Class 155: Opinions

[185]

Comfort and aesthetics aside, they are particularly good capacity busters, think there are a few more seats than 156s and other ancillary space is evenly balanced.

One concern was the big sign in a cab "DOOR BRAKE MODIFICATION FITTED" when 2001) The conductor's local door could be opened prior to stopping without any brake intervention and 2002) One started rolling away at Leeds whilst doors were open and driver was walking to the toilet, brought to a stand by the back brake. I'm guessing the modification was... err... modified after those incidents.

Mechanically, they do well in winter and the cab/saloon heaters aren't bad.

 

[coradiafan2000]

In my opinion they are terrible. Have used them regularly since I was a teenager in the 90s and used to dread having to travel on one from Bradford to Blackpool.
Interestingly though,they did manage to travel from Manchester to Cardiff quicker in the late 80s compared to the 158s/175s of today.
I may be wrong here,but out of the entire sprinter family,dont they have the worst power to weight ratio,along with the 153s?

Were they really faster than 158s/175s from Cardiff to Manchester? I would assume that would be due to the timetable, as a 158 or 175 could easily outperform a 155. Could be wrong though.

 

[alansheppard77]

Hi there!

With there only being a couple of 155s left now, i rarely hear anything about them.

What do you think of the 155s? How do they compare to other Sprinter stock?

Thanks in advance!

used a lot on the Scarborough Hull line,far better than those awful 150s

 

[DarloRich]

perfectly decent unspectacular trains. seats are not great. Lack the rotten urine smell of the 153.

 

[Kurolus Rex]

used a lot on the Scarborough Hull line,far better than those awful 150s

Can second that about the 150s. Had a 4 car one from Scarborough to Beverley this summer. Leg room is only maybe slightly better than a Pacer! Was very relieved when the train from Beverley to Hull was a 170 instead.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Comfort and aesthetics aside, they are particularly good capacity busters, think there are a few more seats than 156s and other ancillary space is evenly balanced.

One concern was the big sign in a cab "DOOR BRAKE MODIFICATION FITTED" when 2001) The conductor's local door could be opened prior to stopping without any brake intervention and 2002) One started rolling away at Leeds whilst doors were open and driver was walking to the toilet, brought to a stand by the back brake. I'm guessing the modification was... err... modified after those incidents.

This was true of all 15x (except possibly 158). I was once on a Class 150 as a kid which started off down the platform (downhill) with the doors all wide open. The interlock as built was door-power only, not door-brake.

There is still stock with no interlock on the crew doors - Merseyrail 50x and Class 150/1s with the manual door are the two I know of, there may be others. Sadly a driver who used to post to the uk.railway newsgroup died in an incident involving a Class 150/1 manual door being opened when the train was moving and him falling from it.

 

[bastien]

I remember when they first came out back in 198x. They looked quite amazingly futuristic in the magazines and Ian Allan guides - plug doors, stripy chevrons on the seats, very neat in that Provincial light blue livery... Then I saw one in real life and noticed all the rivets, not so space-age.

 

[Chris217]

When the 155s invaded Cardiff Provincial routes they were instantly disliked as we were used to lovely class 33s and mk1s.

Doors flying open when passing other trains became a dangerous fault which led them all to be withdrawn overnight.
Then we got 37/4s for a while used on the Marches line services.
Some other provincial services reverted to heritage DMU's when class 108s became available from the North West.
Also,of note was the hire in of some 156s from Inverness because of the stock shortages.
I dont think the 153s are popular even today in South Wales.
On my last trip I did some Pacer day out videos and had a few interesting discussions with guards on my journey's
with regards to both Pacers and 153s.
I was surprised at some of the opinions tbh especially about Pacers. The over all view I got was the 153s were still unpopular and a feeling that pacer replacements COULD be 153s.
Thankfully not though, although I suspect
some more may find their way onto the VL's network.
North Wales will be hard it with the impending 153 invasion.

 

[Llama]

155s only had the door/brake interlock modification applied a few years ago, certainly no more than 4-5 years ago. It was unannounced and as usual no notification to traincrew was posted of this modification so I remember the first time working a 155 with the mod I thought that there was a fault with it or a passcom had been pulled.

319s still don't have a door brake interlock below 9mph.

 

[Llama]

There is still stock with no interlock on the crew doors - Merseyrail 50x and Class 150/1s with the manual door are the two I know of, there may be others. Sadly a driver who used to post to the uk.railway newsgroup died in an incident involving a Class 150/1 manual door being opened when the train was moving and him falling from it.

He was a guard. That incident was ten years ago next year.

