94-470: Silverlink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the North London Railways franchise from March 1997 until November 2007. At the end of 2007 Silverlink Metro services were taken over by London Overground and Silverlink County services were taken over by London Midland . The North London Railways franchise was awarded to National Express on 7 February 1997. National Express commenced operating
188-712: A 100% FirstGroup subsidiary when the 24.5% shareholder bought out its partners. The TOCs were renamed First Great Western and First North Western . Go-Ahead Group bought the remaining 35% share in Thames Trains . Virgin Group sold a 49% share in Virgin Rail Group that operated the CrossCountry and West Coast franchises to Stagecoach . The completion of the rail link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express , an open-access operator outside
282-489: A business specification, these requirements were transferred into a relatively broad technical specification that avoided any specifics other than those deemed essential for compatibility purposes. Thereafter, it was issued to various rolling-stock manufacturers for a competitive tender. As part of this process, these manufacturers submitted bids to construct an initial series of three-car prototypes as demonstration units. A relatively constrained timetable of 18 months from
376-571: A company wholly owned by the Strategic Rail Authority , which would operate the franchise until it could be tendered again. New franchise holders Arriva Trains Wales and Merseyrail began operating. FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned the Anglia Railways and Hull Trains businesses. A policy where the majority of services (both long-distance and commuter) from each London terminal would all be operated by
470-436: A good ride quality, the specification included a sound level of 90 dB when at full speed, an operational range of 1,000 miles (1,600 km), and an interval between major overhauls of five years or 350,000 miles (560,000 km). In comparison to the previous generation of DMUs, which typically used a pair of engines for each power car, the new generation DMU would use only a single engine per car; sufficient cooling
564-467: A more substantial DMU that could deliver better performance than the existing fleet, particularly on long-distance services. The initial specification developed for the latter type was relatively ambitious for the era, calling for a maximum speed of 90 mph (140 km/h), a rate of acceleration comparable to contemporary EMUs, the ability to couple/work in multiple with existing EMUs, facilitate through-access for passengers, feature pressure ventilation,
658-511: A national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF). This was in turn replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority , which has since been abolished. For England, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases. In Scotland, it is the responsibility of Transport Scotland . In Wales, since 2017,
752-696: A national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of the RDG, though it is not itself a TOC. For historical and geographical reasons the railway network of the United Kingdom is split into two independent systems: one in Great Britain (including the Isle of Wight ), and one in Northern Ireland, which
846-509: A new West Midlands franchise. On 22 June 2007 the Department for Transport announced it had awarded the West Midlands franchise to Govia . Silverlink's services transferred to London Overground Rail Operations and London Midland on 11 November 2007. Train operating company In the railway system of Great Britain , a train operating company ( TOC ) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under
940-456: A new generation of DMUs in the reduction of ongoing costs for BR. By 1983, experience with the Class 210 had influenced planners to favour the procurement of a new generation of DMUs, but also to adopt a new set of specifications somewhat less demanding than the prior set. Specifically, it was decided to lower the top speed from 90 to 75 mph (145 to 121 km/h), as testing had shown that
1034-589: A statement from the Department for Transport on 10 August 2011. However, London Midland lost two Class 153s to First Great Western as a result. On 29 April 2019, the Class 150s that were still in operation with West Midlands Trains transferred to Arriva Rail North , having been replaced by Class 230s and Class 172s . In July 2023, three Class 150/1s, 150137, 150139 and 150141, were transferred from Northern Trains to London Northwestern Railway for use on
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#17327823611611128-653: A wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London , operates trains nearly all on its own network serving mostly its own stations: It is not a Train Operating Company by the definition here.) The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) (formerly the Association of Train Operating Companies) provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination. Its activities include the provision of
1222-455: Is 75 mph (121 km/h). The majority of units are formed of a DMS (Driving Motor Second - numbered 57xxx) vehicle and a DMSL (Driving Motor Second Lavatory - numbered 52xxx) vehicle. Both vehicles are single class while the DMSL contains the toilet. The two prototype units were built as three-car sets with the addition of a MS (Motor Second) vehicle. In common with other non-intercity stock of
