British Rail Classes 170 and 171
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The Class 170 "Turbostar" is a diesel multiple unit (DMU) built by Bombardier Transportation (previously ADtranz) at their Derby Litchurch Lane Works, England. This has become the most popular type of DMU built since the privatisation of Britain's railways, with more than 300 vehicles built. One factor in this is probably the fact that Turbostars, unlike all other types built since privatisation, are fully capable of working in multiple with older types from the 15X series of units, giving them much more flexibility, although there are issues with so-called "sandwich" formations, formed either 170-15X-170 or 15X-170-15X, which does cause problems with empty stock movements where up to 4 units of various types coupled together is common. A possible side effect of this is that Turbostars performance is also in line with the 2nd generation 15X units, in fact being somewhat behind a 150 or 156 on "short hop" workings, and behind a 158 on longer distance workings unless there is enough 100mph running to take advantage of the 10mph higher speed of the 170s.
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The units have been acquired for use by several franchises, each with different specifications. One of the more noticeable differences with later units compared to earlier ones, is the larger headlights now specified for safety reasons. Units are generally numbered 170xxx, where xxx is the serial number of the unit. Individual carriages are numbered 50xxx and 79xxx for driving motor cars, and 56xxx and 54xxx for centre cars.
The Class 171 "Turbostar" operated by Southern, is identical to the Class 170, except for the replacement of the BSI coupler with a Dellner coupler. This provision was made in order to allow emergency joining with Class 377 DC third-rail electric units.
They are closely related to the Class 168 Clubman.
Anglia Railways ordered two batches of Turbostars. The first batch of eight 3-car Class 170/2 units were built for London Liverpool Street to Ipswich, Norwich, Lowestoft and Bury St. Edmunds services. These supplemented the existing Class 86 locomotive-hauled trains from London to Norwich. Four of these units were later hired to Hull Trains from 2002–2004, before they acquired their own Turbostars. Other units, including the spot-hire set no. 170 399, were used on Anglia's short-lived Chelmsford to Basingstoke ‘Cross-City’ service.
In 2002, Anglia introduced a new Cambridge to Norwich direct service, and acquired four two-carriage units dedicated to working these services.
In 2004, Anglia Railways was merged into the new Greater Anglia franchise, which was won by the National Express Group subsidiary ‘one’. All units except 170 272 and 170 273 have now been repainted into the new One Anglia livery.
With trains drawn by Class 90 locomotives having replaced on the Norwich–London route and the return of the four units hired to Hull Trains, three-carriage Turbostars are now used for the Cambridge to Norwich route, and also on new through services including Peterborough and Lowestoft to London Liverpool Street via Colchester.
The three-carriage trains used to include a buffet and first-class area, but because more seating was needed, the buffet area has been replaced and there are only a few first-class seats remaining.
Central Trains has a fleet of 53 Class 170 units from various subclasses.
From 1999, Central received its first batch of twenty-three 2-car Class 170/5 and ten 3-car Class 170/6 units. These were used to replace Class 156 units on long distance services. These units all carry the vibrant Central Trains livery of green, blue and yellow. 170505 previously wore an advertising livery for the Birmingham Bull Ring, and 170513 previously wore an advertising livery for the Robin Hood Line (Nottingham-Worksop).
From late 2004, Central also took on three Class 170/3 spot-hire units from Porterbrook. Units 170397 and 170398 are 3-car units and 170399 is a 2-car unit. The units originally carried a white livery with purple doors (the house colours of owners Porterbrook). All three of these units have first class accommodation, which is not provided on the Central Trains services they work, and this is declassified. 170397 and 170398 retain their Porterbrook livery, however Central Trains branding has been applied. 170397 and 170398 have Central Trains interiors with slightly different seats to the original fleet in standard class, but retain Midland Mainline-style First Class accommodation. 170399 has carried a pink livery supporting Birmingham's bid to become European Capital of Culture for 2008 (an honour which was won by Liverpool) and until autumn 2006 carried an advertising livery for the Derwent Valley Line (Derby-Matlock). It now carries a livery similar to 170397 and 170398, without Central Trains branding. 170399 retains its South West Trains interior as it was a follow on from the SWT batch. During the maintenance in which it lost its advertising livery, it was also fitted with the new style 'Bombardier' headlight clusters, replacing the old Adtranz versions it was built with.
Also from late 2004, Central inherited 17 Class 170/1 units from sister National Express company Midland Mainline. Ten units (170101-110) have are 3-car units, with the remaining 7 units (170111-117) being 2-car units. All units have had their Midland Mainline branding removed, being replaced by Central Trains branding in 2005. These 17 units are affectionately referred to as "Bambi Trams". As with the 3 spot-hire units, these 17 units also have first class accommodation, which is also declassified. The 3-car units also have a buffet counter in their middle car, which is locked out of use. Central Trains may consider removing this bar in favour of additional seating in the future. One unit, no. 170101 was involved in a collision with a tractor near March in mid-2005. Its centre car has been reformed into unit 170117 while the driving car is repaired.
All Class 170 units in service with Central are used on a multitude of services, but are mostly concentrated on long distance (CityLink) services, Birmingham-Stansted Airport, Norwich-Liverpool and Nottingham-Cardiff. Class 170 units have been replaced by Class 350 "Desiro" units on Birmingham-Liverpool services. They also work the majority of Birmingham to Leicester and Birmingham to Shrewsbury services, which are contained with the same daily diagram of work for the units as the CityLink routes mentioned above.
