Rolling stock › In serviceData updated
Class 155 Super Sprinter
Leyland Bus's two-car regional diesel of the late 1980s, built at Workington. Only seven are left as two-car trains, all with Northern: the West Yorkshire passenger transport executive's units, sold to Porterbrook in 2011. The other 35 were split into single-car Class 153s.
Scale
152 ft (46.42 m) (the cars’ lengths added)
Class 155 Super Sprinter · schematic drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/155/ · CC BY 4.0
You’re welcome to use this drawing
Free to use, change and share, in print or online, under CC BY 4.0. Please credit it:
Drawing: GB Trains, gbtrains.uk, CC BY 4.0Online, link the words to this page. The downloaded file already carries the credit; please leave it on. What the licence covers
Liveries 1
NorthernNorthernYellow front, blue cab ends over a white door, blue inner doors; colours from photographsShown aboveFormer liveries 5
West Yorkshire PTE carmine and creamRan as West Yorkshire PTE / BR ProvincialFormer1988 to c1990Not drawn yet
Regional RailwaysRan as BR Regional RailwaysFormerc1990 to 1997Not drawn yet
Northern Spirit / Arriva Trains NorthernFormer1997 to 2004Not drawn yet
Northern RailFormer2004 to 2016Not drawn yet
Arriva Rail NorthFormer2016 to 2020Not drawn yet
- Type
- Diesel multiple unit
- Builder
- Leyland Bus, Workington
- Family
- Sprinter, with Class 150 Sprinter, Class 153 Super Sprinter, Class 156 Super Sprinter, Class 158 Express Sprinter, Class 159 South Western Turbo
- Built
- 1987–1988
- In service
- since 1988
- Operators
- Northern
- Formation
- 2 cars (DMSL-DMS), each 76 ft 2 in (23.21 m) long
- Trains in fleet
- 7
- Fleets
- Northern: 7
- Top speed
- 75 mph (121 km/h)
- Power
- Diesel · how it works
- Bogies
- Sprinter and Networker family bogies, outside-framed and air-sprung, drawn from the Class 150's BP38/BT38 · drawn with the same bogie component as Class 150 Sprinter, Class 153 Super Sprinter, Class 156 Super Sprinter, Class 158 Express Sprinter, Class 159 South Western Turbo, Class 466 Networker
- Train length
- 152 ft (46.42 m) (the cars’ lengths added)
- Car height
- 12 ft 3 in (3.746 m)
- Car width
- 8 ft 10 in (2.70 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Total capacity
- 152 or 160 seats and 56 or 60 standing per unit, 208 or 220 in all (Northern's 2022 contract)
- Status
- In service with Northern: seven two-car units. Northern plans to replace them, with its Class 150s and 156s, in the first phase of its new-train programme, from about 2031.
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMSL | Driving motor standard with lavatory (DMSL) | 76 ft 2 in23.208 m | 2 single |
| DMS | Driving motor standard (DMS) | 76 ft 2 in23.208 m | 2 single |
Sources
How we source figures → · Spotted a mistake? Tell us → (opens in a new tab)
Show the 17 sources from Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, British Railways Board, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department and 8 more
- Vehicle Diagram Book No. 220 for Diesel Multiple Unit Trains (Railcars), with the Class 150/2 (DP242, DP243; October 1986), Class 156 (DP244, DP245; March 1987) and Class 155 (DP248, DP249; September 1988) diagrams British Railways Board, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department (PDF copy by J. D. Faulkner, 2010, from the book lent by L. Anton; copyright BRB Residuary Ltd), 1982, revised to March 1989, pp. DP248 and DP249 (PDF pp. 90-93)DP248 (DMSL) and DP249 (DMS), September 1988: 74 ft 3 in (22,640 mm) over the body, 76 ft 2 in (23,208 mm) coupled, 8 ft 10 in (2,700 mm) wide, 12 ft 3 in (3,746 mm) high, bogie centres 52 ft 6 in (16,000 mm), wheelbase 8 ft 6 in (2,600 mm), BT38 and P3-10 bogies, two single doors a side near the ends, BSI couplers outer end and a bar inner end, gangways; Cummins NT 855-R5 engines and Voith transmission; the drawing's inner end, windows and gangway
- DfT OLR Holdings Limited and Northern Trains Limited 2022: services contract (public register copy, version 1.1x) Department for Transport, 24 February 2022, pp. 145-146 (Appendix 1 to Schedule 1.6, Table 1)seven two-car units (14 vehicles); 152 or 160 seats and 56 or 60 standing per unit
- West Yorkshire DMUs sold to Porterbrook Railway Gazette International, 23 May 2011Porterbrook buys the seven two-car Class 155s from Metro (West Yorkshire PTE), May 2011; leased to Northern Rail; financed by Metro in the 1980s