1316-710: Is closely linked to the railway system of the Republic of Ireland. In Great Britain, passenger train services are operated by a number of companies, referred to as Train Operating Companies or TOCs, normally on the basis of regional franchises awarded by the DfT Rail Group. Until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority . The infrastructure of the railways in England, Scotland, and Wales – including tracks and signalling –
1410-472: Is owned and operated not by the train companies but by Network Rail , which took over responsibility from Railtrack in 2002. Most passenger trains are owned by a small number of rolling stock companies (ROSCO) and are leased to the individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock. Train operating companies also operate most of the network's stations , in their role as station facility owners (SFO), in which they lease
1504-629: The Class 165s and 166s on the London Paddington to Didcot Parkway services, hence releasing Turbos to take over on the Reading to Basingstoke Line again. Until the end of their operation by GWR, the two 150/0s were based at St Phillips Marsh depot in Bristol and were used on local services around Bristol and Exeter . In April 2020, they transferred to Northern Trains . Following privatisation, Wales & Borders continued to use
1598-765: The Greater Anglia franchise on 5 February 2012. In September 2012, FirstGroup was awarded the right to operate the West Coast franchise which provoked a backlash from incumbent Virgin Trains West Coast. As a result of the Department for Transport having provided incorrect information during the bid process, the offer was withdrawn in October 2012 and £40 million of bid costs refunded. In September 2014, Govia Thameslink Railway took over services formerly operated by First Capital Connect as part of
1692-551: The InterCity East Coast franchise. British Rail Class 150 The British Rail Class 150 Sprinter is a class of diesel-hydraulic multiple unit passenger trains, developed and built by British Rail Engineering Limited at York Carriage Works between 1984 and 1987 for use on regional services across Great Britain. The type is a second-generation design, built to more modern standards and based on BR's Mark 3 body design for longer-distance services. It
1786-722: The Marston Vale line , after the Class 230s in use on the line were withdrawn from use in December 2022 due to maintenance concerns after the company who maintained the units, Vivarail , went into administration. The Class 150s entered service with LNR on 20 November 2023. Upon the privatisation of British Rail , the bus company National Express ran ScotRail , and its successor First ScotRail operated 18 Class 150s out of Edinburgh Waverley on Fife Circle services. Other workings included Dundee and Carnoustie , as well as operating alongside other DMUs such as Class 158s on
1880-899: The Metro buses in Belfast and Ulsterbus coaches around the country. NIR is not a TOC under the terms of the Railways Act 1993 , which only applies to Great Britain. The cross-border service Enterprise (Belfast–Dublin) is jointly operated with Iarnród Éireann , the publicly owned national railway company of the Republic of Ireland. Upon privatisation in 1994, the three passenger-operating sectors of British Rail ( InterCity , Network SouthEast and Regional Railways ) were divided, and their existing operations were let as 25 franchises: The privatisation process began when BR's passenger sectors were divided into 25 train operating units which were gradually incorporated as publicly owned subsidiaries of
1974-736: The North East Regional franchise and the North West Regional franchise . In 2004, these were altered into the TransPennine franchise, for intercity services, and the Northern franchise, for local services that were awarded to First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail respectively. Some North West services were transferred to the Arriva Trains Wales franchise. In the same year, Thames Trains
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#17327823611612068-656: The Tarka Line between Barnstaple and Exeter Central (occasionally, when a Class 158, 165 or 166 isn't available). They are also used on the Cornish branch lines which includes the Tamar Valley Line between Plymouth and Gunnislake , Atlantic Coast Line between Par and Newquay , Looe Valley Line between Liskeard and Looe , Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks and St Ives Bay Line between St Erth and St Ives . GWR previously operated
2162-572: The Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern franchise and branded them as Thameslink and Great Northern. Services operated by Southern , another Govia subsidiary, were merged into the new franchise in the following year. Hull Trains became a 100% subsidiary of FirstGroup when the 80% shareholder bought out its partners. In March 2015, a Stagecoach and Virgin joint venture trading as Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating
