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Class 196 Civity
CAF's Civity diesel for West Midlands Railway, mostly assembled at Newport in South Wales, with gangways in the cab ends so that units can be walked through. It replaced the Class 170s on the Shrewsbury and Hereford lines from 2022 and runs the reopened Camp Hill line.
Scale
Class 196 Civity · indicative drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/196/ · CC BY 4.0
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- Type
- Diesel multiple unit
- Builder
- CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles); most assembled at Newport, South Wales
- Family
- Civity, with Class 195 Civity, Class 197 Civity, Class 331 Civity, Class 397 Civity (Nova 2)
- Built
- 2019–2022
- In service
- since 2022
- Operators
- WMR
- Formation
- 2 or 4 cars: two-car 196/0 (DMSL-DMS) and four-car 196/1 (DMSL-MS-MSL-DMS)
- Trains in fleet
- 26
- Fleets
- West Midlands Railway: 26
- Top speed
- 99 mph (160 km/h)
- Power
- Diesel: an MTU engine of 390 kW (13 litres, six cylinders) under each car · how it works
- Bogies
- CAF ARIN bogies (Civity UK) · drawn with the same bogie component as Class 195 Civity, Class 197 Civity, Class 331 Civity, Class 397 Civity (Nova 2)
- Profile
- main-line
- Air-conditioned
- Yes
- Seats per train
- 311
- Total capacity
- Four-car 196/1: 311 seats; two-car 196/0: 141 (West Midlands Railway), all standard class, 2+2
- Status
- In service: 26 units (12 two-car and 14 four-car) on Birmingham to Shrewsbury, Birmingham to Hereford, Leamington Spa to Nuneaton and the Camp Hill line, maintained at Tyseley. Owned by Porterbrook since January 2026, when it bought them from Corelink.
unverified Some of these figures haven’t yet been checked against an official source or a published history. What’s in doubt ↓
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMSL | Driving motor standard with lavatory (DMSL) | 78 ft 9 in24.00 m | 2 double |
| MS | Motor standard (MS), in four-car 196/1s | 78 ft 9 in24.00 m | 2 double |
| MSL | Motor standard with lavatory (MSL), in four-car 196/1s | 78 ft 9 in24.00 m | 2 double |
| DMS | Driving motor standard (DMS) | 78 ft 9 in24.00 m | 2 double |
Sources
How we source figures → · Spotted a mistake? Tell us → (opens in a new tab)
Show the 27 sources from Wikimedia Commons, West Midlands Railway, Office of Rail and Road and 9 more
- 196002 at Leamington Spa 27 07 25 (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Foulger Rail Photos), 27 July 2025the gangway, headlamp, windscreen and the orange cab roof's end, rectified (drawing, job civity)
- 'Class 197 train approaching Cardiff Central.jpg' (photograph: 197004's cab end near side-on; CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Suntooth, CC BY-SA 4.0), 4 July 2023the gangway's frame, bellows and top, the headlamp (drawing, the same CAF cab)
- Class 196 fact sheet (archived) West Midlands Railway, October 2022CAF; 26 trains (14 four-car, 12 two-car), 80 carriages; 100 mph (161 km/h); 311 and 141 seats, 2+2; air conditioning; most built at CAF's factory in South Wales; replacing the Class 170s
- CAF WMT Class 196 Diesel Multiple Unit: authorisation under the Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2011 (EIN UK/51/2020/0049) Office of Rail and Road, 26 August 2020unit and vehicle numbers 196001-012 (DMSL-DMS) and 196101-114 (DMSL-MS-MSL-DMS); 160 km/h (99 mph); up to eight cars in service
- CAF Class 196 enters service with West Midlands Trains (archived) Railway Gazette International, October 2022first passenger working 17 October 2022 (196101); 79 ft (24 m) cars, a 390 kW 13-litre six-cylinder MTU engine each; 160 km/h (99 mph); end gangways; assembly at Newport
- New West Midlands Railway fleet enters passenger service (archived) West Midlands Railway, 17 October 2022first passengers 17 October 2022, Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street; Hereford line next
- Historic Camp Hill railway line reopens for first time in eighty years West Midlands Railway, 7 April 2026Class 196s on the Camp Hill line from 7 April 2026
- Two brand-new West Midlands Railway stations welcome first passengers West Midlands Railway, 19 March 2026Class 196s on the Shrewsbury line via Darlaston and Willenhall
- Huge depot redevelopment completed by West Midlands Railway RAIL (Rich Wilcock), 27 October 2025Tyseley depot, home of the Class 196s; the 96-metre four-car units
- West Midlands Trains' new rolling stock and depots Rail Engineer, 19 August 202480 vehicles in 14 four-car and 12 two-car units; launched October 2022; 311 and 141 seats
- Porterbrook acquires Corelink fleets Porterbrook, 8 January 2026Porterbrook buys Corelink's 80 Class 196 vehicles, January 2026
- West Midlands Trains finalises £680m deal for new trains with Bombardier and CAF West Midlands Trains, 12 December 2017order from CAF, December 2017
