| British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinter | |
|---|---|
.jpg) KeolisAmey Wales Class 153 atTy Glas in 2019 | |
 Interior of a refurbishedEast Midlands Trains unit | |
| In service | 1991–present |
| Manufacturer |
|
| Orderno. | 31026[1] |
| Family name | Sprinter |
| Replaced | BR First-Generation DMUs |
| Constructed |
|
| Entered service | 1991 |
| Number built | 70 |
| Number in service | 25 |
| Number preserved | 1 |
| Number scrapped | 12 |
| Formation | Single vehicle:DMSL[1] |
| Diagram | |
| Fleet numbers |
|
| Capacity |
|
| Operators |
|
| Depots |
|
| Specifications | |
| Car body construction | Steel[2] |
| Car length | 23.208 m (76 ft 1.7 in)[2] |
| Width | 2.700 m (8 ft 10.3 in)[2] |
| Height | 3.746 m (12 ft 3.5 in)[2] |
| Doors | Single-leaf sliding plug(2 per side)[5] |
| Wheelbase |
|
| Maximum speed | 75 mph (120 km/h) |
| Weight | 41.2 tonnes (40.5 long tons; 45.4 short tons)[3] |
| Axle load | Route Availability 1 |
| Prime mover(s) | 1 ×Cummins NT855-R5 |
| Engine type | Inline-64-stroketurbo-diesel[6] |
| Displacement | 14 L (855 cu in)[6] |
| Power output | 213 kW (285 hp)[5] |
| Transmission | Voith T 211 r (hydrokinetic) |
| HVAC | Warm air & hot-water radiators |
| UIC classification | 2′B′ |
| Bogies |
|
| Minimum turning radius | 90 m (295 ft 3 in) |
| Braking system(s) | Electro-pneumatic (tread)[2][5] |
| Safety system(s) | |
| Coupling system | BSI |
| Multiple working | Within class, plus Classes14x,15x,and170[5] |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge |
| Notes/references | |
| Converted from 35 ×Class 155 units[7][8][9] | |
TheBritish Rail Class 153Super Sprinter are single-coachdiesel-hydraulicrailcars which were converted from two-coachClass 155diesel multiple units in the early 1990s. The class was intended for service on rural branch lines, either where passenger numbers do not justify longer trains or to boost the capacity on services with high passenger volume.
In 1987 and 1988,Regional Railways took delivery of 35 two-coach Class 155 units, built byLeyland Bus at itsWorkington factory, to replace older DMUs.[10] After the Class 155s entered service, a further requirement emerged for the replacement of ageing railcars on rural lines, mostly ofClass 121 andClass 122. British Rail decided to meet this need by dividing each unit in the Regional Railways Class 155 fleet into two separate railcars that could then be converted for use independently, which would create a fleet of 70 vehicles.[11] The seven further Class 155 units that had been delivered to theWest Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) in 1989 were not included in this plan.[12][13]
In 1990, British Rail awarded a contract for the work toHunslet-Barclay and it was undertaken at the firm'sKilmarnock plant in 1991 and 1992.[11][14][15][16] The Class 155 units had been numbered from 155301 to 155335 and consisted of DMSL(A) vehicles 52301 to 52335 and DMSL(B) vehicles 57301 to 57335. After separation, the DMSL(A) vehicles were given new unit numbers from 153301 to 153335, while the DMSL(B) vehicles were renumbered 57351 to 57385 (incrementing each by 50) and given matching 'unit' numbers from 153351 to 153385.
The conversion involved retrofitting a driver's cab into the spaces previously used for luggage racks at the "inside" end (B-end) of each vehicle, where each vehicle had previously been coupled back-to-back with its matching opposite in a Class 155 formation.[2][15] This new cab is notably smaller than the original one at the A-end, as the positions of the exterior doors were not changed during the conversion, and it was necessary to reduce the size of the vestibule slightly in order to provide enough space for the driver.[17] The difference in cab sizes is visible from the outside of the vehicle, which appears unsymmetrical when viewed from the sides. The arrangement of headlights on the new cab end is also different to that on the original cab end.
