British Rail Class 165

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British Rail Class 165
Networker Turbo
GWR 165108 at Oxford.jpg
Great Western Railway Class 165 at Oxford in February 2020
The interior of the refreshed Standard Class accommodation from the DSML vehicle of Great Western Railway Class 165 122 XAM-E1.jpg
Refreshed GWR Class 165 standard-class saloon
In service10 September 1991 –present
Manufacturer British Rail Engineering Limited
Built at Holgate Road Works, York
Family name Networker Turbo
Replaced
Constructed1990–1992
Refurbished
  • 2003–2005 (165/0)
  • 2010–2012 (165/1)
Number built76
(39 × 165/0, 37 × 165/1)
Number in service75
Number scrapped1
Formation
  • 2-car units: DMCL-DMS
  • 3-car units: DMCL-MS-DMS
Fleet numbers
  • 165/0: 165001–165039
  • 165/1: 165101–165137
Capacity
  • 2-car units: 186 seats (16 first-, 170 standard-class)
  • 3-car units: 288 seats (24 first-, 264 standard-class)
Owner(s) Angel Trains
Operator(s)
Line(s) served
Specifications
Car body construction Welded aluminium
Car length
  • DM vehs.: 23.50 m (77 ft 1 in)
  • MS vehs.: 23.25 m (76 ft 3 in)
Width2.81 m (9 ft 3 in)
Height3.79 m (12 ft 5 in) [1]
DoorsDouble-leaf sliding plug (2 per side per car)
Maximum speed
  • 165/0: 75 mph (121 km/h) [1]
  • 165/1: 90 mph (145 km/h)
Axle load Route Availability 1
Prime mover(s) 2 or 3 × Perkins 2006 TW-H (one per vehicle)
Engine type Inline-6 4-stroke turbo-diesel [2]
Displacement 12.2 L (742.64 cu in) [2] per engine
Power output260 kW (350 hp) per engine
Transmission Voith T 211 rz (hydrokinetic, one per vehicle)
UIC classification
  • 2-car: 2′B′+B′2′
  • 3-car: 2′B′+2′B′+B′2′
Bogies
  • Powered: BREL P3-17
  • Unpowered: BREL T3-17
Braking system(s) Electro-pneumatic (disc)
Safety system(s)
Coupling system BSI [3]
Multiple working Within class, and with Classes 166 and 168 [4]
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Notes/references
Sourced from [5] except where otherwise noted.

The British Rail Class 165 Networker Turbo is a fleet of suburban diesel multiple unit passenger trains (DMUs), originally specified by and built for the British Rail Thames and Chiltern Division of Network SouthEast. They were built by BREL York Works between 1990 and 1992. [6] An express version was subsequently built in the form of the Class 166 Networker Turbo Express trains. Both classes are now sometimes referred to as "Networker Turbos", a name derived some three years later for the project that resulted in the visually similar Class 365 and Class 465 EMUs.

Contents

The class is still in service, now operated by Great Western Railway and by Chiltern Railways. When operated originally by Network SouthEast, along with that operator's Class 166 trains, the Paddington suburban units were initially known as Thames Turbos, while the units operated on the Marylebone suburban network were known as Chiltern Turbos.

Description

Externally, the class 165 can be distinguished from a Class 166 by the opening hoppers on every other window.

Class 165/0

Thirty-nine Class 165/0Networker trains were built in 1990–91, in two batches, for the Chiltern subdivision of Network SouthEast, numbered 165001–039. Both 2-car and 3-car variants were built. Initially, thirty-three units were ordered (comprising the vehicles that made up units 165001-165022 and 165029–165039) but an additional order was placed for a further six units (165023-028). Units 165001-028 were delivered consecutively, as 2-car units, whilst units 165029-039 were delivered as 3-car units. These vehicles have a top speed of 75 mph (121 km/h). They are now all fitted with tripcocks for working over the London Underground lines between Amersham and Harrow-on-the-Hill, although upon delivery this equipment was only fitted to 165006–028. Automatic Train Protection is also fitted, making them one of the few classes to have both these features in Britain.

