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49-619: All generations of the Ecomat series are no longer in production. All generations of the Ecomat series are no longer in production. All generations of the Ecomat series are no longer in production. In addition to its use in road vehicles, the Ecomat transmission is also employed in the Class 172 lightweight diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains in service with various operators in Great Britain , in major refurbishments of ČD Class 842 in

98-543: A 23 m (75 ft 6 in) body length, as opposed to the 20 m (65 ft 7 in) length used on previous Class 150 Sprinter DMUs, to increase capacity. West Midlands Trains operate a total of 39 two-car and three-car units, 27 of which had been ordered by predecessor London Midland ; it had originally planned for them to enter service by the end of 2010 on services to and from Birmingham Snow Hill , replacing Class 150s. The original West Midlands Trains sets have revised front ends with end gangways which make

147-454: A contract extension, London Midland had agreed to put on extra services, resulting in an extra 6,600 seats per week. During 2010, London Midland remarked on the high frequency of breakdowns across its fleet, attributing this poor performance as having been primarily due to the outdated rolling stock that it had inherited and was in the process of replacing. In autumn and winter 2012, a significant volume of services suffered cancellations, which

196-614: A delay in their introduction, with a replacement bus covering the route following the reallocation of the Class 153 originally used. The two railcars finally entered full passenger service in June 2009. London Midland was to lose all of its Class 150 units, but a change in plan saw it retain three Class 150 units as additional capacity, following a statement from the Department for Transport on 10 August 2011. However, London Midland transferred two Class 153 units to First Great Western as

245-454: A half-hourly service between Crewe and Liverpool by 2016. In March 2011, the application was rejected by the Office of Rail Regulation. London Midland also sought to run additional evening and Sunday trains between Euston and Crewe, to satisfy what the company says was unmet demand. From April 2012, London Midland began operating an hourly Euston to Crewe service on Sundays. In order to win

294-466: A maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h). The 172/0 were built without any onboard toilets, in common with other London Overground stock. Toilets were retrofitted when transferred to WMT. The Class 172s feature BSI (Bergische Stahl Industrie - Autocoupler) couplers which allow them to work in multiple with Class 168 , Class 170 units and most other units with the same coupler. The Class 172 trains are lighter than other Turbostars, due to use of

343-407: A maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h). The Class 172/2s and 172/3s used by West Midlands Trains resemble the Class 375 , Class 377 , Class 379 and Class 387 Electrostars by having end gangways to allow access between units. These also resemble the Class 378 by having more of a ' Capitalstar ' style front design rather than the typical ' Electrostar ' front design. These trains have

392-549: A minimum of £11.5m into its stations. London Midland's services were divided between four groups of routes: London Euston Routes , Birmingham Regional , West Midlands Local and Branch Lines . London Midland operated several " parliamentary train " stations, where only a handful of trains a day call. These include: London Midland also operated stations where it operated no services. These stations are only served by CrossCountry , which does not manage any stations. These included: In December 2008, London Midland discontinued

441-488: A name: 172342: Roger Sumner - in honour of a driver at Worcester who retired in late 2022 after almost 60 years of service. He was the last employee at West Midlands Trains to have previously worked on steam locomotives for British Rail . [REDACTED] Media related to British Rail Class 172 at Wikimedia Commons London Midland London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated

490-526: A result. The other Class 150 units were transferred to First Great Western and Northern Rail . During 2011, London Midland announced that it would be procuring a further 18 four-car Class 350 units, eight for itself and ten for sub-lease to First TransPennine Express . In February 2012, it was announced that 20 Class 350 units had been ordered by London Midland. Ten Class 350/3 units entered service with London Midland, and ten Class 350/4 units with First TransPennine Express. The franchise agreement included

539-471: A start date of 11 November 2007, an end date of September 2015, an option for the Department to end the franchise after six years if Govia did not meet performance targets, and the provision of £1.13bn of subsidy over the course of the franchise, starting with £203m in the first full year and falling to £155m by the last. The company pledged to introduce a new semi-fast service between London and Crewe, acquire at least 37 new multiple units by July 2009, and invest

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588-655: A two-hourly Worcester Shrub Hill to Gloucester service was introduced to improve transport links between the two cities as well as to provide an increased service at Ashchurch for Tewkesbury . This service was withdrawn in December 2009 because of low passenger use. In October 2010, London Midland applied to the Office of Rail Regulation to run a new hourly Birmingham to Preston service from 2016 by diverting every other Birmingham to Liverpool train. The Euston to Crewe service would also then be extended to Liverpool to maintain