ScotRail (since taken over by First Group and renamed First ScotRail) introduced the Turbostar in 1999 to complement its fleet of Class 158 "Express Sprinter" DMUs. "Turbostar" Class 170s are used mainly on the Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street Express route (with two 3-car sets run on peak services), but are also run from Edinburgh to Bathgate and Aberdeen. In addition, they are often used in conjunction with Class 158 sets on the Edinburgh Crossrail route between Newcraighall and Dunblane. The vast majority of sets carry First Class accommodation, and a buffet trolley operates on many peak-time services. In addition, several Class 170s carry the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport livery and operate suburban services in the Glasgow area. These turbostars are fitted with the older and more reliable and powerful Cummins power units. The ex Hull sets are MTU.
Hull Trains began its London King's Cross to Hull services using Turbostars, initially with four sets on short-term lease from Anglia Railways. In 2004, it received four of its 'own' 3-car Class 170/3 units, and returned the original units to Anglia. In 2005, following its acquisition by First Group, Hull Trains received four new Class 222/1 "Pioneer" unit and transferred the "Turbostars" to its sister company First ScotRail.
Midland Mainline (MML) was the first operator to order Turbostars, with the first being introduced in MML's green and tangerine livery in 1998. MML ordered a fleet of seventeen 2-car Class 170/1 units, although the first 10 were subsequently made-up to 3-cars. The units were introduced on new 'stopping' services from London St. Pancras to Leicester, Derby and Nottingham. Some units were also used on summer Saturday-only services from the capital to York, which later became a year round service with summer extension to Scarborough.
In 2004, MML introduced new Class 222 "Meridian" units, which started to replace the Turbostars. This was because the Meridians have faster acceleration than the Turbostars, and therefore would not slow down an express train travelling on the same route. They also have a higher top speed of 125mph compared to the Turbostar's 100mph top speed, although on most parts of the Midland Mainline route they are restricted to 110mph or less. The acceleration of the Turbostars was a big let down from an operational point of view. They were originally marketed as being far superior to the HSTs on semi-fast work due to "superior acceleration and braking", but in practice HSTs easily outperformed Turbostars on these sort of services. The Meridians also provided a slight capacity increase and an ambience and appearance far more fitting with an Intercity train service. The MML fleet has now been transferred to fellow National Express Group franchise Central Trains.
South Central (now renamed Southern) acquired an initial fleet of six 2-car Class 170/7 and six 4-car Class 171/8 units, to replace its ageing Class 205 and Class 207 "Thumper" fleet. The first units were introduced in 2003 on Ashford to Hastings services. Later services from Oxted to Uckfield were also transferred to Turbostar operation. The final services from London Bridge to Uckfield went over to Turbostar operation in late 2004.
The Southern fleet are fitted with coupling devices different from other Turbostars, and as such as classified as Class 171. The four-car units were built with the new couplers, but the two car units were fitted at a later date, and reclassified as Class 171/7. Three more two-car units were later acquired, but these were built from new with the new couplers.
South West Trains (SWT) acquired a fleet of eight 2-car Class 170/3 units in 2000, to supplement it existing Class 159 fleet. Units were pressed into service on London Waterloo to Salisbury as well as a new Southampton local train, and Reading to Basingstoke trains. They are sometimes used on Exeter services, but as they are not fitted with end gangways for catering or selective door opening for the short platforms at some stations, this is not a regular route.
The cascade has started, with 170301-302/304 now at TPE, and 170392 now with Southern.
TransPennine Express will receive the 8 Turbostars from South West Trains from the winter 2006, The units will be maintained by Bombardier Crofton where they will receive TPE's Dynamic Lines livery. 170301/302 transferred to Crofton before Christmas 2006, and 170304 joined TPE on 18 January 2007. 170303/305 have also now joined TPE
| Class | Operator | No. Built | Year Built | Cars per Set | Unit nos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 170/1 | Central Trains (ex. Midland Mainline) |
17 | 1998-1999 | 3 | 170 101-110 |
| 2 | 170 111-117 | ||||
| Class 170/2 | 'One' Railway (ex-Anglia Railways) |
12 | 1999 | 3 | 170 201-208 |
| 2002 | 2 | 170 270-273 | |||
| Class 170/3 | TransPennine Express (ex SWT) | 5 | 2000 | 2 | 170 301-305 |
| South West Trains | 3 | 2000 | 2 | 170 306-308 | |
| Southern | 1 | 2003 | 2 | 170 392 | |
| First ScotRail (ex-Hull Trains) | 4 | 2004 | 3 | 170 393-396 | |
| Central Trains | 2 | 2002 | 3 | 170 397-398 | |
| Central Trains | 1 | 2002 | 2 | 170 399 | |
| Class 170/4
(Cummins engine) |
First ScotRail | 24 | 1999-2001 | 3 | 170 401-424 |
| 10 | 2003-2004 | 3 | 170 425-434 | ||
| 12 | 2004-2005 | 3 | 170 450-461 | ||
| 2 | 2001 | 3 | 170 470-471 | ||
| 7 | 2004 | 3 | 170 472-478 | ||
| Class 170/5 | Central Trains | 23 | 1999-2000 | 2 | 170 501-523 |
| Class 170/6 | Central Trains | 10 | 2000 | 3 | 170 630-639 |
| Class 171/7 | Southern | 9 | 2003-2004 | 2 | 171 721-729 |
| Class 171/8 | Southern | 6 | 2004 | 4 | 171 801-806 |
