Sprinter (train)
| Sprinter (train) | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| In service | 1984-present |
| Family name | Sprinter |
| Number built | 556 trainsets |
| Operator(s) |
Northern Rail Great Western Railway Abellio Greater Anglia Arriva Trains Wales British Rail South West Trains East Midlands Trains London Midland Abellio ScotRail State Railway of Thailand |
| Specifications | |
| Maximum speed | 75mph (Class 150, 153, 155, 156) 90mph (Class 158, 159) |
| Track gauge |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge (UK trains) 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge (Thailand trains) |
The Sprinter is a family of diesel multiple unit trains in use on the British railway system. They were built in the 1980s and early 1990s by BREL, Metro Cammell and Leyland. Most have a Cummins engine with Voith hydraulic transmission, although 47 class 158 units have a Perkins engine instead. Sprinters can be seen operating in almost every part of Great Britain, from rural branch lines to commuter expresses into major cities.
Originally British Rail coined the 'Sprinter' name for the units, mainly to promote the superior acceleration capabilities of the units compared with the First-Generation DMUs they replaced. Ads such as 'The Sprinters are coming' were locally advertised in newspapers when these trains were scheduled to be introduced. Great play was also made of, in many cases, reduced journey times and on many lines timetables were changed to take advantage.
Two companies, BREL and Metro-Cammell, built 2 x three coach prototypes for the first batch of Sprinters, the Class 150/0 and Class 151.
The production units were all built as two coach units, with the exception of 17 Class 158s and the 22 Class 159 units, which were built with an additional centre car. The Class 153 railcars were converted from the two coach Class 155s.
Class 150, 153, 155, and 156 units have no air-conditioning and a top speed of 75 mph (121 km/h); Classes 158 and 159 have air conditioning and a top speed of 90 mph (145 km/h). All units except the first two batches of Class 150s have outer-end gangways, allowing passengers to walk between trains working in multiple.
All trains in the Sprinter family have BSI couplers which allow them to work in multiple with any other trains in the Sprinter family and also Class 142, Class 143, Class 144 and Class 170 units. However, they cannot work in multiple with Class 165 or Class 166 units due to incompatible wiring arrangements.
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Wikipedia