class 153's 155' and 156's in Cardiff under BR

[Anonymous10]

hi so im wondering if anyone could shed some light on the routes that the 155s and 156s worked around cardiff and out of Cardiff under br as well as the 153s please?

 

[Strathclyder]

As built, the 155s were utilized most notably (as far as this thread is concerned) on Regional Railways services from Portsmouth Harbour, Brighton (and even Penzanze) to Cardiff Central; Martin Loader (hondawanderer) has several images of them on such duties.

155303 & 155333 Pilning 22 July 1990

www.hondawanderer.com

155307 Wylye 16 March 1990

www.hondawanderer.com

155310 Sherrington 15 January 1991

www.hondawanderer.com

155319 Sherrington 15 January 1991

www.hondawanderer.com

155320 Marshfield 4 November 1989

www.hondawanderer.com

155324 Upton Scudamore 20 April 1988

www.hondawanderer.com

155332 Aller 7 December 1988

www.hondawanderer.com

 

[43096]

As built, the 155s were utilized most notably (as far as this thread is concerned) on Regional Railways services from Portsmouth Harbour, Brighton (and even Penzanze) to Cardiff Central; Martin Loader (hondawanderer) has several images of them on such duties.

You’ve missed the Marches. The introduction of the 155s enabled the previous Cardiff-Crewe service to be extended to Manchester and Liverpool.

 

[Strathclyder]

You’ve missed the Marches. The introduction of the 155s enabled the previous Cardiff-Crewe service to be extended to Manchester and Liverpool.

That I did. Really does show how far-reaching their sphere of operations were in the relatively brief time they ran before being converted/split up.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

In 1988 at least, 155s operated Birmingham to Cardiff services via Kidderminster and Worcester Shrub Hill. I travelled from Birmingham to Kidderminster and back on 155308 and 155313 respectively on 12 March that year.

156s operated Cardiff to Nottingham services from about 1994, taking over from the old-style dmus used when that service was first introduced, until 158s began to be used a couple of years or so later.

 

[O L Leigh]

The Cl156s that operated around Cardiff in the late 1980s would have been Norwich units used to cover for unavailable Cl155s which had to be withdrawn en masse due to issues with the passenger doors. Pending their return to service all manner of substitutions took place which affected the entire Provincial Services cross country network as far afield as East Anglia. Therefore these Cl156s would have been used on services between Cardiff and Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool so that they could be cycled back east.

 

[43096]

The Cl156s that operated around Cardiff in the late 1980s would have been Norwich units used to cover for unavailable Cl155s which had to be withdrawn en masse due to issues with the passenger doors. Pending their return to service all manner of substitutions took place which affected the entire Provincial Services cross country network as far afield as East Anglia. Therefore these Cl156s would have been used on services between Cardiff and Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool so that they could be cycled back east.

There were more than Norwich units: so severe was the shortage caused by the 155s being grounded that 156s on delivery from Met-Camm to ScotRail (for north of Inverness and West Highland) were diverted to Cardiff instead, with ScotRail retaining 37/4s in the interim.

 

[Ianigsy]

I travelled on a 156 from Newport to Bristol in 1989 or thereabouts. I remember it well as being one of the batch intended for Inverness, my reserved seat had been removed to make a bike space!

 

[Western 52]

When the 156s arrived they went into service pretty quickly. Did 155 drivers take them on without much training? Maybe they were regarded as being similar enough.