2256-496: The conductor , making it easier to collect revenue without having to run the full length of the unit between stations. The Class 150 units have BSI couplers which enable them to work in multiple with Class 142 , Class 143 , Class 144 , Class 153 , Class 155 , Class 156 , Class 158 , and Class 170 units, as well as with units of the same class. However, they cannot work in multiple with Class 165 or Class 166 units due to incompatible wiring arrangements. When introduced,
2350-791: The passenger transport executive or other civic body responsible for administering public transport. One of these bodies, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel) is responsible for one of three National Rail franchises not awarded by central government, namely the Merseyrail franchise, while certain National Rail services in North London came under the control of TfL in November 2007 as London Overground. Two other franchises,
2444-536: The then-new Northern franchise (Northern) announced that 24 of their Class 150 units would be reformed into three-car units by March 2019. The three-car sets would be used on routes including the Penistone Line and Leeds to Goole, though this did not end up happening. The current operator, Northern Trains received the Angel Trains 150/0s, previously leased to GWR, on 1 April 2020. After British Rail
2538-605: The 2000s, these blue buttons were replaced across the fleet by the standard EAO series 56 'easy to see, easy to press' raised circular door button, with braille writing for the visually impaired, over a yellow surround to comply with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations. The 450 Class was built using the Class 150 bodyshell and was operated by Northern Ireland Railways . It came to the end of its design life in 2014, so most of them were scrapped, although two remained. One further unit
2632-602: The Birmingham and Manchester-based Class 150/1 units into three-car sets. The units in Manchester were later returned to their original configuration, but the Birmingham-based units were renumbered into the 1500xx range by subtracting 100 from the previous number (e.g. 150103 became 150003). This also gave the operational advantage of there being an extra set of passenger door controls within the train for use by
2726-596: The Bletchley to Bedford Rail Users Association who has campaigned for the line to be retained and expanded. By the end of October 2010, all London Overground's Class 150/1s had been replaced by a new fleet of eight two-car Class 172 units operating exclusively on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line. Their final use was on 28 October 2010, when unit 150128 formed the 19:02 Barking to Gospel Oak service. The six units were cascaded to First Great Western, together with nine of
2820-744: The Bristol Parkway-Weston Super Mare route. 150002 was based at Exeter St. Davids Depot and mainly operated the Riviera Line alongside Class 143 Pacers . In April 2020, both units transferred to Northern 's Newton Heath Depot . Both units have since entered into service, initially being used mainly on the Manchester Victoria - Todmorden - Blackburn diagram, and subsequently on Rochdale - Manchester - Bolton - Clitheroe services. And now operate Huddersfield-Sheffield and Sheffield-Moorthorpe-Leeds services. At
2914-565: The British Railways Board. They acted as shadow franchises prior to being put to tender: The opening of the Channel Tunnel saw operations by Eurostar begin from London Waterloo to Paris and Brussels . The franchising process was implemented, with various private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Three were awarded to management buyouts . The Great Western Holdings ' management also were awarded
Silverlink - Misplaced Pages Continue
3008-553: The Class 150s had unique interior door open/close buttons. In the north of England, they were square and blue. In the south of Scotland they were yellow in colour and lit up turquoise when enabled. The button lit up bright yellow in the south of England. The illumination feature was intended to aid visually impaired people, although they did not meet the subsequent standards set out by disability regulations that were later introduced, because they had no raised braille and were too small for some disabled people to reasonably locate. During
3102-471: The Class 508s would have had to relocate to another depot, and the Class 313s having to return to Bletchley Depot (which was also due to close). On 12 May 2007, Silverlink took over direct running of the depot and its staff for the final six months of its franchise. As part of a wider redrawing of the rail franchise map by the Department for Transport , the Silverlink network was to be broken up when it
3196-659: The East Coast franchise. In April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began operating open access services between Wrexham and London Marylebone . In June 2008, the Gatwick Express franchise was integrated with the South Central franchise operated by Southern . The government announced that National Express East Coast would have its franchise to operate intercity services along the ECML terminated, and that
3290-551: The North London Railways franchise from 1997 under the Silverlink brand. They had eight Class 150s; seven were cascaded from Central Trains following delivery of new Turbostar units in 2000, to replace the ageing fleet of Class 117 and Class 121 units. The eighth unit, no. 150121, was transferred to Silverlink in late 2005. London Overground , which took over the North London network in 2007, inherited
