Leyland classes 155 153

[Andrew1395]

They are all approaching 30 years old and provided excellent service on the original investment. Remember they were bought when a Thatcher government was intent on running down railways. They need replacing now. Frankly regular travellers outside of London & SE probably do not realise that most local services are only 2 or 3 car. Let's hope the 156 and 158 are next. Two car 170 Nottingham to Birmingham also demonstrates the need for electrification of all main lines, DMUs should be on heritage libels only by 2050

 

[samuelmorris]

Having ridden on a good example (SWT) I think 158s should be the very last to go of the sprinters, without doubt - given the shortage of DMUs, their potentially enormous MTIN figures plus great passenger comfort means they're plenty suitable for running services for a long time yet, in my humble opinion
By contrast, I do feel the travelling experience on a 153/155 I had was a bit rough - it did the job for relatively short services, but not exactly a shining example of what UK rail travel can be like!

 

[yorksrob]

They are all approaching 30 years old and provided excellent service on the original investment. Remember they were bought when a Thatcher government was intent on running down railways. They need replacing now. Frankly regular travellers outside of London & SE probably do not realise that most local services are only 2 or 3 car. Let's hope the 156 and 158 are next. Two car 170 Nottingham to Birmingham also demonstrates the need for electrification of all main lines, DMUs should be on heritage libels only by 2050

True, they have been an excellent investment - rather better than the 142's which needed a lot of remedial work to get them working properly.

As for the 156's and 158's, these seem a lot better than their more modern counterparts. Hopefully there are quite a few more years left in them yet.

 

[BestWestern]

True, they have been an excellent investment - rather better than the 142's which needed a lot of remedial work to get them working properly.

As for the 156's and 158's, these seem a lot better than their more modern counterparts. Hopefully there are quite a few more years left in them yet.

Agreed. Absolutely no reason to be replacing 158s any time soon.

 

[LowLevel]

The 156s and 158s are both perfectly adequate with a bit of upkeep and maintenance. The only issues I've really noticed springing up on our 158s are electrical - they seem to have an increasing amount of gremlins - and the 156s are becoming a bit prone to engine/gearbox problems.

 

[yorksrob]

The 158's would be better if the loos weren't quite so high tech. They really aught to give up on the hand dryers.

 

[Ash Bridge]

The 158's would be better if the loos weren't quite so high tech. They really aught to give up on the hand dryers.

Seem to remember when they were new, it took an age for them to blow any warm air, is that still the problem? Voyagers and most of the newer trains don't seem to have that problem.

 

[fgwrich]

The 158's would be better if the loos weren't quite so high tech. They really aught to give up on the hand dryers.

Seem to remember when they were new, it took an age for them to blow any warm air, is that still the problem? Voyagers and most of the newer trains don't seem to have that problem.

Same applies to the same unit installed by BR in the 165/166 Fleets - Along with the flush Sink/Worktop combination, which as any user of the Networker Turbos will know was combined with such a poor tap it tends to completely miss the sink by dribbling water mostly onto the counter and floor more than anything.

Unfortunately they do still seem to take an age to blow any warm air. I'm Not sure what the set up with those are, but they've never been very effective at all, even in the SWT units with their newer sink/hand dryer modules.

158s when treated properly, really aren't bad units at all - ScotRails Inverness Fleet I feel are one of the best of all the ex BR DMUs running. But they do take some work getting up to scratch and keeping them modern, as ATW's former rag bag of a fleet can prove.

 

[D60]

The Northern ITT specifies a complete refurbishment to "as new" standard across the whole fleet to be undertaken by Northern's successor franchise, presumably alongside the necessary 2020 compliance upgrades... It will be interesting to see the effect on the older 1980s ex-BR legacy units such as 150s and 319s... I feel the refurbished ATW 158s I travelled on from B'ham to Porthmadog and return a couple of years ago must set some kind of a benchmark..? Can't remember much about the toilets though..
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Oops, had some vague idea I was on the 319 thread! Oh well, tailor the above comment to 153/155s to stay on topic.. if that's even possible..!