British Rail Class 166

src: upload.wikimedia.org

The British Rail Class 166 Turbo Express is a fleet of diesel multiple units (DMUs), originally specified by and built for British Rail, the then United Kingdom state owned railway operator. They were built by ABB at York Works between 1992 and 1993. The trains were designed as a faster, air conditioned variant of the Class 165 Turbo, intended for longer distance services, and, like the 165s, belong to the Networker family of trains. They were originally known as Networker Turbos to distinguish them from the electrically propelled members of that family.

The class is still in service, and is extensively operated by Great Western Railway on its local services out of London Paddington station. In July 2017, they began operation on the Severn Beach line in Bristol to allow other services to be strengthened. Since September, they have rapidly been introduced on other routes such as the Weston-super-Mare to Bristol Parkway and Cardiff Central and Taunton services. Also in January 2018, they began service on the Golden Valley line.

Today, Class 166's alongside the Class 165's are normally referred to as Thames Turbos or just simply Turbos.

Video British Rail Class 166

Description

These units are a modification of the Class 165 design. They have a top speed of 90 mph (145 km/h) (suitable for mainline use), are carpeted throughout and have air-conditioning. Externally, the class 166 can be distinguished from a Class 165 by opening hoppers on every other window. Until late 2013 the presence of first class at each end was another distinguishing feature.

Other differences over a 165 are as follows:

Air conditioning
Two toilets (a 165 only has one toilet per unit)
Tables in first class and in one third of the middle carriage
Dedicated cycle/luggage storage in the middle carriage
Different interior panelling between the door and seating areas

Twenty-one 3-car units were built, numbered 166201-221. Each unit was formed of two outer driving motors, and an intermediate motor. The technical description of the formation is DMCO+MSO+DMSL. Individual carriages are numbered as follows:

58101-58121 - DMCO
58601-58621 - MSO
58122-58142 - DMSL changed from DMCO in 2013

The units were built to replace elderly Class 117, Class 119 and Class 121 DMUs, and locomotive-hauled trains on services from London Paddington along the Great Western Main Line.

Six cars were added to the original order in 1991 after Network SouthEast acquired some of the Cotswold Line services from Regional Railways to allow Class 158 units to be converted to Class 159s for the West of England services.

Class 166 units are designed for driver-only operation. In cases where a Guard is required they must carry out their door operation duties via a bell system to signal the Drivers to close doors and start the train. This requires the Guard to return to a vacant cab at each station to carry out these duties; this practice can be observed on Great Western Railway services on the Cotswold Line and North Downs Line.

Maps British Rail Class 166

Operations

When built, these units were operated by the Thames Line and North Downs Line subdivisions of Network SouthEast.

Their main destinations included fast-trains to Reading, Newbury and Oxford, with some services continuing beyond Oxford to Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon, or along the Cotswold Line to Evesham, Worcester, Great Malvern and Hereford. Units are also used on the Reading to Gatwick Airport services along the North Downs Line. Many services operated by the 166 were branded as Turbo Express in the timetables.

Following privatisation, the units passed to the Thames Trains franchise. In April 2004, operation of the Thames Trains franchise passed to the First Great Western Link, and subsequently to First Great Western.

In 2012, First Great Western took delivery of five Class 180 Adelante units for Cotswold Line services, and three-car Class 150 Sprinter units for Reading to Basingstoke Line services, allowing Class 165 and 166 units to be used entirely for Thames Valley services.

From July 2017, a number of Turbos were transferred to the Severn Beach Line to provide extra capacity during busy services.

The Class 166 units entered service on Bristol Parkway to Weston-super-Mare services on 23 October 2017.

src: bluerail.co.uk

London and Thames Valley Refresh

Towards the end of January 2010, First Great Western announced an £8 million refresh programme to their fleet of Class 166 Turbo DMU trains. The carpets & seats were retrimmed, interiors repainted, Passenger Information Displays replaced with a GPS based system and toilets upgraded. The refresh work was carried out at Reading Depot. All 151 vehicles have now been refurbished.

In late 2014, another set of refreshes to the Class 166 was started. This included the fitting of LED head/tail lights, new toilets which are more accessible than the old toilets, new door buzzers & new door buttons of the standard design with a round button on a yellow ring. All units have now received the refresh. Unit 166204 was named in honour of Twyford station master Norman Topsom MBE who retired in November 2015. The changes made during the 2010 refresh remain in place, however the units will all be receiving new 2+2 seating, for use on longer distance services such as Bristol to Weymouth once the fleet are cascaded to the Bristol area.