Rolling stock › In serviceData updated
Class 175 Coradia
Alstom diesel trains that ran in Wales and the Marches until 2023-24, then were stored. GWR is bringing 26 of them back for Devon and Cornwall, replacing its Castle High Speed Trains.
Scale
231 ft (70.44 m) (the cars’ lengths added)
Class 175 Coradia · schematic drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/175/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 1
Transport for Wales liveryTfW's red and white, from its livery drawings (released under FOI); most of GWR's 175s still carry itShown aboveFormer liveries 2
First North WesternFormer1999-2000 to 2008-09Not drawn yet
Arriva Trains WalesFormer2008 to 2018-19Not drawn yet
- Type
- Diesel multiple unit
- Builder
- Alstom (Washwood Heath, Birmingham)
- Built
- 1999–2001
- In service
- since 2000
- Operators
- GWR
- Formation
- 2 or 3 cars
- Fleets
- Great Western Railway: 15 of 26
- Top speed
- 100 mph (161 km/h)
- Power
- Diesel: a Cummins N14 engine (450 hp) under each car, with Voith T211 hydraulic transmission · how it works
- Bogies
- Alstom bogies (no published type) · drawn with the same bogie component as Class 180 Adelante
- Train length
- 231 ft (70.44 m) (the cars’ lengths added)
- Car width
- 8 ft 11 in (2.73 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Status
- Being brought into service by GWR: 15 of 26 transferred by September 2026. They needed more recommissioning work than expected after storage, so some Penzance-Plymouth-Exeter trains are cancelled from 7 September to 12 December 2026 (GWR).
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMSL | Driving motor standard with lavatory (DMSL) | 77 ft 9 in23.71 m | 2 single |
| MSL | Intermediate motor standard with lavatory (MSL), in three-car units | 75 ft 6 in23.02 m | 2 single |
Sources
How we source figures → · Spotted a mistake? Tell us → (opens in a new tab)
Show the 25 sources from Wikimedia Commons, Transport for Wales Rail Ltd, Richard Ash, via Wikimedia Commons and 15 more
- Class 175 Angel Trains11 two-car and 16 three-car units, car lengths, width, 100 mph (161 km/h)
- First GWR's recommissioned Class 175 DMU entered passenger service Railvolution, December 2025first GWR passenger service, 15 December 2025; 26 units
- GWR cancels services as Class 175 problems go on Railnews, 7 September 202615 transferred by 7 September 2026; cancellations (status)
- Service changes between Penzance, Plymouth and Exeter St Davids Great Western Railway, 2026 (changes from 7 September to 12 December 2026)26 being introduced, 15 transferred so far, needing more recommissioning than expected; cancellations from 7 September to 12 December 2026 (status)
- Class 175 Livery Design [Driving Vehicles] and [Centre Vehicles] Transport for Wales Rail Ltd (released under FOI: 'Livery designs for current rolling stock'), released 9 September 2021, pp. 1-2side and end views of the driving and centre cars (measured); colours of the drawing; the bogies' layout (the same bogie at both ends of every car)
- Class 769 Transport for Wales Livery Concept, Option 6, DG8-SK-92454 Issue C Transport for Wales Rail Ltd (released under FOI: 'Livery designs for current rolling stock'), 8 February 2019 (released 11 August 2021), p. 1paint references for TfW's red and grey scheme
- Class 150 Transport for Wales Livery Concept C, Option 1, DG8-SK-92444 Issue B Transport for Wales Rail Ltd (released under FOI: 'Livery designs for current rolling stock'), 21 November 2018 (released 11 August 2021), p. 1paint references for TfW's red and grey scheme
- First North Western launches Class 175 Railway Gazette International, 2000-03-01First five of 27 Alstom Coradia Class 175s unveiled at Chester on 4 February 2000, with commercial service planned for May 2000
- Alstom completes Coradia Class 175 overhaul for ATW Rail Engineer, 2011-07-07The Class 175s were first introduced in June 2000 by First North Western
- Great Western Railway's acquisition of 175s confirmed with 2025 introduction planned RAIL magazine, 2024-11-04Units delivered 1999–2000 after the First North Western order
- North Wales Coast Railway: the Class 175 nwrail.org.uk (enthusiast history)Test runs from autumn 1999; built 1999-2001 at Alstom's Washwood Heath plant (builder); a Cummins N14 of 450 hp and Voith T211 transmission under each car (power); all withdrawn from TfW service in 2023-24 (summary); First North Western's logos removed from 2004, Arriva's colours from 2008 to July 2009, TfW's vinyls from October 2018 (former liveries)
- References: High-Speed Trains and Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) Voith Turbo, May 2008, p. 22the sister Class 180's (Coradia 1000) bogies: 8 ft 6 in (2,600 mm) wheelbase, 52 ft 6 in (16,000 mm) bogie centres on a 77 ft 9 in (23,700 mm) car (drawing); one bogie a car driven, both axles
- ATW-175106-CardiffCentral-01.jpg: 175 106 at Cardiff Central (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Chris McKenna (Thryduulf), via Wikimedia Commons, 10 May 2006the bogies' layout (175 106's leading bogie, three-quarter view; photograph, layout only)