637-751: A wider initiative within the Department for Transport to redraw some of the passenger rail franchises that were operating in the mid-2000s. Specifically, it was decided to break up the Silverlink network pending its renewal in November 2007; the Silverlink Metro services were transferred to the control of Transport for London under the banner of the London Overground , while the Silverlink County services were merged with

686-519: Is currently operated by West Midlands Railway . The Class 172 is part of the Turbostar range, similar to the Class 168 , Class 170 and Class 171 . There are four sub-classes, all with West Midlands Railway for use on the Snow Hill Lines and Leamington Spa - Nuneaton : The 172/0s and 172/1s resemble the existing Turbostar trains in not having end gangways. These trains have

735-610: The Central Trains services around Birmingham to create a new West Midlands franchise. The Central Trains franchise had also been selected for reorganisation, its operator having acquired an unfavourable reputation for poor timekeeping: its best performing period between 2000 and 2007 still saw one in six trains five minutes late or more, with punctuality figures dropping as low as 61% in 2003. The company also suffered from ongoing staff-relations problems which led to extensive and long-lasting cancellations of Sunday services. It

784-699: The Czech Republic , CAF built C4K in Northern Ireland and the ABB Scandia built IC3 (DSB Class MF) DMUs in Denmark . British Rail Class 172 The British Rail Class 172 is a British diesel multiple unit (DMU) passenger train from the Turbostar family, built by Bombardier Transportation 's Derby Litchurch Lane Works for use on inner-suburban passenger services. The class

833-588: The Department for Transport to re-equip its Cardiff to Portsmouth via Bristol services with 11 new four-car DMUs which would potentially allow the existing Class 158 Express Sprinter trains to be transferred to other services. According to the West of England Partnership, these were likely to be "similar to Class 170s", suggesting that they might be Class 172 Turbostars . The Government announced in December 2008 that Bombardier, with its Turbostar design,

882-496: The Old Dalby Test Track . All units were subsequently delivered to Willesden Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD). All eight 172/0 units entered service for London Overground. These were originally restricted to a top speed of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) as opposed to their intended design speed of 100 mph (160 km/h), as it was thought there was a fault with the exhaust system requiring modifications to

931-542: The Bombardier FLEXX-ECO bogies - a development of the B5000 bogies used on the Class 220 Voyager DEMU trains, rather than the previous 'Series 3' bogies. Another difference is that they have half-height airdams as opposed to the more standard full height airdams. They also differ from earlier Turbostars in having mechanical transmission rather than hydraulic - gear changes can be distinctly heard as

980-642: The Class 321s to First Capital Connect (13) and National Express East Anglia (17). The Class 153, Class 170 and Class 323 units were all refurbished. The first of the Class 350/2 units arrived in the UK in early October 2008 for testing at the Northampton Kings Heath Siemens Depot . By July 2009, they were all in service. London Midland was to lose all of its Class 321 units, but a change of plan saw it retain seven for use both on

1029-481: The Class 377/378 Electrostar orders, with subsequent knock-on delays for building the Class 172 sets. Work began at the end of 2009 after the freeing-up of one of Bombardier's production lines following completion of the Class 377 order for First Capital Connect . Eight 172/0 units were built for London Overground. Testing of the first batch of new units, the 172/0 sets for London Overground, commenced in March 2010 on

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1078-732: The Express sub-brand from London Euston to and from the West Midlands, Hertfordshire , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Northamptonshire , Staffordshire and Cheshire . Additionally, services on the Stourbridge Town branch line operated by Pre Metro Operations were branded as the London Midland Stourbridge Shuttle. The franchise was originally scheduled to expire in September 2015; this

1127-533: The Gospel Oak to Barking Line meant that the two-car Class 172s eventually proved insufficient in terms of capacity. Initially, there were plans to replace them with 3- or 4-car DMUs. Later, the government announced plans to electrify the line, with the intention that TfL would procure a new fleet of 4-car EMUs ( Class 710 ) for use on both this route and the inner-suburban routes from Liverpool Street , taken over by London Overground from 2015. Electrification

1176-670: The London Overground 172/0s moved to West Midlands Railway, operated by West Midlands Trains, to replace the remaining Class 150s for transfer to Arriva Rail North and Class 153s operating on the Coventry–Leamington line and the Coventry to Nuneaton line as well as providing extra capacity on the Snow Hill Lines . London Overground operated eight two-car Class 172s on the Gospel Oak to Barking line , replacing

1225-588: The Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey branch line and on peak-hour express services between Northampton/Milton Keynes Central/Tring-London Euston. The final seven units moved to Abellio ScotRail in 2015/16, and were replaced by seven Class 319s cascaded from Thameslink . The two Class 139 railcars were due to enter service on the Stourbridge line with the start of the new timetable on 15 December 2008. However, problems in testing caused

