British Rail Class 144


The British Rail Class 144 Pacer diesel multiple units were built by British Rail Engineering Limited's Derby Litchurch Lane Works from 1986 to 1987. A total of 23 units were built, replacing many of the earlier first-generation "Heritage" DMUs.
Class 144 units are in service with Northern Trains, but all units were due to be withdrawn by the end of 2019 as they do not meet new disability regulations. Due to the late delivery of the new Class 195 and Class 331 trains, the 144s were to continue to operate in the South Yorkshire area until the middle of 2020, but when services were reduced because of the coronavirus pandemic all the class 144 units were stored out of use at Keighley on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

Description

At the beginning of the 1980s British Rail had a large fleet of ageing "Heritage" DMUs, built to many different designs in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some of the more reliable types were retained and refurbished. However, BR decided to replace many of the non-standard or unreliable types with new second generation units, built to modern standards. Two different types were pursued; low-cost "Pacers" built using bus parts and used on short-distance services; and "Sprinters" built for longer-distance services.
Twenty-three Class 144 units were built. The units have a maximum speed of and are externally similar to the earlier Class 143 Pacers, built in 1985–1986. The first thirteen of the class, No. 144001-013 are 2-car units. The remaining ten, No. 144014-023 are all 3-car units, although all were originally built as 2-car units, the centre vehicle being added later. These ten Pacers are the only Pacers to contain intermediate vehicles.
Units are formed of two driving motors, one of which contains a toilet. The 3-car units have an additional intermediate motor. All vehicles have standard-class seating only. The technical description of the formation is DMS++DMSL. Individual vehicles are numbered as follows.
The Class 144 units have BSI couplers. This allows them to work in multiple with,,,,, and units, as well as units of the same class.

Operations

The class were built specifically for local services sponsored by the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. As such, the fleet was painted in the crimson/cream West Yorkshire Metro livery, although three units were later repainted into Regional Railways livery.
Units are used on services such as:
They can also be found operating the Leeds-Morecambe services, services between Scunthorpe and Adwick to Sheffield and Lincoln. More recently from 2008, they have been working between Manchester Victoria and Leeds amongst others.
Prior to 1994, they were also used on Leeds/Bradford-Ilkley and Leeds/Bradford-Skipton services. These lines were electrified in 1994, and passenger services were operated by Class 308 electric multiple units.
Due to their similarities, services booked for a Class 144 can often be replaced by a Class 142, and vice versa.
Since privatisation, the fleet has been operated by several franchises. The first operator was Northern Spirit, which was later taken over by Arriva Trains Northern who refurbished the fleet between 2002 and 2004, with units emerging in a new silver and red Metro livery complete with refurbished interior. In December 2004, the fleet was transferred to the then-new Northern rail franchise. Northern Rail replaced the silver and red Metro livery with Northern Purple and Blue. During 2009, 144001-013 were all repainted. As of April 2010, all Class 144s have been repainted.
Northern Rail carried out a refurbishment programme to their fleet of Class 144 trains. 144006 was the first unit to be so treated and this was also the first one to be refurbished in the joint Arriva Trains Northern/WYPTE Metro programme in 2002.
The refurbishment features the following enhancements:
The units more recently transferred to Arriva Rail North in April 2016 and then Northern Trains on 1 March 2020.
The Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2008 required that all public passenger trains be accessible by 1 January 2020. No Pacer train met this requirement. Porterbrook proposed an extensive refurbishment of the Class 143 and 144 units in an attempt to meet this requirement, although this would reduce the number of seats. All were to be withdrawn by December 2019. Northern ordered the Class 195 and Class 331 units to replace the Pacers, as well as taking on spare stock from other operators. However, due to the late delivery of the new trains, the 144s will continue to operate in the South Yorkshire area until the middle of 2020. In 2019, Northern received a dispensation to allow some of the class to be used until 31 August 2020, with use only permitted on specified routes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many railway passenger services were curtailed with passenger numbers down by 95% in some areas. Northern Trains stored 18 units on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway with the other five stored at Heaton TMD.

Preservation

Seven units have been saved for preservation, six units being two-coach units and the seventh being a three-coach unit.

Operational

Non Railway Use

Not all of the preserved Class 144s are to see operational use on heritage lines. A number of class members are intended to see uses elsewhere as expansions for businesses or for training purposes.
A number of organisations took part in a Department for Transport competition called "Transform a Pacer" where ideas are put forward for what they wish to do with a Pacer unit. One entrant intended to keep a Pacer running and update it to meet disability regulations. The three winners were later announced on the 22 January 2020 episode of The One Show. The chosen Pacer units are not yet confirmed.

Class 144e

The Class 144e was a proposed refurbished variant of the Class 144 which would bring it up to the requirements of the Persons with reduced mobility-Technical Specifications for Interoperability accessibility regulations. The demonstrator Class 144e unit featured a number of upgrades such as the addition of new 2+2 style seating, a fully accessible toilet, two wheelchair spaces and spaces for bicycles and luggage, as well as Wi-Fi and media screens. The demonstrator unit was expected to re-enter traffic in April 2015, but this was delayed until later in the year.

Incidents

A Northern Rail 3-car Class 144 unit caught fire near in Rochdale on 21 November 2013.

Fleet details

Twenty-three units were built in total, originally all were formed as in 2 coach sets. In 1988, a third car was added to the last ten sets.
ClassOperatorYear BuiltNumberUnit nosCars per SetNotes
Class 144Preserved1986-19873144006-007, 0132
Class 144Stored1986-198710144001-005, 009-012, 0212008 stored with centre coach from 021.
Class 144Stored1986-198710144008, 014-020, 022-0233008 stored with centre coach from 021.

Named Units

One unit has received a name :