 

[Bletchleyite]

He was a guard. That incident was ten years ago next year.

Sorry, yes, a guard. To lower the risk of such incidents I recall Northern staff are now required to lock those doors using the carriage key once closed.

Perhaps surprisingly, this doesn't apply universally across rail transport. For instance, LU drivers on older stock often drive with the cab door open when it's hot. I'm sure I've also seen HSTs being driven with an open cab door quite recently.

 

[Llama]

Voyagers too every now and then.

I can't recall a specific instruction to lock slam doors on a 150/1 apart from those at unattended locations, eg in the middle of a train. There was no specific notice put out as a result of the incident mentioned, that was something people were watching out for as as any such notice might be considered indicative of cause/blame.

Edit - just checked, most recent official instruction from Autumn 2012 states only that 150/1 local doors at an unattended intermediate position in the train must be locked and secured. The majority of drivers do seem to lock the local doors at the leading end nowadays though, it's just seemingly a habitual change.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Voyagers too every now and then.

I can't recall a specific instruction to lock slam doors on a 150/1 apart from those at unattended locations, eg in the middle of a train. There was no specific notice put out as a result of the incident mentioned, that was something people were watching out for as as any such notice might be considered indicative of cause/blame.

I don't think a cause was ever established, however it was I believe known that his mental health wasn't always great, so it is possible it was not an accident. Very sad, though, he was a nice guy. I recall going off for a random GM Day Ranger ride when I was a student, meeting him working a Pacer from Rochdale and this resulting in my bag of sweets being shared around the coach. I've got an almost photographic memory of it, I can even recall the type of interior the Pacer had.

I stand corrected on the notice, then - I guess it was someone on uk.railway putting 2 and 2 together and getting 5.

 

[Llama]

Very much so 2+2 getting 5.

He was a lovely bloke yes, I knew him quite well and everybody in the area (and probably wider) was certainly acquainted with him if they didn't consider him a friend.

Anyway, getting off topic.

Another quirk about 155s is that some of them were fitted with 'composite' brake blocks in about 2006 as part of a trial. This changed the braking characteristics of the units and needed a different technique by drivers. The outcome of the trial a year or two later was that it wasn't a success so all units were reverted back to cast iron brake blocks and a sticker saying "this unit is fitted with cast iron brake blocks" was placed in each cab of the affected units. This sticker still causes slight confusion for new drivers when they see it, as they are told early in training that every tread-braked unit Northern operates has cast iron brake blocks.

 

[TrainTube]

What routes are 155s on nowadays? They used to run between Manchester Victoria and Leeds Via Todmorden, Knottingley and York to Hull. They seem to change routes quite frequently and don't see to have specific diagrams. Where have they been seen recently?

 

[Peter Bonner]

What routes are 155s on nowadays? They used to run between Manchester Victoria and Leeds Via Todmorden, Knottingley and York to Hull. They seem to change routes quite frequently and don't see to have specific diagrams. Where have they been seen recently?

They work Hull to York and Hull to Scarborough routes,though the latter are reportedly going over to 170 and 158 haulage in new timetable. 155s will be on Bridlington to York runs.

 

[WYSH]

as a passenger I despise the 155, they’re often cold, slow, uncomfortable and the door arrangement isn’t suitable for the high volume routes the run on.

They work Hull to York and Hull to Scarborough routes,though the latter are reportedly going over to 170 and 158 haulage in new timetable. 155s will be on Bridlington to York runs.

They are still a fairly common sight around Leeds.

 

[YorksDMU]

Yes, I was on 155341 on the 13.10 Hull to York today, after getting off 155347, which had worked into Hull off the 11.20 from Scarborough arriving in Hull at 12.47. 155341, between Hambleton North Junction and York on the ECML, really moved at some 75 to 80 mph! I was very impressed.

 

[Bevan Price]

They are average, but but not quite as bad as the 153’s. I was on two of them on Thursday when I travelled to Scarborough from Beverley. 155342 and 155347. I actually managed to have a short nap on them.
But, as stated, the windows are too high up, and at this time of year, can be very draughty if left open. Hopefully 158’s will eventually replace them.
Some are in service today on the Scarborough to
Hull and Sheffield diagrams which is, admittedly, quite a distance to go on one.

Hopper windows are a menace in my opinion - basically they are either fully closed or fully open, which (dependent on the weather) means you can either get baked or frozen. In the absence of aircon, they ought to have used sliding ventilators, where passengers can control the amount of ventilation - for safety, make the opening depth too small to stick your head through the open window.

