British Rail Class 168


The Class 168 Clubman is a British diesel multiple-unit passenger train used on Chiltern Line services between London Marylebone and the West Midlands .

Description

The trains were built in several batches from 1997 onwards. The first batch was classified 168/0 under TOPS and resembled the Class 165 units previously built by BREL York. The Networker-design cab was an interim solution pending the design of a completely new cab for further Turbostar batches. Subsequent builds, subclassed as 168/1 and 168/2, were constructed at the same time as the Class 170 Turbostar and thus are part of the Turbostar family of trains.
The first batch of Clubman carriages ordered by Chiltern Railways were the first units ordered by any train operating company since the privatisation of the UK industry in 1996. They were delivered as 3-car sets but later lengthened to 4-car sets.

Seating

A typical Class 168 consists of 2+2 standard-class seating throughout, arranged either around tables or in airline-style seating with pull-down tables. The majority of seats are facing seats. The Class 168 is carpeted throughout with luggage racks, air conditioning, and two or more toilets per set. Passenger information systems are fitted in every car and on the outside of class 168/2 cars.

Variants

Three different variants of the 168 were produced - 168/0, 168/1 and 168/2. Both Classes 168/1 and 168/2 are actually of the same design as the Class 170 Turbostar DMU trains, mainly due to the redesigned cab ends. The nine Class 170s that Chiltern obtained from First TransPennine Express were converted by Brush Traction to operate with the Class 168 fleet, and redesignated as Class 168/3.
ClassOperatorNo. BuiltYear BuiltCars per SetUnit nos.
Class 168/0Chiltern Railways519984168001 - 168005
Class 168/1Chiltern Railways820004168106 - 168107
Class 168/1Chiltern Railways820003168108 - 168113
Class 168/2Chiltern Railways620043168214, 168218 - 168219
Class 168/2Chiltern Railways620044168215 - 168217
Class 168/3Chiltern Railways920002168321 - 168329

Operations

originally planned the Class 168 for its expansion of service on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill or New Street. These units were planned to have a higher top speed of and better acceleration than the Class 165 Network Turbo DMU trains.
In the event, privatisation intervened before NSE acquired any units; Chiltern Railways operates these units, in similar diagrams to those originally planned by NSE.

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