- Transport for Wales 175 010 (50151327373) at Pontyclun.jpg (photograph, 24 July 2020, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Hugh Llewelyn), 24 July 2020the body's colour (white, overcast)
- Hereford - Keolis Amey 175003 in TfW livery.JPG (photograph, 2 November 2018, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Geof Sheppard), 2 November 2018the body's colour (white, in sun)
- Coach at Chester railway station (26829501241).jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) Richard Ash, via Wikimedia Commons (Flickr), 3 February 2016layout of the underframe equipment (the DMSL's skirt, panels, grille, slots, joints; layout only)
- 175107 + 175101 passes over Usk Railway Bridge, Newport 31 01 23 (52661810585).jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) Foulger Rail Photos, via Wikimedia Commons (Flickr), 31 January 2023layout of the underframe equipment (the MSL's skirt and its details, along the car; layout only)
- Arriva Trains Wales at Chester 1.JPG (photograph, CC BY-SA 3.0) Rept0n1x, via Wikimedia Commons, 5 September 2009layout of the underframe equipment (a check of the MSL's trailing slots and the skirt's end; layout only)
- Transport for Wales carriages - geograph.org.uk - 6559382.jpg (photograph: a two-car Class 175/0 on a sea wall, side on from the beach below; CC BY-SA 2.0) Alan Hughes, via Wikimedia Commons (Geograph), 3 August 2020the 175/0's DMSL-DMSL inner join: no daylight below the bellows (set S175; photograph from below, layout only)
- Coradia coaches 79765 and 50701 Melton DGL.jpg (photograph: two Class 175 DMSLs, 79765 of 175115 and 50701 of 175001, coupled inner end to inner end; CC BY 2.0) kitmasterbloke, via Wikimedia Commons (Flickr), 29 January 2025a DMSL-DMSL inner join side on: the bellows dark down to the body's foot (set S175; photograph, layout only)
- Arriva Trains Wales at Chester 1.JPG (photograph, CC BY-SA 3.0) Rept0n1x, via Wikimedia Commons, 5 September 2009a DMSL-MSL inner join: dark below the bellows, no daylight (set S175; photograph, layout only)
- Coach at Chester railway station (26829501241).jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) Richard Ash, via Wikimedia Commons (Flickr), 3 February 2016the passenger-door windows' offset in the leaves, rectified (set T12, 28 October 2026)
- Hereford - Keolis Amey 175003 in TfW livery.JPG (photograph, 2 November 2018, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Geof Sheppard), 2 November 2018the passenger-door windows' offset (about 75 mm toward the cab) and the step's colour (set T12, 28 October 2026)
- Transport for Wales 175 010 (50151327373) at Pontyclun.jpg (photograph, 24 July 2020, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Hugh Llewelyn), 24 July 2020the step under the passenger doors: dark unpainted metal (set T12, 28 October 2026)
- British Rail Class 175 Wikipedia, read 13 October 2026the livery's name, who ran it and its years (no colours taken)
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unverified
- The drawing: TfW's livery sheets print no lengths and are 1.8% taller than long when scaled to Angel Trains' car lengths; lengths follow Angel Trains, heights the printed 11 ft 0 in (3,342 mm)
- Height: no published Class 175 height was found; the roof (12 ft 3 in (3.73 m)) is measured off the sheets' end views
- Step and floor heights: the sheets' printed 3 ft 10 in (1,180 mm) to the top of the step measures 1,095, so the door bottoms, bodyside bottom and steps may be drawn 50-85 mm low
- Wheels (2 ft 8 in (810 mm)) and wheelbase (8 ft 7 in (2,615 mm)) are as the sheets draw them; no published figures were found
- Livery: drawn in TfW's colours, without branding
- The build years, 1999-2001, at Alstom's Washwood Heath plant: nwrail.org.uk, an enthusiast history; RAIL says the units were delivered in 1999-2000, and acceptance ran into 2001 and later
- The bogies: no published designation was found for the Class 175's (Wikipedia gives "Alstom MB2" for the sister Class 180's, uncited; Voith dimensions the 180's wheelbase at 8 ft 6 in (2,600 mm), against 2,615 measured off TfW's sheets); laid out from TfW's livery sheets and one photograph, layout only; the low box on the car-centre side, as the sheets draw it, isn't identified
- The body colour: the FOI concept keys for the TfW 769 and 150 give NCS S 3000-N, a mid grey, and the 175 sheets draw the body grey, but photographs of the 175s (175003 in 2018, 175010 in 2020) show it near white; drawn white from the photographs
- The underframe: the DMSL read off one side-on photograph (positions to about 50 mm); the MSL's positions mapped from an oblique photograph and checked on a second to about 100 mm, its heights taken from the DMSL; the MSL's trailing half is confirmed on a true view (Chester, 2009); its leading half is the Usk bridge view mirrored, its side not known, and the radiator grille's tone differs between them
- 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.
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