But they weren't used on metro routes were they?
I was under the impression these Pacers were on rural routes in Norfolk or Cornwall etc.
Pacers have worked frequent stop suburban services their whole lives: The first fourteen 142s were procured for GMPTE and worked routes such as the Hope Valley and up through Rochdale, amongst others. A number of later build units from the first batch were given “Network Northwest” branding and were used on the likes of the Manchester to Liverpool, Wigan and Southport routes.
The 143s were built specifically for the North East local services worked from Heaton depot: Newcastle to Hexham/Carlisle, Newcastle to Sunderland/Hartlepool/Middlesbrough, etc.
The 144s were West Yorkshire PTE sponsored and were primary traction on the Airedale and Wharfedale Leeds to Keighley/Skipton/Ilkey services prior to electrification, and the 141s were prevalent in South Yorkshire on the likes of the Knottingley services.
I’m not aware that Norfolk ever had a squadron allocation of Pacers: The prototype class 140 underwent some extensive trials in the region after which it seems to have been decided not to proceed with such a scheme. After the 142s were dispatched from the West Country as being unsuitable in around 1990, the entire Pacer fleet, from classes 141 to 144 inclusive, was based across the North of England for a number of years, so they worked a wide range of urban commuter services out of Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
He stated he could not replace the Pacer as soon as the Prime Minister promised last year. Some could be with us until 2030.
Lord help us all. Spent fifteen minutes on a Pacer struggling to get round the curve at Gateshead on Saturday, being revved desperately and intermittently yet going nowhere at more than a crawl (Combined with being let out behind a late running Metro at Sunderland turning a 20-ish minute journey into a 45 minute one). This was shrugged off as being down to overcrowding, and granted we were standing down the aisles but surely this is more indicative that the trains are no longer fit for their intended purpose, being unable to even propel themselves forward reliably with a full load or meet the passenger demand on the route, even on a weekend?