Pacer (railcar)
| Pacer | |
|---|---|
 Series 142 and 143 vehicles at Exeter St Davids.
|
|
| Manufacturer: | Leyland, BREL, Hunslet-Barclay |
| Year of construction (s): | 1984-1987 |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Top speed: | 75 mph (121 km / h) |
| Motor type: | Leyland, later Cummins |
| Power transmission: | mechanical, later hydraulic |
| Coupling type: | Central buffer coupling |
As Pacer is called the diesel railcars the TOPS classes 140, 141, 142, and 143/144 of British Rail , which were put in service 1980-1987. They were originally intended as a short-term measure to remedy a shortage of rolling stock with a lifespan of 20 years or less. It is mostly a double multiple unit , of the 143 series there are also three-part units. In 2015, 140 of the 165 trains built (with 340 cars) were still in regular service, seven had already been scrapped.
More recent regulations ( Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations of 2010) require that by 2020 all trains used for public transport must be accessible to the severely disabled. At the time, no type of Pacer met this requirement. It was therefore clear that the series would have to be withdrawn from service by then if no corresponding modifications were made. Since conversion plans did not prove to be economical, the Spanish manufacturer CAF commissioned new series in 2016 , which are derived from their Civity regional train and will be used in 2019 and 2020.
origin
In the 1970s, British Rail (BR) was under increasing financial pressure from the government. The closure of further railway lines was proposed as an austerity measure. The Pacer project was intended to create a type of train with low operating costs that would be used on rural and suburban routes. BR therefore commissioned several companies to develop a cheap lightweight train similar to a rail bus . The result of the attempt to economically design a diesel railcar using bus parts were the series described below.
Class 140
The first prototype, dubbed the LEV-1 ( Light Experimental Vehicle ), was a joint project by the British Rail Research Division and Leyland Motors to mount a bus body onto an existing high-speed freight car chassis (HSFV1). This was followed by a two-part vehicle that was built in 1980 by British Rail Engineering in the Derby wagon factory and classified in the prototype series 140.
Class 141
The prototype was followed by 20 more two-car trains, which were classified in TOPS class 141. They were mainly used in Yorkshire on suburban routes. One unit had 94 places. Two Leyland TL11 engines with a total of 410 bhp (310 kW) allowed a top speed of 75 mph (121 km / h). The entire range was technically modernized in 1988 at the Hunslet-Barclay works in Kilmarnock . In 1997 it was withdrawn from circulation.
Most of the units were sold to the Railroad Company of the Islamic Republic of Iran , but are now out of service and shut down. Some are preserved in the UK as museum trains.
Since a normal bus body from Leyland National was used for the 141 series , the cars are narrower than the later Pacer types and only offer space for normal bus seating. More seats can be accommodated in the wider car bodies of the later series.
Class 142
.jpg)
The next and most numerically strongest Pacer series was the TOPS class 142, which was also built by Leyland and BREL in 1985. The car bodies are derived from a Leyland National omnibus built in Lillyhall , Workington , Cumbria . Numerous furnishings and fittings of the buses are also available in the railcars. A two-car train of this series had 120 seats. The same engines as in series 141 were installed.
The first units were used on branch lines in Devon and Cornwall and on commuter routes in north-west England. The trains from Cornwall were later moved to Liverpool . In the early 1990s, Cummins engines were upgraded with a total output of 460 bhp (340 kW) per unit. Several units are designed for use on the Cityline the Merseyside PTE for Merseyrail modernized in the Liverpool. They received, among other things, dot matrix target displays, improved seats and the color scheme of Merseyrail PTE. When the British railways were privatized , they came to First North Western and subsequently to Northern Rail and Arriva Trains Wales and later Northern and Transport for Wales / Trafnidiaeth Cymru , which have been operating these units ever since. Eight units were temporarily taken out of service and replaced by TOPS class 158 units (sprinters) released on other routes .
Class 143 and Class 144
When the class 142 was developed, Hunslet-Barclay in Kilmarnock also constructed a type of Pacer rail bus with a bus body by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders . These units were classified in TOPS class 143 and put into operation in 1985, also with two engines of 205 bhp each, which delivered 410 bhp (310 kW) per two-car train. The top speed is also 75 mi / h (121 km / h). Originally, the units had space for 122 passengers.
This series was first used in North East England before being moved to Wales and South West England. Upon privatization, they came to Wales & West , then Arriva Trains Wales and Wessex Trains , which later became part of the First Great Western franchise . To operate the Valley Lines near Cardiff , the interior was completely replaced in 2000 by seats with higher backs in the style of long-distance buses and improved equipment. This reduced the number of seats to 106 per unit.