They are fitted withBSI automatic couplers and are able to work in tandem with othermultiple units with BSI couplers and compatible coupler electrical wiring; these are Classes142,143,144,150,155,156,158,159,170 and172.[11]Gangway connections are provided at either end to allow passengers and staff to walk between units working in multiple, in-class as well as 150/2, 155, 156, 158 and 159. The maximum speed of 75 mph (121 km/h) was unchanged.
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Transport for Wales Rail has a fleet of 24 Class 153s in active service. They are normally used on rural branch lines – such as theHeart of Wales Line fromShrewsbury toSwansea and on local stopping services fromCrewe toShrewsbury viaNantwich – but are also used on some mainline services. One is used daily on the shortCardiff Queen Street toCardiff Bay shuttle.
Following a timetable change in December 2006,Arriva Trains Wales had lost three of its then-11 Class 153 units, leaving it with eight.[18] Two were transferred toEast Midlands Trains with the other going toFirst Great Western. In October 2018 all eight passed with the franchise to Transport for Wales (KeolisAmey Wales), who acquired a further five from Great Western Railway in April 2019, five fromAbellio Greater Anglia in December 2019, four fromEast Midlands Railway in January 2020 and another two from EMR in November 2020, which brought the total number up to 24 until a further two units were acquired.[19][20]
As at February 2020, Transport for Wales was the only train operating company to have modified 153s to comply with the requirements of thePersons with Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability (PRM-TSI),[a] which came into effect on 1 January 2020.[21] In June 2021, the new state-ownedTransport for Wales Rail purchased eight outright for continued use on theHeart of Wales line after plans to replace them withClass 170 units were cancelled.[22] In July 2022, the refurbishment of the 26 units was completed.[23]
On 19 February 2025 the first of theActive Travel Class 153/5s entered service with Transport For Wales Rail.[24]
The lastActive Travel 153/5 unit to enter service entered service on 25 September 2025.[25]
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In 2019 and 2020, five former GWR 153s moved from Northern toAbellio ScotRail for use onWest Highland Line services betweenGlasgow andOban, in conjunction with ScotRail's existingClass 156 fleet.[26][27][28] The first refurbished carriage was unveiled in late 2020.[29] The first unit began service on 19 July 2021.[30]
The trains have also been refurbished inside providing free Wi-Fi, plug and USB sockets, and maps of the West Highland Line on the tables. ScotRail describe the service offering asHighland Explorer[31] Due to a local agreement with driver's unionASLEF, ScotRail's Class 153s can only be driven from the A-end cab – the B-end cab being considered too cramped for long-distance driving.[citation needed]
In May 2021,Network Rail purchased three units (153311, 153376, and 153385) for use on infrastructure monitoring services.[32][33]
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Regional Railways operated Class 153s on many branch lines throughout the Midlands, Wales and Northern England, both individually and with other classes of Sprinter unit. They were initially allocated toHeaton (15),Cardiff Canton (9),Plymouth Laira (10),Crown Point (16) andTyseley (20).[11] Class 153s were often found working services from;
In the lead up toprivatisation of British Rail, ownership of the fleet passed toAngel Trains (30) andPorterbrook (40) in April 1994.[34] Upon privatisation, they were initially operated byAnglia Railways,Central Trains,First North Western,Northern Spirit, andWales & West.[11]
First Great Western took over theWessex Trains fleet upon the merger of the two franchises. Wessex Trains had, in turn, inherited its fleet of 13 units from its predecessorWales & West.
Units were used on local services inCornwall,Devon, and aroundBristol. They were also used onBristol Temple Meads toWeymouth,Southampton Central, andWorcester Foregate Street services, and theSwindon viaMelksham to Southampton Central service.
In mid-2004, Wessex Trains received a further two units fromCentral Trains to allow it to lengthen some services.
Following the introduction of a new timetable in December 2006, four units were taken off lease and stored atEastleigh Works. After a period in storage these four units were pressed into service withEast Midlands Trains.