3384-587: The North West Regional Railways franchise. The remainder were divided between a handful of major transport operators: In Northern Ireland, NIR stopped using its own branding on the Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin when it purchased new rolling stock in conjunction with IÉ, instead launching Enterprise as a separate brand name. Great Western Holdings , which operated Great Western Trains and North West Trains, became
3478-582: The Scottish national franchise, currently operated by ScotRail , and the Welsh domestic franchise, operated by Transport for Wales , are awarded by the devolved governments of the two constituent nations. The Rail Delivery Group is the coordinating body of the train operating companies in Great Britain and owns the National Rail brand, which uses the former British Rail double-arrow logo and organises
3572-622: The Sprinters' arrival, Silverlink hired Class 31 locomotives from Fragonset to top and tail Mark 2 carriages on Bletchley - Bedford services in 1998/99. The Class 313s operated Metro services on the electrified routes; they were joined on the Euston - Watford Junction service in 2003 by three Class 508s transferred from Merseyrail . The Class 321s operated County services to Northampton and Birmingham; they were joined in 2005 by new Class 350s . The Watford Junction - St Albans Abbey service
3666-509: The ability to assist another failed unit, and to comprise either a three or four-car consist. This specification led to the development of the experimental British Rail Class 210 diesel-electric multiple unit . However, to deliver the performance specified, it was found that relatively expensive equipment had to be used, particularly to provide sufficient speed, acceleration, and through-passenger access; it also had maintainability problems due to space limitations. Despite these shortcomings, it
3760-644: The arrival of these trains, from September 2004 Silverlink introduced two sets of Mark 3 carriages, formerly of Virgin Trains, hauled by Virgin Class 87 and EWS Class 90 electric locomotives on peak-hour Northampton services. Additionally, five Class 321s were hired from One , another National Express-owned operator. Silverlink's fleet was maintained at Bletchley Depot . Following Virgin Trains ceasing to operate electric locomotives, Silverlink's Metro fleet moved to Willesden Depot . In 2006 Alstom proposed closing Willesden. The depot's closure would have meant
3854-466: The buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies. Most passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these hold franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of the railway and come under the auspices of the National Rail brand. In addition, companies are able to bid for "paths" (specific parts of
Silverlink - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-467: The collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993 . There are two types of TOC: most hold franchises let by the Department for Transport (DfT) through a tendering system, to operate services on certain routes for a specified duration, while a small number of open-access operators hold licences to provide supplementary services on chosen routes. These operators can run services for
4042-452: The common ticketing structure. Many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The railway network in Northern Ireland is managed differently from the rest of the UK. The sole company in Northern Ireland that operates trains is NI Railways , who are a subsidiary of Translink , the publicly owned transport corporation, which also runs
4136-618: The date of order to delivery of these prototypes was also specified; this has been blamed for restricting manufacturers to existing industrial practices for their submissions. In response to the specification, several submissions were received by BR. The bid submitted by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was heavily based on its successful Class 455 EMU, sharing its body and the majority of its running gear, albeit equipped with two different power trains. The railway engineering company Metro-Cammell also bid, offering its own design that employed rivetted aluminium construction; this feature
4230-518: The duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation: previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, or renamed. Some privately-operated franchises have been taken over by a government-owned operator of last resort , due either to failing expectations or to events on the rail system as a whole. The term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks owned by another company or
4324-529: The eight Class 150/1 units. Six were employed on the Gospel Oak to Barking line , while two were sent on long-term loan to First Great Western . All units had names. The majority of the names are references to the Marston Vale Line on which they operated during Silverlink's franchise: Leslie Crabbe was a long-standing railway employee, who worked on the route; Richard Crane is the chairman of
4418-465: The exception of units 150001 and 150002 in their original prototype configurations, each vehicle in the unit is powered by an underframe-mounted 14.01-litre (855-cubic-inch) Cummins six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine that develops 213 kW (286 hp). The engine drives a Voith T 211 r hydrokinetic transmission that in turn drives both axles on the inner bogie via a Cardan shaft and Gmeinder GM 180 final drive unit. The design speed