Apart from that - and poor legroom, I find the 155s to be quite satisfactory.

 

[Kurolus Rex]

They work Hull to York and Hull to Scarborough routes,though the latter are reportedly going over to 170 and 158 haulage in new timetable. 155s will be on Bridlington to York runs.

Last time i was on the line it was mostly 170s but i have also seen 155s on it before.

 

[Peter Bonner]

as a passenger I despise the 155, they’re often cold, slow, uncomfortable and the door arrangement isn’t suitable for the high volume routes the run on.




They are still a fairly common sight around Leeds.

Agree with you they are cold in winter. Had two Hull to York runs in Nov and they were freezing. Conductors both said that was normal!

 

[PG]

Hopper windows are a menace in my opinion - basically they are either fully closed or fully open, which (dependent on the weather) means you can either get baked or frozen. In the absence of aircon, they ought to have used sliding ventilators, where passengers can control the amount of ventilation - for safety, make the opening depth too small to stick your head through the open window.

Apart from that - and poor legroom, I find the 155s to be quite satisfactory.

I might be wrong but I suspect hopper windows were fitted as they didn't need to be closed before going through the carriage washer.

 

[faltskog36abba]

I used the 155s for years on the Calder valley line between tod and man vic. As others have said- I think they are a good train but prefer a 158, But better than a 150.

 

[O L Leigh]

Also,of note was the hire in of some 156s from Inverness because of the stock shortages.

Quite a number of the Cl156s that covered for the Cl155s during this period were actually Norwich units that were worked through from Birmingham or Manchester.

In fact, the temporary withdrawal of the Cl155s had very far-reaching consequences, even as far afield as East Anglia. Because “our” Cl156s were being pinched to cover Cardiff turns, we’d get either Tyseley or Newton Heath Cl150s working through in their place, or even WMPTE branded 1st gen units.

 

[ohgoditsjames]

The legroom is inhuman, similar to the 153’s

 

[GoneSouth]

The legroom is inhuman, similar to the 153’s

I have to disagree with this. I travelled on a Northern service on a refurbished 155 yesterday, my first time on one for about 25 years. I must say it was better than I remember. plenty of leg room at pretty much all seats from what I could see.

What really struck me though is what a smooth ride it was, especially compared with the ride I’d had on the new 195 earlier. That was jittery, noisy and just too firm. It was also reasonably quiet. I quite enjoyed it. The lighting isn’t as harsh as the new trains either, given it’s tucked away behind diffusers.

Nice job northern, now just add that finishing touch by restoring the original WYPTE red and cream livery, it was much nicer than anything those units have worn since, especially that lilac abomination.

There’sa photo of the original liberty on the wiki page at
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_155

 

[61653 HTAFC]

That isn't the original livery, it's the revised version with the narrow cream stripe. The original livery can be seen here (not my image).

 

[spionkop64]

Didn't WY Metro buy 155s instead of 150s?

Yes, they were staple on Hull-Scarborough run, but, as perviously mentioned, since the timetable change, service has been extended to Sheffield-Hull-Scarborough and it is 170s and 158s. Was on one of the Halifax-Hull services last week, that was a 170 as well. Not sure what the usual traction is on that route?

 

[Peter Bonner]

Didn't WY Metro buy 155s instead of 150s?

Yes, they were staple on Hull-Scarborough run, but, as perviously mentioned, since the timetable change, service has been extended to Sheffield-Hull-Scarborough and it is 170s and 158s. Was on one of the Halifax-Hull services last week, that was a 170 as well. Not sure what the usual traction is on that route?

Didn't WY Metro buy 155s instead of 150s?

Yes, they were staple on Hull-Scarborough run, but, as perviously mentioned, since the timetable change, service has been extended to Sheffield-Hull-Scarborough and it is 170s and 158s. Was on one of the Halifax-Hull services last week, that was a 170 as well. Not sure what the usual traction is on that route?

155s currently form most of the York to Bridlington via Hull service. Odd one goes to Scarboro too.

In the last timetable 155s formed the Scarboro to Hull service. The Scarboro to Sheffield via Hull service is now usually 170s with a few 158s.

Hull to Halifax service is mix of 155s,158s and 170s,

 

[GoneSouth]

That isn't the original livery, it's the revised version with the narrow cream stripe. The original livery can be seen here (not my image).

You’re right and actually the original looked even better with the narrow yellow stripe.

How were the WYPTE units bought? Some on here say that WYPTE bought the units, which is kind of difficult to believe... how would they be able to afford them? And if that is the case, how are they now owned by the rolling stick companies?