Each unit was formed of two outer driving motors, with an additional intermediate motor in the 3-car units. The technical description of the formation is DMOSL+MOS+DMOS. Individual carriages are numbered as follows: [1]

Class 165/1

No.165119 at Didcot Parkway. This unit is painted in the original Network SouthEast livery. 165119 at Didcot Parkway.JPG
No.165119 at Didcot Parkway. This unit is painted in the original Network SouthEast livery.

Thirty-seven Class 165/1Networker trains were built in 1992 for the Thames line subdivision of Network SouthEast, numbered 165101–137. Like the Chiltern units, both 2-car and 3-car variants were built. Units 165101-117 were delivered as 3-car units, followed by the 2-car units 165118–137. They are regeared and fitted with bogie yaw dampers to allow a top speed of 90 mph (145 km/h), more suitable for mainline use.

Each unit was formed of two outer driving motors, with an additional intermediate motor in the 3-car units. The technical description of the formation is DMOCL+MOS+DMOS. Although still listed on the vehicle data sheets at DMCL vehicles, the first-class area has been removed from 2-car 165s operated by GWR. As such these vehicles are now technically DMOSL vehicles. The 3-car units were similarly declassified, but the first-class accommodation has now been reinstated on these. Individual carriages are numbered as follows: [1]

Unit 165115 was destroyed in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash. [8]

Accidents and incidents

A Class 165 in First Great Western Link livery on the Marlow Branch Line. Marlow Branch Line 1.jpg
A Class 165 in First Great Western Link livery on the Marlow Branch Line.

Operations

Chiltern Railways

Chiltern Railways refurbished three car Class 165/0 No. 165032 at London Marylebone. 165032 B London Marylebone.JPG
Chiltern Railways refurbished three car Class 165/0 No. 165032 at London Marylebone.
165039 in revised Chiltern Railways livery at London Marylebone. 165039 at London Marylebone.jpg
165039 in revised Chiltern Railways livery at London Marylebone.

The 165/0 units were originally delivered in Network SouthEast livery for used on routes including fast services from London Marylebone to Princes Risborough and Banbury and local services from Aylesbury to London and Princes Risborough. In this role they replaced the Class 115 DMUs. They were later used further afield, when Chiltern services were extended to serve Leamington Spa, Warwick, Solihull and Birmingham Snow Hill / Birmingham Moor Street railway station.

In December 1993, due to a downturn in traffic as a result of the recession, units 165001-007 were transferred from the Chiltern lines of Network SouthEast to the Thames lines (from Aylesbury to Reading depots). All vehicles had their tripcock equipment removed before transfer. The following year, unit 165007 was returned to the Chiltern lines, followed by 165006 in 1995. Due to unavailability of tripcock equipment upon their return, the units were coupled cab-to-cab and operated for some months between the vehicles of other units as semi-permanently formed four-car units - until tripcock equipment became available, allowing them to be restored to operational two-car units. Following privatisation, two former Chiltern units (165003 and 165005) were repainted into Thames Trains livery. Chiltern Railways inherited 34 Class 165/0 units from Network SouthEast, and the remaining five were returned from Thames Trains in 2004 - leaving Chiltern Railways operating the whole subclass.

After privatisation they continued to work similar services as before but, with the arrival of the faster Class 168 Clubman units, the 165 Turbo trains were displaced and are now found less often on expresses to Birmingham, generally working on shorter routes such as stopping services to Aylesbury, High Wycombe, and Stratford-upon-Avon and also the Birmingham Moor Street - Leamington Spa local services.

A new depot was built at Aylesbury in 1990/1991 for the maintenance of these trains and has been enlarged since British Rail days, with the addition of a wheel lathe. Light maintenance and refuelling is carried out at Wembley LMD and Tyseley TMD, and units can occasionally be found at Stourbridge LMD. Units are also regularly stabled in the Marylebone station environs, Aylesbury South Sidings and at Banbury, where a further depot is currently under construction at the south end of the station on the western side of the line.

