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The British Rail Class 153 Super Sprinter are a type of diesel-hydraulic railcars, which were converted from two-coach diesel multiple units in the early 1990s. The class was intended for service on rural branch lines, either where passenger numbers do not justify longer trains or to boost the capacity on services with high passenger volume.
Description
In 1987 and 1988, Regional Railways took delivery of 35 two-coach Class 155 units, built by Leyland Bus at its Workington factory, to replace older DMUs. After the Class 155s entered service, a further requirement emerged for the replacement of ageing railcars on rural lines, mostly of and . British Rail decided to meet this need by dividing each unit in the Regional Railways Class 155 fleet into two separate railcars that could then be converted for use independently, which would create a fleet of 70 vehicles. The seven further Class 155 units that had been delivered to the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) in 1989 were not included in this plan.
In 1990, British Rail awarded a contract for the work to Hunslet-Barclay and it was undertaken at the firm's Kilmarnock plant in 1991 and 1992. The Class 155 units had been numbered from 155301 to 155335 and consisted of DMSL(A) vehicles 52301 to 52335 and DMSL(B) vehicles 57301 to 57335. After separation, the DMSL(A) vehicles were given new unit numbers from 153301 to 153335, while the DMSL(B) vehicles were renumbered 57351 to 57385 (incrementing each by 50) and given matching 'unit' numbers from 153351 to 153385.
The conversion involved retrofitting a driver's cab into the spaces previously used for luggage racks at the "inside" end (B-end) of each vehicle, where each vehicle had previously been coupled back-to-back with its matching opposite in a Class 155 formation. The difference in cab sizes is visible from the outside of the vehicle, which appears unsymmetrical when viewed from the sides. The arrangement of headlights on the new cab end is also different to that on the original cab end.
They are fitted with BSI automatic couplers and are able to work in tandem with other multiple units with BSI couplers and compatible coupler electrical wiring; these are Classes , , , , , , , , and . Two were transferred to East Midlands Trains, with the other going to First Great Western. In October 2018, all eight passed with the franchise to Transport for Wales (KeolisAmey Wales), which acquired a further five from Great Western Railway in April 2019, five from Abellio Greater Anglia in December 2019, four from East Midlands Railway in January 2020 and another two from EMR in November 2020, which brought the total number up to 24 until a further two units were acquired.
As at February 2020, Transport for Wales was the only train operating company to have modified Class 153s to comply with the requirements of the Persons with Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability (PRM-TSI), which came into effect on 1 January 2020. In June 2021, the new state-owned Transport for Wales Rail purchased eight outright for continued use on the Heart of Wales line, after plans to replace them with units were cancelled. In July 2022, the refurbishment of the 26 units was completed.
On 19 February 2025, the first of the Active Travel Class 153/5s entered service with Transport For Wales Rail; the last entered service on 25 September 2025. The first refurbished carriage was unveiled in late 2020. The first unit began service on 19 July 2021.
The trains were also refurbished inside providing free wi-fi, plug and USB sockets, with maps of the West Highland Line on the tables. ScotRail described the service offering as Highland Explorer Due to a local agreement with train drivers' union ASLEF, ScotRail's Class 153s can only be driven from the A-end cab the B-end cab being considered too cramped for long-distance driving.
Network Rail
thumb|A Network Rail Class 153 at (2024)
In May 2021, Network Rail purchased three units (153311, 153376 and 153385) for use on infrastructure monitoring services.
Former operations
Regional Railways
thumb|A Regional Railways Class 153 at (1994)
Regional Railways operated Class 153s on many branch lines throughout the Midlands, Wales and Northern England, both individually and with other classes of Sprinter unit. They were initially allocated to Heaton (15), Cardiff Canton (9), Plymouth Laira (10), Norwich Crown Point (16) and Tyseley (20). Upon privatisation, they were initially operated by Anglia Railways, Central Trains, First North Western, Northern Spirit and Wales & West. These then moved to Transport for Wales in December 2019, to cover for delays with its new rolling stock. and the service finally began three months later. In December 2020, the final Class 153s were withdrawn from service and put into long-term storage. Before withdrawal, they mostly operated on the Birmingham-Hereford line.
East Midlands
thumb|An East Midlands Trains Class 153 at (2015)
East Midlands Trains inherited many examples of Class 153 units, receiving six from Central Trains, three from National Express East Anglia and four former First Great Western units that had been stored at Eastleigh Works. In December 2007, East Midlands Trains received two from Arriva Trains Wales and two from Northern Rail. In July 2010, the units were refurbished at Neville Hill TMD, with corrosion repair, an internal refresh and a cab refurbishment programme was undertaken.