The similar TOPS class 144 with car bodies from Walter Alexander on chassis from BREL was put into operation in 1987. A unit consisted of either two cars with 122 seats or three cars with places for 195 passengers and a total of 690 bhp (510 kW), but still with a top speed limited to 75 mi / h (121 km / h). These units were used in North East England, came to Northern Spirit during privatization , then to Arriva Trains Northern and were then operated by Northern Rail .
properties
Although the Pacer can be operated very economically, the use of parts from bus construction has disadvantages. Since the wagons have a simple two-axle chassis instead of the bogies that are more common today, the running characteristics are comparatively poor, especially over switches and in tight bends. The acceleration is low, some units were found to be unreliable in operation. The inward-opening doors are prone to breakdowns and entry via two steps is difficult for elderly travelers and especially wheelchair users. The simple bus seating can be uncomfortable, and the suspension creates an up-and-down motion on poor tracks that earned the trains the nickname “nodding donkeys”. On a section of the route between the Northwich and Greenbank stations on the Mid-Cheshire Line , the line speed could be increased from 20 mi / h (32 km / h) to 50 mi / h (80 km / h) if there were no Pacers .
Doubts about operational safety were raised after the 1999 Winsford (Cheshire) railway accident in which an empty train consisting of two First North Western class 142 units with a Virgin Trains class 87 locomotive carrying several passenger cars on the West Coast Main Line pulled, collided. The car bodies of the Pacer unit 142 008 were separated from the frame, and the serious damage led to their being withdrawn.
replacement
In 2015, the oldest Pacer units had been in operation for 31 years. Since it was believed that the electrification of the route would continue, the entire class 142 should be retired by 2020. Some units of the other series should be subjected to measures to extend the service life and made accessible for wheelchair users. These should then operate by 2032.
- Modification or replacement
The regulation that trains must be accessible for the severely disabled could not be met by any type of Pacer at that time. Porterbrook , the owner of the classes 143 and 144 trains, therefore suggested modifications, while Angel Trains , owner of the class 142 trains, did not consider them profitable. The long-term strategy of the rail vehicle industry for passenger transport in 2014 did not provide for the procurement of new diesel multiple units until 2024, so that the Pacer would have to be replaced by diesel-powered units that will be released on newly electrified routes. However, in 2015 it was determined that the increased number of passengers would mean that there would be a short-term need for up to 500 “non-electric” vehicles.
- Vivarail D-train
The rail vehicle manufacturer Vivarail from Stratford upon Avon proposed a new series of diesel multiple units as a replacement, known as the D-Train, which is made from reconditioned vehicles of the D78 series from London Underground , which previously operated on the District Line . The aluminum car bodies will continue to be used during the renovation for railway operations, as will the traction motors and bogies, but the cars will have diesel engines and generators as well as a new interior. 2015 took place the decline of trains. The company produced a three-piece prototype that was tested in 2017 and a two-piece, powered entirely by battery power, that was completed in 2018. Vivarail found three customers who bought 13 trains, the first of which was deployed on a branch line of the London Northwestern Railway (LNR) in 2019.
Museum preservation
Although most Class 142, 143 and 144 Pacers still operate on UK railways, at least three Class 141 units have been preserved for tourist use on museum railways , including the Colne Valley Railway .
In 2011 the Pacer Preservation Society was formed with the aim of maintaining one representative from each of grades 142, 143, and 144. After the Pacers are due to retire from regular operations in the 2020s, several of them are to be preserved not only as museum pieces, but also in operation on museum railways.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Alan Whitehouse: Long-term safety fears over Yorkshire's Pacer trains . In: BBC News , October 21, 2011.
- ^ Iranian Railways Rolling Stock . Archived from the original on September 28, 2011.
- ↑ photography .
- ↑ Angel Trains leases 30 Class 158 diesel multiple units to Northern Rail . Northern Rail . March 13, 2007. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
- ↑ Safety fears over commuter trains . In: BBC News , July 2, 1999.
- ^ Report by the Health and Safety Executive's Railway Inspectorate into the train accident at Winsford South Junction on 23 June 1999 (PDF) Health and Safety Executive . 1999.
- ↑ Train driver averts disaster . In: BBC News , June 23, 1999.
- ↑ Class 143 & 144 Diesel Multiple Units (PDF) September 2012. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
- ^ Class 143 Life Extension Concepts . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
- ↑ Clinnick, Richard: Angel Trains to withdraw all its Class 142 Pacers by 2020 . In: Rail . 721, May 1, 2013, p. 11.
- ↑ Long Term Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy for the Rail Industry (PDF) February 2014. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
- ↑ More rolling stock needed as passenger growth rises again . Railnews. March 9, 2015. Accessed September 10, 2015.
- ↑ Stefanie Browne: Vivarail ready to start converting first LU D-Stock . Bauer Consumer Media. January 15, 2015. Accessed January 24, 2015.
- ↑ Class 230 train test. In: Rail Magazine. Bauer Media Group , September 17, 2019, accessed on June 25, 2020 (English, contains a detailed description of the concept).
- ↑ Welcome to the Pacer Preservation Society's Homepage ( Memento from March 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