All Chiltern units were refurbished between late 2003 and early 2005. [6] Air conditioning was added and the opening hopper windows replaced with sealed units. A new passenger information system, similar to that on the Class 168 Clubman trains, CCTV cameras and an area designated for the use of wheelchair users were added and the first-class section was removed, as Chiltern became a standard-class-only railway in 2003. The original 3+2 seating at the outer ends of the driving vehicles was replaced by new 2+2 high-back seating. The existing 3+2 low-back seating was retained in the centre areas of the driving vehicles and throughout the centre vehicles of the three-car units. A cycle/wheelchair area with tip-up seats was also added to each unit. A further refurbishment began in 2015, concentrating on the toilet areas, to make these units fully Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA)-compliant for operation beyond 2020.

They can often be found on the Aylesbury to London Marylebone routes including the Princes Risborough shuttle.

Great Western Railway

Thames Valley

First Great Western Class 165/1 No. 165106 at Reading 165106 Reading.jpg
First Great Western Class 165/1 No. 165106 at Reading

The Class 165/1 fleet were built for local services from London Paddington along the Great Western Main Line; their main destinations included local trains to Reading, Greenford, Newbury, Bedwyn, Oxford, and Banbury, and services along the branch lines to Windsor & Eton Central, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow and Bicester Town.

Following the privatisation of British Rail, the franchise was won by the Go-Ahead Group, who operated it as Thames Trains from 1996 to 2004 and inherited all the Class 165/1 Turbo trains as well as the first five Class 165/0 Turbo trains that had been transferred from the Chiltern lines. In April 2004, operation of the Thames Trains franchise passed to First Great Western Link. In 2004, due to deliveries of new Class 180 Adelante units on sister company First Great Western, the five Class 165/0 Turbo units became redundant and were transferred to Chiltern Railways.

In January 2010, First Great Western announced an £8 million refurbishment programme for its fleet of Classes 165 and 166 Turbo DMU trains: [13]

  • seats re-trimmed
  • interiors repainted
  • Passenger Information Displays replaced with a GPS-based system
  • upgraded lavatory facilities
  • flooring stripped and replaced

In 2012, First Great Western took delivery of Class 180 Adelante units for Cotswold Line services, and three-car Class 150 Sprinter units for Reading to Basingstoke Line services, allowing Class 165 and 166 units to be used to reinforce Thames Valley services. [14]

In late 2015, as part of the rebranding to GWR, the Class 165 fleet had all first-class sections removed to increase capacity. [7]

Following the electrification of the Great Western Main Line up to Didcot Parkway, as well as the Reading-Taunton line as far as Newbury, services between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway, as well as between Reading and Newbury, have been operated by new Class 387 electric multiple units, [15] allowing much of the existing Class 165 fleet to move to the Bristol area. Class 165s continue to service the aforementioned branch lines, but no longer run to London Paddington except during peak hours.

Bristol area

165132 at Weymouth after arrival from Gloucester. The unit has lettered coaches, with coach D being displayed. 165132 Weymouth.jpg
165132 at Weymouth after arrival from Gloucester. The unit has lettered coaches, with coach D being displayed.

Following the transfer of the 166 units to St Philip's Marsh depot in July 2017, some of the 165 services have since followed on with the first 165 operating in the Bristol area in July 2018. Since then and alongside the 166s, they have rapidly been introduced on other services such as the Weston-super-Mare to Filton Abbey Wood (now Weston-super-Mare / Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach / Filton Abbey Wood) services, the Cardiff Central to Taunton services, the Golden Valley Line, the Heart of Wessex Line and also some services on the Wessex Main Line as far as Warminster and Southampton Central. In January 2019, they began operating the regional service between Cardiff Central and Portsmouth Harbour which allowed more of the Class 158 units that solely operated this service to move more west. [16]

The transfer of the 165 (and 166) units to services in and around Bristol and Exeter have overall allowed units that previously operated these services to move further west, such as the Class 150 and Class 158 units. [17] More so than the 166 units, a lot of the 165 units remain to be based at Reading TMD where they continue to operate Thames Valley services.