All of the units passed with the East Midlands franchise to East Midlands Railway in August 2019. In January 2020, four were transferred to Transport for Wales. At one point in April 2020, only three EMR Class 153s were in service, following the implementation of an emergency timetable due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with all others being stored out of use as surplus to requirement. Two more returned to service by July 2020, while five others (153302, 153318, 153368, 153372, 153374 and 153382) had their leases terminated. The last of the East Midlands Railway Class 153s were withdrawn in December 2021, as they were not compliant with the Persons with Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability (PRM-TSI) regulations. units replaced them on the Barton-on-Humber route from 13 December.
East Midlands Railway's fleet of Class 153s were used on rural routes:
- to (one diagram used two units)
- Nottingham to via
- Nottingham to
- to
- to Lincoln and
- to (to after 1900 and during summer)
- Derby to Crewe, via
- Cleethorpes to .
Northern England
thumb|An Arriva Trains Northern Class 153 at Doncaster (2003)
thumb|A First North Western Class 153 at Carlisle (2004)
thumb|A Northern Rail Class 153 at Lancaster (2015)
The Northern Rail franchise commenced operations in December 2004. It inherited the fleets previously operated by Arriva Trains Northern (ATN) and First North Western (FNW), whose routes the new franchise incorporated. Northern Rail's successor, Arriva Rail North, at one point operated the largest fleet of Class 153 units.
Northern Rail inherited a fleet of eight units from FNW, which were used on local services around Manchester and , and to , and to services. The fleet was repainted in the now obsolete North Western Trains blue and gold livery. Prior to becoming part of Northern Rail, four former FNW units were transferred to the Arriva Trains Wales franchise, since the lines operated by FNW in Wales were transferred to this new company.
A larger fleet of 12 units was inherited from ATN. They are used on various local services around , and . One regular job is the Cleethorpes to services, which see a unit stabled at Cleethorpes overnight and Sunday. Other routes are the to , via and Sheffield, and the Saturday-only Sheffield to Cleethorpes, via Retford.
In December 2007, two units were taken off lease from Northern Rail and transferred to East Midlands Trains.
In the first half of 2018, five units were transferred from Great Western Railway on a temporary basis to boost capacity until the new units entered service; three of these then moved to Abellio ScotRail in 2019, with the remainder following in 2020. On 1 March 2020, ARN's Class 153 units transferred to new operator Northern Trains.
All Northern Trains Class 153s were sent to storage at Ely Potter Papworth Terminal by December 2021.
Preservation and further use
The stripped bodyshell of unit 153374 was donated to the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway, for static use as a community cafe at Cynheidre.
In December 2023, the preserved Great Central Railway acquired two Class 153 units: 153308 and 153371. These units were not intended for preservation per se, but to generate revenue through use for technology testing contracts and to train main line railway staff from East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry. In March 2024, 153371 was the first sprinter train to operate a passenger service in preservation.
In 2024, Daniel Ashville Louisy of Ashville Aggregates Ltd, purchased unit 153334 for use as a reception building in Thorney Mill Sidings.
In 2024, Go-op Co-operative Ltd. received approval from the Office of Rail and Road to run services between , and under an open-access agreement, using refurbished Class 153 units.
Fleet details
{|class="wikitable"
!Class
!Operator
!Qty.
!Unit numbers
|-
! rowspan="9" |153
|ScotRail
|align=center|5
|153305, 153370, 153373, 153377, 153380
|-
|Network Rail
|align=center|4
|153311, 153376, 153379, 153385
|-
|align="center" |6
|153507, 153528, 153531, 153552, 153568, 153572
|-
|Scrapped
|align=center|12
|153302, 153316, 153324, 153330, 153332, 153358-153360, 153363-153366
|-
|Non-railway use
|align=center|2
|153334, 153374
|-
|Preserved
|align=center|2
|153308, 153354
|}
none|thumb|x70px|Side-profile illustration of a Transport for Wales Class 153 vehicle, with A-end cab facing left
Named units
Some units have received names:
- 153306 Edith Cavell
- 153311 John Constable
- 153322 Benjamin Britten (denamed)
- 153335 Michael Palin (denamed)
- 153383 Ecclesbourne Valley Railway 150 Years
Models
When the units were first introduced, Hurst models produced a detailing kit to convert a Dapol model of a Class 155 into a 153.
The Class 153 has been produced in OO gauge by Hornby in Central Trains, First North Western, Abellio Greater Anglia, Northern Rail, Regional Railways, East Midlands Trains, London Midland City, Arriva Trains Wales, and Great Scenic Railways of Devon and Cornwall (Wessex Trains) liveries. These models have been praised for their detail.
Dapol announced an N gauge model of the Class 153 in October 2008. The model debuted at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition in November 2009. In 2010, Dapol issued their model in St Ives Bay Line advertising livery.
Several Class 153s have also been produced for rail simulators. Making Tracks have a digital model available for the PC railway simulator Microsoft Train Simulator, whilst Just Trains has released the model for Railworks.