In December 2007, First Great Western received an additional Class 153 fromArriva Trains Wales, bringing its total to 12. This unit arrived in the blue with gold star livery of former operatorFirst North Western.
For summer 2011, twoLondon Midland Class 153s were allocated to the South West for strengthening purposes, based atExeter TMD for the duration. This allocation was eventually made permanent as a result of London Midland keeping threeClass 150 units after the newClass 172s entered service. This brought First Great Western's number of Class 153 units up to 14.
Nine of those 14 units later left the fleet, with the remaining five moving to Transport for Wales in April 2019 after being displaced by internal cascading.[19]
Anglia Railways inherited a small fleet of seven units, for local services inSuffolk andNorfolk. Services operated by these units includedIpswich toCambridge,Peterborough,Felixstowe andLowestoft, andNorwich to Lowestoft,Great Yarmouth andSheringham. One set was also hired toFirst Great Eastern for use on theGainsborough line.
In 2004, Anglia Railways became part of theGreater Anglia franchise operated by One which was subsequently renamedNational Express East Anglia. Two units left the franchise to East Midlands Trains. During 2012,Porterbrook began refurbishing the body and interiors and repainting them in base white with red doors and Greater Anglia logos.
In 2014, a rolling refurbishment ofAbellio Greater Anglia's Class 153s commenced, which included new interior panels, tables, carpets and lighting. All were replaced byClass 755s in late 2019.[35][36] These then moved toTransport for Wales in December 2019 to cover for delays with its new rolling stock.[20]
West Midlands Trains used eight Class 153 DMUs on commuter lines in the West Midlands including theLeamington Spa toNuneaton line and theMarston Vale line betweenBedford andBletchley. After the deployment ofClass 172s fromLondon Overground andClass 230s on those two lines, they were used withClass 170s andClass 172s on Birmingham-Hereford andSnow Hill Lines.
All eight were inherited fromCentral Trains in their livery. All were repainted intoLondon Midland city lines livery upon refurbishment atEastleigh Works. The Class 153s that were used on theStourbridge Town branch line have been replaced by new built lightweightClass 139 railcars. This was due to take place in December 2008, but the delivery of the new units was delayed, and after several months ofbustitution London Midland reintroduced diesel services from 15 March pending the completion of Class 139 testing. The Class 139 received passenger certification from Network Rail in March 2009[37] and the service finally began three months later.[38] In December 2020 the final Class 153s were withdrawn from service and put into long-term storage.[39] Before withdrawal, they mostly operated on the Birmingham-Hereford line.
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East Midlands Trains inherited many examples of Class 153 units, receiving six fromCentral Trains, three fromNational Express East Anglia and four formerFirst Great Western units that had been stored atEastleigh Works. In December 2007, East Midlands Trains received two fromArriva Trains Wales and two fromNorthern Rail.[40] All passed with the East Midlands franchise toEast Midlands Railway in August 2019. In January 2020, four were transferred toTransport for Wales. At one point in April 2020, only three EMR Class 153s were in service, following the implementation of an emergency timetable due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, with all others being stored out of use as surplus to requirement.[citation needed] Two more returned to services by July 2020, while five others (153302, 153318, 153368, 153372, 153374, and 153382)[contradictory] had their leases terminated.[citation needed]
All of the East Midlands Trains Class 153 units were repainted into the company's local lines livery.
In July 2010, the first unit 153319 enteredNeville Hill TMD for a C6 refresh programme. The work included corrosion repair, internal refresh and a cab refurbishment programme.[41]
East Midlands Railway's fleet of Class 153s were used on rural routes:
The last of the East Midlands Railway Class 153s were withdrawn in December 2021, as they were not compliant with thePersons with Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability (PRM-TSI) regulations.Class 156 units replaced them on the Barton-on-Humber route from 13 December.[42][43]
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TheNorthern Rail franchise started operations in December 2004. It inherited the fleets previously operated byArriva Trains Northern (ATN) andFirst North Western (FNW), whose routes the new franchise incorporated. Northern Rail's successorArriva Rail North at one point operated the largest fleet of Class 153 units.