Fleet details

ClassOperatorQty.Year builtCars per unitUnit nos.Notes
165/0 Chiltern Railways 281990–19912165001–165028165004 fitted with hybrid powertrain [18]
113165029–165039
165/1 Great Western Railway 161992165101–165114, 165116–165117
202165118–165137
Scrapped119923165115Destroyed in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash.
Chiltern Railways 3-car Class 165/0 unit Chiltern Class 165 0 3 Car.png
Chiltern Railways 3-car Class 165/0 unit
Great Western Railway 3-car Class 165/1 unit GWR Class 165 1 3 Car.png
Great Western Railway 3-car Class 165/1 unit

Named units

Some units have been named these are as follows:

Hybrid powertrain

It was reported in September 2018 that Angel Trains was to convert class 165 units for Chiltern Railways to hybrid diesel and battery-powered trains. [21]

In April 2020, two-car unit 165004 was sent to LORAM rail at Derby for HyDrive conversion. [22]

In August 2023 it was announced that the project had been abandoned. [23]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Colin J Marsden. "Technical Data: Class 165". Archived from the original on 27 October 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. 1 2 Perkins 2000 Series User's Handbook (PDF) (12th ed.). Shrewsbury: Perkins Engines Company. May 1999. p. 9. TSD 3215E. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  3. ↑ System Data for Mechanical and Electrical Coupling of Rail Vehicles in support of GM/RT2190 (PDF). London: Rail Safety and Standards Board. 22 June 2011. p. 4. SD001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  4. ↑ Webster, Neil; Hall, Peter; Fox, Peter (2001). British Railways Locomotives & Coaching Stock 2001. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. pp. 207, 208. ISBN   1-902336-19-4.
  5. ↑ "Regional Passenger Trains - Class 165". London: Angel Trains. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  6. 1 2 "About us - Our train fleet". Chiltern Railways. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  7. 1 2 "First Great Western gets rid of First Class on Reading trains". Rail. Peterborough. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Thames Trains fined £2m for Ladbroke Grove crash". The Daily Telegraph. London. 5 April 2004. Retrieved 27 April 2010.[ failed verification ]
  9. ↑ "Investigation Report" (PDF). London: Health and Safety Executive. 15 July 2010. pp. 21–22. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Train derails at Paddington: Services disrupted in and out of station". BBC News. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  11. ↑ Chapple, James (16 November 2015). "Passengers 'standing around in country lane' after train fire". Surrey Live.
  12. ↑ "Signal passed at danger and subsequent near miss, Chalfont & Latimer station 21 June 2020" (PDF). Rail Accident Investigation Branch. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Train operator gives Thames Valley Trains an £8 million makeover" (Press release). First Great Western. 25 January 2010. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011.
  14. ↑ "Return of Adelantes to First Great Western confirmed". Railnews. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  15. ↑ Herring, John (31 December 2018). "More train seats for commuters from Wednesday". Newbury Today.
  16. ↑ Holden, Alan (5 October 2019). "New timetable for South Wales launched by Great Western Railway". RailAdvent. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  17. ↑ "New timetable for South Wales launched by Great Western Railway". RailAdvent. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  18. ↑ "'Cleaner, quieter and quicker' diesel-battery hybrid train enters passenger service". Railway Gazette International. Sutton: DVV Media International. 14 February 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  19. ↑ "Stock Changes". Today's Railways UK . No. 258. August 2023. p. 62.
  20. ↑ "Stock Update". The Railway Magazine . No. 1470. August 2023. p. 95.
  21. ↑ "Hybrid battery trains set to shorten commuter journey times" . Financial Times. London. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  22. ↑ "'165' at Derby for hybrid conversion". Rail. Peterborough. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  23. ↑ "New trains to replace Chiltern's Class 165 DMUs". Railways Illustrated . No. 247. August 2023. p. 9.

Further reading

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