4512-731: The fleet of Class 150 units on branch-line services as well as on the commuter services around Cardiff known as the Valley Lines and the Vale of Glamorgan Line . The units transferred to Arriva Trains Wales in December 2003, with more later acquired for the reopened Ebbw Vale line. All of the ATW units were transferred to KeolisAmey Wales on 14 October 2018 and all KeolisAmey Wales units were transferred to Transport for Wales Rail on 7 February 2021. Following privatisation of British Rail , both Silverlink and Central Trains operated Class 150s in
4606-560: The former FNW and ATN Class 150s were transferred to Newton Heath depot, Manchester, with the former North Western Trains Class 158s taking the 150s' places at Northern's Neville Hill depot (Leeds). All Northern 150s contain high-density 2+3 seating. During late 2011, Northern Rail received various ex London Midland 150/1s and 150/2s when the brand-new Class 172 units entered service in the Midlands. This enabled Northern Rail to increase capacity on its most overcrowded services. In 2015,
4700-586: The franchise on 3 March 1997. After initially trading as North London Railways , in September 1997 the franchise was rebranded as Silverlink. The franchise was due to finish on 15 October 2006, but on 11 August 2006 the Department for Transport granted an extension until 10 November 2007. Upon its closure, its London metro services were taken over by London Overground and the remainder were merged with Central Trains ' western services to form London Midland . Silverlink had two sub-brands: Silverlink Metro
4794-514: The franchise would pass into the hands of public-sector company, Directly Operated Railways , which acted as the parent for East Coast . Grand Central open-access services from London to Bradford began on 23 May 2010. DB Regio's operations in the UK were integrated into those of Arriva following the acquisition of the latter by Deutsche Bahn in the previous year. Owing to continuing losses, Wrexham & Shropshire ceased operating on 28 January 2011. Abellio Greater Anglia began operating
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#17327823611614888-401: The franchising system, beginning its services from London Paddington to Heathrow with operating rights until 2023. The shareholdings of M40 Trains were restructured with John Laing owning 84% of the company with the remaining 16% held by former BR managers. MTL which operated Merseyrail Electrics and Northern Spirit and Prism Rail that operated c2c (renamed from LTS Rail earlier in
4982-400: The high costs involved in retention, planners examined the prospects for the development and introduction of a new generation of DMUs to succeed the first generation. In the concept stage, two separate approaches were devised, one involving a so-called railbus that prioritised the minimisation of both initial (procurement) and ongoing (maintenance and operational) costs, while the second was
5076-460: The higher rate brought no perceptible improvement in journey times due to the typically short distances between the stations that the type was intended to serve. Furthermore, it was determined that a propulsion system delivering 7 hp (5.2 kW) per tonne would deliver sufficient acceleration. The requests for compatibility with other rolling stock were eliminated, although auto-coupling and auto-connecting functionality were added. In addition to
5170-425: The later production units, but they were to remain as the only Class 150s to be built as three-car units. Additional three-car units were created later by re-marshalling a 150/2 car in the middle of a 150/1 set, but only the prototypes had purpose-built centre cars without driving cabs. Both cab doors are air-operated, unlike the Class 150/1 production model, but seen later on in the 150/2 variant. 150002 proved to be
5264-510: The locomotive-hauled stock previously operated by BR. After privatisation, North Western Trains (which was later taken over by First Group and re-branded First North Western shortly afterwards) and Arriva Trains Northern operated Class 150/1 and 150/2s on their routes. The North Western Trains units underwent refurbishment by Hunslet-Barclay in Kilmarnock . The Arriva Trains Northern trains did not. When Northern Rail took over, both
5358-458: The midland regions of England and both companies were run by National Express . In 2010, London Midland ordered Class 172 replacements for its Class 150s. It initially hoped to retain some of the 150s as additional capacity, although they were also wanted by First Great Western and Northern Rail . London Midland was expected to lose all of its Class 150s, but a change in plan saw it retain three Class 150 units as additional capacity, following
5452-614: The name Wales & Borders . The remainder of Wales & West's services in the west of England were renamed Wessex Trains . John Laing bought out its partners in M40 Trains. Connex , having already lost the South Central franchise in 2001, was removed as franchisee of the South Eastern franchise in 2003 on the grounds of poor financial management. It was replaced as the franchise holder by South Eastern Trains ,