- British Rail Class 196 Wikipediadoors; East West Rail (cross-check only)
- The Class 195 Diesel Multiple Unit (specification sheet) Arriva Rail North, 24 January 2018, p. layout drawingsthe drawing: the Class 195's body, which the 196 is drawn on
- Gearboxes solutions (CAF Mobility product brochure) CAF Mobility, accessed 8 October 2026, p. 11wheels 2 ft 7 in (780 mm) new (drawing)
- Regional and intercity trains: Civity (Civity UK) CAF, read 9 October 2026the Civity UK's ARIN bogies (the bogie type, drawing)
- 196010 Grand Union Canal Bridge, Bordesley (photograph, 17 December 2025, CC BY 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 17 December 2025the cab, cab door and window layout (drawing)
- 196 008 Milverton Viaduct (photograph, 17 September 2024, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 17 September 2024the window layout, the blue accessible door, the orange ends (drawing)
- 196 105 at Birmingham New Street, 15 April 2026 (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Hugh Llewelyn), 15 April 2026the gangwayed cab, the bogies, the MS's windows (drawing)
- 196002 at Leamington Spa 27 07 25 (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Foulger Rail Photos), 27 July 2025West Midlands Railway's colours (drawing)
- 196 105 at Birmingham New Street, 15 April 2026 (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Hugh Llewelyn), 15 April 2026the rhombuses at the cab end and at both inner ends, measured at full size; the redder net (drawing)
- 'West Midlands Railway Class 196 Civity DMU (196006).jpg' (photograph: 196006, both cars near side-on; CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Samson Ng, CC BY-SA 4.0), 23 May 2025the rhombuses on both cars, near side-on (drawing)
- 197 007 Stafford 081025 (photograph, 8 October 2025, CC BY 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 8 October 2025the cab coupler: its position, heights and shape (set BC5, 20 October 2026)
- 196010 Grand Union Canal Bridge, Bordesley (photograph, 17 December 2025, CC BY 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 17 December 2025the door-leaf windows, about 6 ft 3 in to 9 ft 8 in (1,905-2,951 mm; set T11, Kyle, 28 October 2026, T1121; drawing)
- 196 008 Milverton Viaduct (photograph, 17 September 2024, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 17 September 2024the door-leaf windows (6 ft 3 in to 9 ft 8 in (1,909-2,944 mm)) and the accessible door's blue panel to about 9 ft 11 in (3,030 mm; set T11, Kyle, 28 October 2026, T1121; drawing)
- 196 105 at Birmingham New Street, 15 April 2026 (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Hugh Llewelyn), 15 April 2026the cab step: an open ladder, two yellow-nosed treads and the top tread in a recess (set T11, Kyle, 28 October 2026, T1122; layout only)
- 196 105 at Birmingham New Street, 15 April 2026 (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Hugh Llewelyn), 15 April 2026the cab-side window's corners, the cab door window and the cab's joint line, read through the cab door's outline (set T12F, Kyle, 29 October 2026, questions 2-4; drawing)
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unverified
- Car lengths: Railway Gazette says the cars are 79 ft (24 m) long and RAIL calls the four-car units 315 ft (96 m) long; Wikipedia gives its sister Classes 195 and 197 as 78 ft 10 in (24.03 m; driving cars) and 76 ft 7 in (23.35 m; intermediate cars), so the 196's intermediate cars may be shorter than shown
- Car height and width: no source found
- Doors: two pairs of sliding plug doors on each side of each car (Wikipedia); not checked against a drawing
- Routes: Leamington Spa to Nuneaton is from Railway Gazette's 2022 plan and Wikipedia; the Shrewsbury, Hereford and Camp Hill lines are confirmed by West Midlands Railway
- Chiltern's December 2025 cleaning tender lists Class 196s for East West Rail; whether any of West Midlands Railway's 26 will go there isn't known
- The drawing (indicative): no drawing has been published; the Class 195's body, with the gangwayed cab, the cab door and the windows laid out from photographs (five between the doors, against the 195's four), to about 100 mm; car lengths taken as the 195's and 197's
- Chiltern: 196010 has been photographed in Chiltern-style colours at Milton Keynes (November 2025) and Oxford (April and May 2026), for East West Rail; Wikipedia says six two-car units. Passenger service had not begun by June 2026
- The rhombuses (WMR rhombuses (10 October 2026)): the 730's lattice figures; the fields placed from 196105 (2026), the cab end, the DMSL's inner end and the MS's first end rectified on doors and windows to about 150 mm; the other middle-car ends taken as mirror images; the redder net sampled on 196105 (overcast: #C25120 against the gold's #E46516) and applied to the drawing's orange
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