British Rail Railbuses
Waggon- und Maschinenbau railbus no. 79964 atYork Railfest exhibition on 3 June 2004. This vehicle is preserved on theKeighley and Worth Valley Railway.
In service	Passenger: 1958–1968 Departmental: 1950–1997
Capacity	46–56 seats
Operators	British Rail NI Railways

British Rail produced a variety ofrailbuses, both as a means of acquiring new rolling stock cheaply, and to provide economical services on lightly used lines.

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(January 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Railbuses are a very lightweight type ofrailcar designed specifically for passenger transport on little-used railway lines. As the name suggests, they share many aspects of their construction with a bus, usually having a bus body, or a modified bus body, and having four wheels on afixed wheelbase, rather thanbogies. Some units were equipped for operation asdiesel multiple units.

In the late 1950s, British Rail tested a series of small railbuses, produced by a variety of manufacturers, for about £12,500 each^[1] (£261,000 at 2014 prices).^[2] These proved to be very economical (on test the Wickham bus was about 9 mpg_‑imp (31 L/100 km)),^[3] but were somewhat unreliable. Most of the lines they worked on were closed following theBeeching Cuts and, being non-standard, they were all withdrawn in the mid-1960s, so they were never classified under theTOPS system.

In addition to those railbuses, BR ordered three for departmental (non-revenue earning) service. The full list of passenger and departmental units is set out below.

Engines:^[4]

• 79958/59,Gardner 6HLW of 112 bhp (84 kW) at 1,700rpm
• 79960–62/64,Büssing, 150 bhp (110 kW) at 1,900 rpm
• 79963,AEC A220X
• 79965–69,Meadows 6HDT500 of 105 bhp (78 kW) at 1,800 rpm
• 79970–74, AEC, 150 bhp (110 kW)
• 79975–79, AEC, 150 bhp (110 kW)

British Rail returned to the idea of railbuses from the mid-1970s, and prototype four-wheel vehicles were developed jointly byBritish Leyland and theBritish Rail Research Division. These were named Leyland Experimental Vehicles (LEVs) and consisted of double-endedLeyland National bodyshells (chosen for their strength and cost-effective manufacturing) mounted on top of simple 2-axled railway chassis, which were a derivative of those used on theHSFV.^[5]

The LEVs spent a substantial amount of time abroad in the hope of attracting export orders, however none were ever made. Domestically, the LEVs were the predecessors of thePacer DMUs, of which theClass 140 is its closest relative.

In total, five LEVs were built, which are listed below:

Photo	Identity	Built	Design	History
	LEV1 No. RDB 975874	1978: Leyland/BREL Derby	12.3 m long. 2 Doors (front right and back left).	It was built atRailway Technical Centre in Derby as an unpowered trailer and used for testing on the West Coast Mainline at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). In 1979, it was converted to a self-propelled vehicle using a Leyland 510 diesel engine and was then tested atOld Dalby Test Track.[6][5] In January 1980, it was shipped to the US and was tested on theNortheast Corridor between Boston and Attleboro and theBoston and Maine Railroad between Lowell and Concord.[6][7] After returning to the UK, it was then tested in passenger service, primarily in East Anglia. It carried its last passengers in July 1983 and was withdrawn in 1987, when it was given to theNational Railway Museum.[8] In 2004, it moved toNorth Norfolk Railway and was restored, returning to passenger service in 2010. In 2012, it was moved toWensleydale Railway viaLocomotion Museum, Shildon.[9] It stayed there until 2024, when it was moved back to Shildon.[10]
	LEV2/R3 (for USA)	1980: Leyland/Wickham	15.3 m long. 2 doors (front left and back right).	It was exported to the US for use byMBTA on a new passenger route toConcord, New Hampshire, which it started running on 1 December 1980. On 15 December of the same year, it struck a car at a level crossing, killing two occupants of the car.[11] After a period in storage, it was sold toBoston and Maine Railroad in May 1983 for use as a track inspection vehicle.[12][13] It was then sold toSteamtown National Historic Site for use as a shuttle, but was damaged by a derailment and sold for scrap.[14] It was bought and repaired byDurbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad and was used for passenger excursions. In 2001, it was sold toConnecticut Trolley Museum, however by 2021 it had been scrapped.[15][16]
	RB003/R3 (for BR) No. RDB 977020	1981: Leyland/BREL Derby	15.3 m long. 2 doors (front right and back left).	In 1981, it was shown to the press as a 'pre-production' unit of the then-envisioned future export railbuses.[17] It was then used for demonstrations in the Bristol area.[18] It was sold toNorthern Ireland Railways in August 1982 and re-gauged for use on thePortrush branch. It proved to have insufficient passenger capacity, so was taken out of passenger service and used for track inspection duties. In July 1990, it operated the 'Cavan Coup' railtour from Belfast to Kingscourt via Drogheda. After being withdrawn in December 1992, it was first preserved atUlster Transport Museum before going toDownpatrick and County Down Railway in 2001. In 2024 it was given to Gwendraeth Valley Railway, where it will be re-gauged again and repaired.[19]
	RB002 'The Denmark'	1984: Leyland/BREL Derby	2 doors (front left and back left).	Between 1984 and 1986, it toured several countries as a demonstration vehicle, visitingDenmark,Sweden, theNetherlands,Germany,Canada and theUS.[20][21][22] It returned to the UK, having gained its nickname, and was used as a classroom and office by BREL for some time.[22] It was then preserved at Riverstown Old Corn Railway, nearDundalk, which is thought to have happened in 1999. The site is now home to Carlingford Brewing Company, but, as of 2019, it remains there, albeit in poor condition.[23]
	RB004	1984: Leyland/BREL Derby	6 doors (front, middle and back on both sides).	It was first shipped to the US as a demonstration vehicle and was used for trials in the following locations: a preserved railway inNewport,Long Island Rail Road, the International Exhibition on Transportation Systems in Washington,[a]New Orleans,SEPTA Regional Rail andCleveland.[24][25] It was then sent back to the UK and put into storage before later being used as a classroom byBREL inYork. It was first preserved atEmbsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway and then moved toTelford Steam Railway in 2004 andAln Valley Railway in 2010. In 2011 it was purchased by Railbus Trust and visitedMidland Railway – Butterley andLlangollen Railway before moving permanently toWaverley Route Heritage Association in 2012.[24][26]