5546-578: The overall National Rail timetable) to operate their own services, which the franchises do not operate – these operators are classed as open-access operators and are not franchise holders. Currently in Great Britain, there are three open-access operators: Hull Trains , which runs services between London King's Cross and Hull , Grand Central , which operates between King's Cross and Sunderland and between King's Cross and Bradford , and Lumo , which operates between King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley . In addition, there are operators that fall outside
5640-404: The purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britain's railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel , and Heathrow Express , which runs fast services from London to Heathrow Airport . A number of metropolitan railways on the network are operated by the local franchise holder in conjunction with
5734-753: The responsibility for the specification and procurement of the Wales & Borders franchise belongs to Transport for Wales . In two parts of England, local government agencies are responsible: in Merseyside , the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive lets the Merseyrail franchise, while in London, Transport for London (TfL) oversees the new London Overground and Elizabeth line concessions. ( London Underground ,
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#17327823611615828-761: The route was duplicated by the Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee line , leaving Stratford as the eastern terminus of the North London Line. These services ran via the West London line : Shepherd's Bush on the West London Line was due to open under the franchise (with signage in Silverlink colours installed), but platform widening work meant that it finally opened in September 2008 under London Overground management,
5922-501: The routes operated by Silverlink in London, which were combined with the extended East London line in 2011. Services are controlled directly by TfL, with running of the trains themselves contracted to a private company as an operating concession. This is different from an ordinary franchise, as the train operator is not given control of the strategic aspects of the operation, such as pricing, timetabling and rolling stock procurement. In December 2007, National Express East Coast took over
6016-476: The running of the InterCity East Coast franchise from GNER . Grand Central also began operating its services between London and Sunderland as an open access operator. In January 2008, Laing Rail which owned M40 Trains and a 50% shareholding in London Overground Rail Operations was sold to Deutsche Bahn , becoming part of the DB Regio Group. In February 2008, One was re-branded by National Express as National Express East Anglia to bring it into line with
6110-401: The same franchise was partially enacted. In April 2004, One commenced operating the Greater Anglia franchise that combined the Anglia Railways and First Great Eastern franchises with the West Anglia Great Northern services radiating out from Liverpool Street . The remainder continuing to be operated as WAGN . In the North of England, prior to 2004 there were two regional franchises,
6204-400: The same time that BREL built the 150/0s, Metro-Cammell built two prototype Class 151 units at its Washwood Heath plant. The two types of unit were exhaustively tested, with a view to placing further orders for the more successful. These tests revealed that the Class 150 had exceptional ride quality, as well as fully meeting the 50 percent engine-out performance requirements. In the event,
6298-467: The service "shabby, unreliable, unsafe and overcrowded" . Silverlink inherited a fleet of Class 117 and Class 121 diesel multiple units , and Class 313 and Class 321 electric multiple units , from British Rail . To replace the elderly Class 117s and 121s, which operated the Gospel Oak - Barking and Bletchley - Bedford services, seven Class 150 Sprinters were transferred from Central Trains in summer 1999; an eighth followed in 2006. Pending
6392-489: The services between Newcraighall through Edinburgh to Bathgate , Stirling , Dunblane and occasionally Perth . In 2005, 15 were transferred to Arriva Trains Wales and three to Northern Rail . Anglia Railways was created upon privatisation of British Rail , and it initially inherited a small fleet of nine Class 150/2 units, later supplemented with a tenth. The units were based at Crown Point TMD , and put to use on rural services in Suffolk and Norfolk . Lines using
6486-523: The signage being replaced with the London Overground roundels by that time. These services ran on the Watford DC line : † = also served by the Bakerloo line . These services ran on the Gospel Oak to Barking line : Birmingham Line services ran on the slow lines of the West Coast Main Line . The service was cut back to Northampton in September 2004, with services north of Northampton being transferred to partner operator Central Trains , and some through services remained. (Central Trains, like Silverlink,
6580-410: The south-east of England, were replaced as the operator of the Network SouthCentral franchise by Govia , who began operating it under the name South Central . Also in 2001, a new franchise, the Wales & Borders franchise was created by the amalgamation of Valley Lines and the majority of services in Wales and the Borders held by Wales & West . The new franchise was initially operated under
