| BR Pacer Class 143 | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Introduced |
1985 |
|
Built |
25 |
|
In Service |
23 |
|
Scrapped |
2 |
|
Formation |
2 Carriges |
|
Capacity |
106 Seats |
|
Top Speed |
75 mph |
British Railways Class 143 is a PacerDMU and has been in service for 26 years
History[]
Built around the same time as the British Railways Class 142 the Class 143 is often refered to a s a bus on rails. Twenty-five units were built, numbered 143001-025, originally deployed in North-East England. 143001-019 were supplied in Provincial railbus-style two-tone blue livery, and 143020-025 were supplied in Tyne & Wear PTE yellow+white livery. In 1989, Heaton depot (Newcastle) implemented a unit renumbering scheme, whereby those with original SCG mechanical transmission would be renumbered 1433XX, and those that had undergone conversion to Voith hydraulic transmission would be renumbered 1436XX. By this time, many units had already received Voith transmission, so were renumbered directly from 1430XX to 1436XX. Only the T&WPTE-sponsored units - which received Voith transmission later on - actually carried the 1433XX series, renumbered to 1436XX when they were eventually converted. Out of the original 25 only 2 have been scrapped and the rest are currently in service.