Lines regularly served by railbuses include:

• Ayr – Dalmellington 1959–1964^[27]
• Craigendoran – Arrochar 1959^[28]–1964^[27]
• Darvel 1959–1964^[27]
• Devon Valley 1959–1964^[27]
• Falkirk – Grangemouth 1967–1968^[27]
• Gleneagles – Crieff /Comrie 1958^[29]–1964^[30]
• Kilmarnock – Ardrossan / Ayr 1962-1964^[27]
• Larbert – Alloa 1967–1968^[27]
• Lugton – Beith 1959–1962^[27]
• Speyside 1958–1965^[27]

• Cambridge to Mildenhall railway
• Witham-Braintree branch line^[27]
• Witham-Maldon branch line^[27]
• Saffron Walden Railway^[31]

• Bedford – Northampton /Hitchin 1958–1959^[27]
• Millers Dale – Buxton 1966–1967^[27]

• Bodmin – Wadebridge 1964^[32]–1967^[33]
• Kemble – Cirencester Town andKemble-Tetbury 1959^[34]–1964^[35]
• Yeovil Junction –Yeovil Town 1964^[36]–1966^[37] –Pen Mill 1966^[38]

A number of the BR railbuses, both first and second generation examples have survived into preservation, as follows:

Additionally, AC Cars railbus 79979 was preserved. It was the first of the railbuses to be delivered and spent all its working life in Scotland. In 1968, it was moved toCraigentinny where the chassis was scrapped, and it was used as a battery store. It was moved to make way for the TMD in 1977 and the grounded body sold to theStrathspey Railway in 1977.^[39] It was scrapped by MC Metals,Glasgow, in 1990.^[44][45]

• British Rail Class 139
• Pacerailer - prototype railbus built 1960s, by a private company.
• Pacer (British Rail)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBritish Rail railbuses.

• AC Cars Railbus
• EM2 Locomotive Society – owners of Drewry railcar DB998901.Archived 5 September 2009 at theWayback Machine
• Old Dalby Test Track site – Pictures of the Drewry car RDB998901 in action at BR's test track
• Wickham Railbus Group – owners of Wickham railbus DB999507.
• Train Testing site – Pictures of the testing and travels of the early railbuses
• Train Testing site – Pictures of LEV1 in the US
• departmentals.com
• The Railbus Trust – Working to protect the future of Single Car Railbuses and Second Generation DMU prototypes.

• British Rail diesel multiple units
• Railcars of the United Kingdom
• Bristol Commercial Vehicles
• D. Wickham and Company rolling stock
• Park Royal Vehicles multiple units
• AC vehicles
• Train-related introductions in 1950
• Train-related introductions in 1978

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• EngvarB from April 2014
• Use dmy dates from May 2024
• Articles needing additional references from January 2025
• All articles needing additional references
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Webarchive template wayback links