6674-467: The temporary usage of ex-Virgin stock, still in Virgin colours. The Strategic Rail Authority decided to divert thirty four-carriage Siemens Desiro trains from an order placed by South West Trains to provide stock with faster acceleration for the West Coast Main Line operators. These trains, the Class 350s, were not allocated to a specific operator, but were instead used jointly by Silverlink and Central Trains, both owned by National Express. Pending
6768-399: The time, the trains lack air conditioning, ventilation being provided though opening hopper windows. As built, passenger seating was in a 3+2 configuration. The second batch of production vehicles featured a new cab with gangway connection along with a revised interior. During 1984, BREL constructed a pair of prototype three-car Class 150/0 units, numbered 150001 and 150002; the first unit
6862-629: The two Class 150 units proved to be more reliable and, as a result, an order for 50 two-car units was placed with BREL. This second batch of fifty units was classified as Class 150/1 and numbered in the range 150101-150. Like the prototype units, they did not have the front-end gangway connections which allowed passengers to move between two units that were working in multiple. Originally based at Derby Etches Park depot, these units were introduced in 1985, mainly concentrated around Birmingham and Manchester , and in later years restricted mainly to commuter services. The final batch of 85 two-car units
6956-585: The two prototype three-car Class 150/0 units, which had transferred from London Midland and replaced the Class 165 and 166 Turbo units which were being used on the Reading to Basingstoke Line , which allowed the Turbo units to reinforce Thames Valley services. 150001 had entered service in January 2012. The two prototype units later cascaded down to the West fleet in response to the Class 387s taking over from
7050-872: The units included the Bittern Line , the East Suffolk Line , and the Wherry Lines , as well as services from Ipswich to Cambridge . One unit each weekday was sub-leased to First Great Eastern for use on the Sudbury Branch Line . Anglia Railways named all bar one unit (150245) of its fleet after famous local figures. On 1 April 2004, Anglia Railways became part of the new 'One' franchise. The Class 150 units were transferred to Arriva Trains Wales (no. 150245) and Central Trains (all other units), having been replaced by Class 156 units from Central Trains . National Express operated
7144-486: The worse of the two for reliability, and was consequently chosen for use as the testbed for the Class 158 , being re-geared to a maximum speed of 90 mph (140 km/h) and fitted with Cummins engines and Voith transmission, and with a Class 158 interior. One car was fitted with the Class 151 Twin Disc 'hot-shift' transmission, which it used successfully, once the control software was sorted out. To distinguish this unit, it
7238-505: The year), Valley Lines Trains , Wales & West , and West Anglia Great Northern were purchased by Arriva and National Express respectively, resulting in the latter owning nine franchises. The two companies transferred to Arriva were renamed Arriva Trains Merseyside and Arriva Trains Northern. The first open access operator using the National Rail brand, Hull Trains , commenced running its services between King's Cross and Hull . In 2001, Connex , which had operated two franchises in
7332-526: Was a subsidiary of National Express and the operations shared rolling stock.) Prior to 2004 the service also continued to Birmingham, calling at the following stations: These services ran on the Abbey Line These services ran on the Marston Vale line between Bedford and Bletchley : Silverlink was categorised as a London and South East operator by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) and
7426-480: Was also provided that even with one failed engine, a two-car unit could continue to perform typical services without incurring a major performance deficit. From an operational perspective, it was intended that the DMU could be assembled akin to building blocks, comprising between two and four cars that may or may not be outfitted with various passenger amenities such as toilets and luggage spaces. Initially formalised as
7520-480: Was built specifically for testing duties. Originally numbered in the Class 180 series, the unit is now in the departmental Class 950 series, numbered 950001 and carries the yellow Network Rail livery. The performance of the Class 150 was such that BR decided to procure similar trains for the Provincial fleet, such as the Class 156 and Class 158 for longer regional routes, replacing a significant portion of
7614-486: Was built with front-end gangway connections. These units were introduced in 1987, classified as Class 150/2 and numbered in the range 150201-285. They were used on longer-distance services. The end gangways make them very similar in appearance to the Class 317/2 and Class 455/7 and 455/9 EMUs, also based on the Mark 3 bodyshell. Some of the Class 150/2 units were later disbanded, and the vehicles were used to make some of
7708-404: Was credited with enabling a meaningful reduction in weight over conventional methods. BR officials quickly opted to proceed with a pair of prototypes from both BREL and Metro-Cammell, issuing orders to these manufacturers thenceforth. The Class 150 is a two- or three-car commuter diesel multiple unit. The steel bodyshell is shared with the Class 455 suburban EMU, with doors at 1/3 and 2/3. With