1274-533: The West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia . London Midland was created as a result of Govia being awarded the West Midlands franchise on 22 June 2007. This franchise had emerged out of a reorganisation conducted by the Department for Transport , which had combined elements of the Silverlink and Central Trains operations together. London Midland had various commitments to fulfil during

1323-513: The company announced that it would be providing additional seats onboard its trains in its next timetable. Against a background of ongoing rail strikes nationwide, during January 2017, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) announced that it would be balloting guards at London Midland for potential industrial action over concerns regarding the introduction of externally-contracted security staff on its trains at

1372-706: The delivery of Class 196 Civity trains. It was later announced that the Class 172/1 fleet will not be returning to Chiltern once the Class 196s entered service with WMT. In late 2007 and early 2008, orders were placed with Bombardier by two rolling-stock leasing companies to purchase a number of Class 172 Turbostar trains. In December 2007, Porterbrook ordered 15 three-car and 12 two-car trains for London Midland for delivery in 2010. In January 2008, Angel Trains, on behalf of London Overground and Chiltern Railways, ordered 12 two-car trains for delivery, which would have been delivered during 2009. But difficulties over deliveries by Bombardier's suppliers led to delays in filling

1421-472: The direct service between Walsall and Wolverhampton . Traffic on the route was low, but growing, and there was a campaign to keep the service. The service was a priced option with the new West Midlands franchise, but the Department for Transport decided not to provide funding from December 2008, and as a result the service ceased. There was only one early morning train on Saturdays from Wolverhampton to Walsall ( Parliamentary service ). During December 2008,

1470-694: The dispute closed. London Midland inherited a fleet of Class 150 , Class 153 , Class 170 , Class 321 , Class 323 and Class 350/1s from Central Trains and Silverlink . One of the major franchise commitments was the replacement of the existing fleet of Class 150 and Class 321 units. Upon being awarded the franchise, London Midland ordered a total of 66 new trains of three different types, comprising two Class 139 Parry People Movers , 12 two-car and 15 three-car Class 172 Turbostars and 37 four-car Class 350/2 Desiros . All but three Class 150 units were cascaded to First Great Western (12 x two-car, 2 x three-car) and Northern Rail (18 x two-car) and

1519-539: The end of December 2016, which the RMT alleged would replace the role of "safety-critical" guards on some services, paving the way for DOO operation. London Midland denied having plans in place to implement DOO operation on its network. Following negotiations with the RMT, London Midland ceased using externally-contracted security staff on its trains on 30 January; as a result, the RMT suspended its ballot on 2 February, averting potential industrial action, before formally declaring

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1568-604: The franchise period, although one effort, a planned year-long trial of the prototype Vivarail Class 230 DMU on the Coventry–Nuneaton line , had to be cancelled after the prototype suffered fire damage. London Midland operated local services in the West Midlands and surrounding areas through its City sub-brand. It also provided long-distance and commuter services on the West Coast Main Line through

1617-458: The franchise period, including the procurement of at least 37 new multiple units, the introduction of a semi-fast service between London and Crewe, and to invest at least £11.5m into stations. Early rolling stock orders totalled 66 new trains, including two Class 139 Parry People Movers , 12 two-car and 15 three-car Class 172 Turbostars and 37 four-car Class 350/2 Desiros . Further orders and reorganisations of rolling stock would occur during

1666-448: The franchise was 87%. During September 2013, a new partnership agreement was struck between London Midland and transport authority Centro, which reportedly led to a £10 million investment in station improvements across the West Midlands. 'Transforming Rail Travel' was a deal between the two organisations to continue a two-year arrangement with the aim of delivering further enhancements to services and facilities. During December 2014,

1715-588: The old Class 150 stock. The units were originally meant to be in service from February 2010, but due to production issues and then what were thought to be exhaust problems (which proved to be a false alarm), the trains entered service only in July 2010, and at reduced capacity due to staff training problems. By December 2010, the whole fleet was in service, allowing the Class 150s to be cascaded to First Great Western and other operators. The units were leased by Angel Trains. The success of London Overground's operation of

1764-506: The option of replacing the three remaining Class 150/1 in the fleet with six Class 153 units in June 2017. The Northern franchise agreement indicates this option has been taken up, as the London Midland Class 150 units transferred to Northern in 2017. The Northern franchise agreement also ruled out the option of any additional Class 323 units being leased from Porterbrook to London Midland before 1 January 2019. This option