Northern Rail inherited a fleet of eight units from FNW, which were used on local services aroundManchester andChester and onLancaster andBarrow-in-Furness toCarlisle andPreston toOrmskirk services. The fleet was repainted in the now obsolete North Western Trains blue and gold livery. Prior to becoming part of Northern Rail, four former FNW units were transferred to theArriva Trains Wales franchise, since the lines operated by FNW in Wales were transferred to this new company.
A larger fleet of 12 units was inherited from ATN. They are used on various local services aroundLeeds,Doncaster andSheffield. One regular job is theCleethorpes toBarton-on-Humber services, which see a unit stabled at Cleethorpes overnight and Sunday. Other jobs are theLincoln toScunthorpe viaRetford and Sheffield, and the Saturday-only Sheffield to Cleethorpes via Retford.
In December 2007, two units were taken off lease from Northern Rail and transferred toEast Midlands Trains.
In the first half of 2018, five units were transferred from Great Western Railway on a temporary basis to boost capacity until the newClass 195 units entered service; three of these then moved toAbellio ScotRail in 2019, with the remainder following in 2020. On 1 March 2020,Arriva Rail North's Class 153 units transferred to new operatorNorthern Trains.
AllNorthern Trains Class 153s were sent to storage at Ely Potter Papworth Terminal by December 2021.[44]
The stripped out bodyshell of unit 153374 has been donated to theLlanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway, for static use as a community cafe, atCynheidre.[45]
Two Class 153s have been bought byGreat Central Railway, primarily for use in training staff fromEast Midlands Railway andCrossCountry.[46]
In 2024, Daniel Ashville Louisy of Ashville Aggregates Ltd, purchased unit 153334 for use as a reception building in Thorney Mill Sidings.[47]
In 2024Go-op Co-operative Ltd. received approval from theORR to run services betweenSwindon,Taunton andWeston-super-Mare under anopen-access agreement using refurbished Class 153 units.[48]
 | This sectionis missing information about the status of the 1 unit shown in the table as status TBC. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(May 2025) |
| Class | Operator | Qty. | Unit numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 153 | ScotRail | 5 | 153305, 153370, 153373, 153377, 153380 |
| Network Rail | 4 | 153311, 153376, 153379, 153385[33] | |
| Transport for Wales Rail | 10 | 153303, 153312, 153318, 153323, 153327, 153353, 153361, 153382, 153906, 153913[49][25] | |
| 6 | 153507, 153528, 153531, 153552, 153568, 153572[49] | ||
| Stored | 26 | 153301, 153304, 153315, 153319-153320, 153325, 153329, 153333, 153351, 153355–153357, 153362 153367, 153369, 153375, 153378, 153381, 153383, 153384, 153908, 153910, 153914, 153921-153922, 153926, 153935[49][50][51] | |
| Scrapped | 12 | 153302, 153316, 153324, 153330, 153332, 153358-153360, 153363-153366[52][53][54][55][56][57][58] | |
| Non-railway use | 2 | 153334,[59] 153374[60] | |
| Preserved | 1 | 153371[61] | |
| Non-passenger use | 3 | 153308,[62] 153317,[63] 153354[64] | |
| TBC | 1 | 153909 |
Some units have received names:
When the units were first introduced, Hurst models produced a detailing kit to convert aDapol model of a 155 into a 153.[70]
The Class 153 has been produced inOO gauge byHornby in Central Trains, First North Western, Abellio Greater Anglia, Northern Rail, Regional Railways, East Midlands Trains, London Midland City, Arriva Trains Wales, and Great Scenic Railways of Devon and Cornwall (Wessex Trains) liveries. These models have been praised for their detail.[71]
Dapol announced aBritish N gauge model of the Class 153 in October 2008. The model debuted at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition in November 2009.[72][73] In 2010, Dapol issued their model inSt Ives Bay Line advertising livery.[74]
Several 153s have also been produced for rail simulators. Making Tracks have a digital model available for the PC railway simulatorMicrosoft Train Simulator,[75] whilst Just Trains has released the model forRailworks.
