BRITISH RAIL CLASS 142

The 'British Rail Class 142' is a class of "Pacer" diesel multiple units used in the United Kingdom. 94 Units were built by BREL (British Rail Engineering) in Derby Between 1985 & 1987. They were a development of the earlier Class 141 Which where introduced in 1984. They are known as Nodding Donkeys by enthusiasts just like the class 143.

Contents

Description

Upgrades and Refurbishments

Accidents

Current Operations

Northern Rail

Arriva Trains Wales

Fleet Details

References

Description

The train body is based on that of the Leyland National bus and many fixtures and fittings of the bus can be found on the trains. The class has a capacity of between 102 and 120 passengers per two-car set. Initially, the same engines and mechanical transmissions were used as per class 141, as well as the double-folding external doors. The first sets were used initially on suburban commuter services around the Greater Manchester PTE area, MetroTrain services around Leeds, Newcastle local services and Devon and Cornwall branch lines.
The units from Cornwall were eventually moved to Manchester after problems with excessive wheel wear on the sharp curves of the Cornish branches (and complaints from the public due to excruciating squealing noises on curves) and the class 142 has become a common sight especially on services around the North West of England.

Upgrades and Refurbishments

The class was upgraded in the early 1990s. This was after a number of problems were experienced with the mechanical transmission and engines (including complete seizures), and now all units carry a more powerful engine - 460bhp (340 kW) per unit - and Voith two stage hydraulic transmission, starting with a torque converter which switches to fluid coupling drive once the unit is up to . This has proven very successful, although an incident occurred in 2002 when a North Western Trains unit derailed on the Carlisle to Whitehaven line when its engine fell off the chassis. Another detail modification is the replacing of the unreliable double folding doors with standard rigid folding examples used on classes 143 and 144 pacers. The trains have also had new fire extinguisher equipment fitted, and more importantly, the replacement of the cable worked brakes by Direct Acting brakes.
A number of trains were refurbished for use on the Merseyside PTE City Lines around Liverpool which included dot-matrix route indicators, improved seating and Mersey PTE paintwork. The class moved into the control of First North Western at privatisation and all of the surviving units are still in use.

Accidents

There have been a number of accidents involving class 142 units since their introduction, the most serious of which happened at Winsford in 1999. The driver of a First North Western unit running empty from Crewe to Liverpool overran a red signal on the slow line and stopped in the path of the 0615 London Euston to Glasgow Central Virgin Trains express, hauled by a Class 87 electric locomotive. ^[2] The impact, which wrote the unit off, severed the pacer's body from its frames, causing severe internal damage, raising the question of whether pacers are crashworthy.^[3]
The ensuing report said they are - but recommended that they be replaced in the near future with heavier more sturdy Sprinters. The units are now slowly being withdrawn, however no new trains have been ordered.
Another major incident occurred at Liverpool Lime Street in 1988 when 142.005 was involved in a heavy collision with a Class 156 Super Sprinter resulting in one car being written off.

Current Operations

Northern Rail

Northern Rail, who took over from First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern, operate a fleet of 72 Class 142's.
Of the 72 Northern Class 142's, 32 are in First North Western blue with gold stars, 3 Units are in Northern Spirit Livery and the majority of the remaining units still in Arriva livery but with logos and company names removed. The remaining 17 were in Merseyrail 'revised' Yellow livery as they were sponsored by Merseytravel PTE. However, British Rail Class 156s are now mostly being used on the Mersey Travel lines meaning Northern has been able to repaint some of those 142s in it's own dark blue and purple livery.
A number are in very poor condition including 142.007 has a damaged exterior after being hit by a tree in stormy weather, 142.005 suffers from leaking, while 142.065 has an excessively noisy engine.
142009 is named "Newton Heath 125 1876-2001".
The government orginally stated that the Pacer's should last for the duration of the franchisee. However, due to their limited capacity and rising passenger numbers in the north of England by about 10% per annum, some have been replaced by Sprinter trains and there are plans to replace more 142s. Northern wish to dispense with 142s all together by 2011.
Northern Class 142s can normally be seen on the following routes.


★ Metrocentre and Newcastle to Morpeth


★ Metrocentre to Newcastle non-stop


★ Saltburn to Darlington and Bishop Auckland


★ Leeds to York via Harrogate


★ Leeds to Sheffield via Barnsley (stopping service)


★ Leeds to Sheffield via Wakefield Westgate (stopping service)


★ Hull to York via Selby


★ Sheffield to Scunthorpe


★ Sheffield to Lincoln Central,

★ Sheffield to Manchester Piccadilly (Hope Valley line)


★ Liverpool Lime Street to Wigan North Western and Blackpool North


★ Liverpool Lime Street to Warrington Bank Quay


★ Lancaster to Heysham Port


★ Manchester Victoria to Liverpool Lime Street


★ Manchester Victoria to Southport and Kirkby


★ Manchester Victoria to Rochdale


★ Manchester Victoria to Huddersfield


★ Manchester Piccadilly to Rosehill,Marple, New Mills Central


★ Manchester Piccadilly to Chester via Altrincham


★ Blackpool South to Colne

Arriva Trains Wales

Arriva Trains Wales use their Class 142, 143 and 150 trains on the commuter lines around Cardiff known as the Valley Lines. All of their 142 fleet now bear the turquoise and cream house colours of Arriva. The 142s were formly used on the former Arriva Trains Northern franchisee. However, they were exchanged for 150s so Arriva Trains Northern didn't have to use 142s on their longer routes.

Fleet Details

Operator	No. of units	Unit nos.
Arriva Trains Wales	15	142002/006/010/069/072-077/080-083/085
Northern Rail	72	142003–005/007/011–028/031-058/060-062/064-066/078–079/084/086–094/096
Stored at Heaton and Blackpool	7	142001/009/029/030/063/067/068/070/095/(071 one engine failed on Saturday 8th April ,withdrawn at Heaton, 005 has been placed back into service)

It has been widely speculated that First Great Western may receive a number of the currently stored Class 142 units by December 2007. The services any such cascaded units will operate are yet to be finalised.

References

1. RailBritain - Class 142
2. Train driver averts disaster
3. Safety fears over commuter trains