The British Rail Class 156 is a series of commuter and regional diesel trains built in 1987–1989 at the Metro-Cammel facility in Birmingham . The design has a number of common elements with the BRC 154 and BRC 150. It belongs to the family of diesel trains of the second generation Sprinter, created on the basis of mark 3 cars.
| British Rail Class 156 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Production | |
| Years built | 1987–1989 |
| Country of construction |  Great Britain |
| Manufacturer | Metropolitan-Cammel (Metro-Cammel for short) |
| Compositions built | 114 |
| Technical details | |
| Type of service | passenger |
| The number of cars in the composition | multiple of 2 (with the ability to work on CME) |
| Axial formula | 2 0 −2 0 |
| Composition length | 2x23.03 m |
| Track width | 1435 mm |
| Wagon material | aluminum |
| engine's type | Cummins NT855-R5 Diesel |
| Number of diesel engines | one for each car |
| Engine power | 286 hp |
| Type of transmission | hydraulic |
| Maximum service speed | 121 km / h |
| Exploitation | |
| Country of operation | Great Britain |
| In operation | since 1987 |
Description
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the need arose to replace regional and suburban trains, the fleet of which consisted of numerous first-generation diesel trains and locomotive-bearing trains. Metro-Cammel created a new diesel train based on the experimental BRC 154. To simplify production and operation, major changes were introduced, and the driver’s cab was unified with the BRC 150 that was produced in those years. The length of the car was increased from 20 m to 23 m. Automatic couplings allow you to work on the system of many units with other diesel trains of the Sprinter family. The number of cars is 2, but it is possible to couple several trains depending on the passenger traffic.
Operation
The first 100 trains were transferred to the Provincial Sector (a division of British Railways). Later, 20 of them were repainted in the colors of the new express brand Regional Railways. The following 14 trains were handed over to SPT in Scotland. In the 1990s, it was planned to convert two-car trains into single-car BRC 152 with two cabs. This scheme was implemented on another train - BRC 155, which was converted into BRC 153. In the second half of the 1990s, all trains were handed over to private operators, and their operation is currently ongoing.