- Class 153 Angel TrainsLeyland Bus; 75 mph (121 km/h); 76 ft 2 in (23.21 m) and 8 ft 10 in (2.70 m; the Class 153s, converted from Class 155 cars)
- Reality Check: Class 153 DMU (Evan Green-Hughes, Hornby Magazine HM221) Key Publishing / Hornby Magazine, 2025-11-01Class 155s built by Leyland Bus at Workington, 35 later split into single-car 153s
- Class 153 single car railcars Railways in Worcestershire (miac.org.uk, enthusiast)Class 155s built 1987/88
- Northern's new trains Northern (Northern Trains Limited), accessed 7 October 2026phase one of the new trains replaces the Class 150s, 155s and 156s
- Passenger benefits key to Northern's lease of Class 350s Rail, 13 July 2026replacement of the 150s, 155s and 156s planned for 2031
- British Rail Class 155 Wikipedia, accessed 7 October 2026seven left; 75 mph (121 km/h); 1988 (cross-check)
- '155346 Hull Paragon 121024.jpg' (photograph: 155346 in Northern livery from the side, DMSL leading, cab at the left; CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 12 October 2024the drawing's side, window layout, inner end and livery (layout and colour only); the step frame under the cab-end door, seen (set T11, 28 October 2026, T113)
- '155341 Beverley LC 111024.jpg' (photograph: 155341 in Northern livery at Beverley level crossing, in sunshine; CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 11 October 2024the livery's colours in sunshine and the inner ends (layout only)
- 'York Railway Station - geograph.org.uk - 6070314.jpg' (photograph: 155341 at York, cab at the right; CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons, from Geograph (JThomas), 23 February 2019the other side's window layout (layout only)
- British Rail Class 153 Wikipedia, accessed 5 October 2026check: the No. 2 end's cab added in the conversion, at the old inner end
- ScotRail 153 and 156 Bridge of Orchy - Rannoch.jpg: a Highland Explorer 153 leading a 156 over a viaduct (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Kabelleger), 11 April 2025the cab's BSI coupler and plough, as the Class 153's (set BC2, 20 October 2026; layout only)
- '153333 parked at Chester 220324 (53604600304).jpg' (photograph: 153333 in Transport for Wales colours, side-on; CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Foulger Rail Photos, CC BY-SA 2.0), 22 March 2024the step frame under door 1 on a 153 (a converted 155): its place and size, scaled on the door (set T11, 28 October 2026, T113; layout only)
- British Rail Class 155 Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
- Regional Railways Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
.jpg){kind=link}
unverified
- Built 1987–1988 and introduced 1988: the seven are BR's diagram DP248 of September 1988; Wikipedia gives 1986–1987 for the class's construction and 4 August 1987 for the first 155s in service, and 1988 for these (citing Marsden); an enthusiast site gives 1987/88
- The 35 split into Class 153s: Hornby Magazine (2025) and Wikipedia; the 153s were converted in 1991–92
- The drawing: the 153's measured body, with the inner end read off BR's DP248/DP249 at about 8 mm per pixel (the diagrams are schematic: their window pitch is about 1.5% shorter than the 153 outline's, and they don't close, 3,285 + 16,000 + 3,285 = 22,570 against 22,640 over the body), so the inner end is good to about 50 mm; the narrow window by each inner door read off one photograph (155346, DMSL) scaled by the door beside it, to about 50 mm, and the DMS's taken to match
- The drawing's underframe: the Class 153's (laid out from a side diagram, layout only) under both cars; the DMS's may differ, and it isn't checked against photographs car by car
- The drawing's livery: the yellow corner's width on the side and the blue end's back edge read off one rectified photograph (155346); colours as the site's other Northern drawings
- The two sides differ: on the side not drawn, the DMSL's two window positions nearest its inner door are panelled over (155341 at York, 2019)
- The years of the former liveries come from Wikipedia's class article and the other sources listed, and haven't been checked against a second source.
Know a source for one of these? Send it to us → (opens in a new tab)