7802-470: Was delivered to BR only 15 months following the date of order. 150001 was fitted with Cummins engines and Voith hydraulic transmission, and 150002 was fitted with Perkins (Rolls-Royce) engines and a fully automatic gearbox developed by the Self-Changing Gears company. Other than the power train, the two units were identical. The design specifications of the prototypes were similar to
7896-474: Was developed alongside the lower-cost Pacers , which were built using bus parts, for use on short-distance services. Two prototype units were built, followed by 135 production units in two batches. Subsequently, further members of the Sprinter family were developed and introduced to service, including the Class 155 , Class 156 , Class 158 and Class 159 . By the beginning of the 1980s, British Rail (BR)
7990-536: Was one of the best performing TOCs in this sector with a PPM ( Public Performance Measure ) of 90.8% for the last quarter of the financial year 2006/7. Despite these figures, the Silverlink Metro franchise on the North London Line was regarded by frequent travellers as offering a poor service, with extremely congested trains and an unreliable service with some trains cancelled shortly before they were due to arrive. A London Assembly report said passengers found
8084-446: Was operated for many years by Class 313s, but later was usually operated by Class 321s with Silverlink Metro drivers and Silverlink County guards. On 16 July 2004, Virgin Trains announced that it was withdrawing most of its stops at Milton Keynes Central , which were used by up to 6,000 passengers a day. Commuters became unhappy at the prospect of switching to older Silverlink trains, and a longer journey. Silverlink countered this with
8178-437: Was operating a large fleet of first-generation DMUs of various designs. While formulating its long-term strategy for this sector of its operations, BR planners recognised that there would be considerable costs incurred by undertaking refurbishment programmes necessary for the continued use of these ageing multiple units, particularly due to the necessity of handling and removing hazardous materials such as asbestos . In light of
8272-549: Was privatised, the fleet passed to Porterbrook who leased the trains to Wales & West , which was later split up into Wessex Trains and Wales & Borders (later Arriva Trains Wales ) in 2001. Great Western Railway currently operates a fleet of 20 Class 150/2 units which are mainly used for services on the local branch lines in Devon. This includes the Avocet Line / Riviera Line between Exmouth and Paignton plus
8366-461: Was reclassified as the Class 154 . It has since been returned to the standard configuration and reverted to its original number. Both prototypes were still in service with London Midland until 2011. 150001 entered service with First Great Western in January 2012, with 150002 to follow after refurbishment and re-livery. 150001 & 150002 then operated for Great Western Railway. 150001 was based at Bristol's St. Phillips Marsh Depot , primarily working
8460-428: Was recognised that a production fleet that was assembled from proven components would possess both a greater reliability level and lower maintenance costs; it was forecast to achieve an availability rate of 85 percent. As such, the type had sufficiently demonstrated a promising reduction in maintenance costs was achievable, especially once initial teething problems were dealt with, as well as the wider value represented by
8554-601: Was renewed in November 2007. The Silverlink Metro services were moved to the control of Transport for London under the banner of the London Overground . On 19 June 2007 Transport for London announced it had awarded the London Overground concession to a Laing Rail / MTR joint venture. The Silverlink County services were merged with the Central Trains services around Birmingham to create
8648-548: Was superseded by First Great Western Link and ScotRail (National Express) by First ScotRail . A new operator, Heathrow Connect , jointly run by BAA and First Great Western , began operating stopping services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport complementing the Heathrow Express. Three new integrated franchises began operating in April 2006: Further integrations occurred in 2007. The first of these
8742-632: Was the South Western franchise ; this merged the original South West Trains franchise with the Island Line Trains franchise on the Isle of Wight and began operating in February 2007 under the name South West Trains, with Island Line retained as a separate brand. In November 2007, three new integrated franchises began operating: In addition to these three, a further new operator, London Overground Rail Operations , took control of
8836-606: Was used for services primarily within Greater London: Silverlink County was used for services beyond Greater London: Silverlink Metro operated these services. Note: Changes during the franchise period are noted but changes to the lines before and after the franchise are not. These services ran on the North London line : † At the end of service on Saturday 9 December 2006 the line between Stratford and North Woolwich closed, as much of
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