1813-534: The original design and the already procured units. It was expected that units for London Midland and Chiltern would be delayed by a further 6–12 months. However, it transpired that the exhaust emission testing had been flawed and that there were no major problems with the units or the original design. Production therefore continued as planned with a slight delay. The four Chiltern Railways units entered service during summer 2011 and left for West Midlands Railway in spring 2021. In 2008, First Great Western applied to

1862-521: The same order as that of London Overground to supplement the Class 168 on its routes from London Marylebone , originally due to be delivered from late 2010. They did not have the tripcock safety system installed—unlike the rest of the Chiltern Railways fleet—as the design of the bogie being used (based on the B5005 found on Class 220 Voyager and Class 222 Meridian trains) meant there

1911-401: The trains accelerate and decelerate. Class 172s have fewer seats than the Class 150s they replaced, but greater overall capacity due to the increased room for standing passengers as well as wider aisles intended to speed boarding and alighting and reduce waiting time in stations. The trains are air-conditioned and have no opening windows, unlike the Class 150s. The Class 172 is designed to

1960-507: The trains look like the Electrostar family of units. From 1 September 2011, the units started operating on the Snow Hill Lines with some weekend work from Birmingham - Hereford. When first used in service, the units suffered a fault with engine vibration in the passenger cabin, which has since been rectified. The units were originally meant to replace all of the Class 150s, however three were retained. Between late 2018 and early 2019

2009-493: The trial to be impossible to complete before the end of the franchise. Former units operated by London Midland include: On 26 November 2015, an early morning commuter service caught fire during the morning commuter rush and passengers had to be evacuated at Lapworth Station. In April 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that Govia , MTR Corporation and a consortium of Abellio , East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Mitsui had been shortlisted to bid for

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2058-548: Was completed in February 2018 (later than the original target of June 2017) and as of June 2018 the Class 172 units were set to be replaced by Class 710 EMUs from November 2018, although this did not happen as planned. They were temporarily replaced by Class 378s redeployed from other parts of the London Overground network and moved to West Midlands Trains in March 2019. By May 2019, Class 710s started to be introduced into service. Chiltern Railways obtained four two-car trains in

2107-406: Was extended to March 2016, and once again to October 2017 in return for London Midland's agreement to put on extra trains and enact other service improvements in this additional time. During July 2017, London Midland's franchise was further extended until 10 December 2017, after which point the new franchisee, West Midlands Trains , took over operations. The creation of London Midland came out of

2156-470: Was no place for the brackets to be mounted. Thus, they were not able to operate on the Aylesbury via Amersham line whilst the current signalling system was in place unless running in multiple with other units on both the front and rear ends, which were fitted with a tripcock. In 2021, all of Chiltern Railways Class 172s were leased to West Midlands Trains for use with their existing Class 172 fleet pending

2205-582: Was not taken up as Northern kept its 323s. In July 2016, London Midland and the West Midlands Combined Authority announced that it would run a year-long trial of the prototype Vivarail Class 230 DMU on the Coventry–Nuneaton line . During January 2017, the trial was abruptly cancelled and the funding withdrawn by the West Midlands Combined Authority as a fire on the trial unit would have caused

2254-798: Was one of the pre-qualified bidders for the first 200 DMU vehicles of its planned 1300 new carriages. These new trains were intended for services operated by First Great Western , First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail . However, with the announcement of the electrification schemes in the North West and on the Great Western Main Line , the DMU order was cancelled, with the needs of the train operating companies planned to be met by transfers of existing stock. Arriva Rail North and TransPennine Express (First Group) did subsequently obtain new DMU and bi-mode rolling stock, although this

2303-546: Was originally announced that the Central Trains franchise would end in April 2007, although it was subsequently a extended until November 2007. The new West Midlands franchise was tendered and competitively bid for by private companies to operate it. On 22 June 2007, the Department for Transport announced it had awarded the West Midlands franchise to the British transport group Govia ; the terms of this franchise included

2352-447: Was produced by CAF and Hitachi and also in higher quantities - 58 CAF DMUs were allocated to Arriva Rail North alone, whereas the 61 cancelled 172s (42x 3-car and 19x 4-car) would have been split up into allocations for three operators. Bombardier offered the Class 172 Turbostar to NI Railways for its "New Trains Two" specification, eventually losing out to CAF and a variation of NIR's existing Class 3000 . One unit has received

2401-408: Was reportedly due to an acute shortage of available train drivers. Performance since the staff shortages have been varied, reaching a low of 76% for the period between 10 November and 7 December 2013, while rising to a 92.2% for the period 1–26 April 2014. According to figures released by national rail infrastructure operator Network Rail , London Midland's average punctuality since the start of

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