1behind
No. 37884 Cerpheus.Aweeklater
(July8), the same loco took Nos.
313025/053 away to Newport for
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 sent forscrap.
CLASS 317
THE second Class 317/5 to be sent
away forPRM (Persons of Reduced
left Ilfordfor Brodie, Kilmarnock late on