Turbostar
Encyclopedia
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
s (DMUs) built by Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
(previously ADtranz
Adtranz
ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation , commonly known under its brand Adtranz, was a multi-national rail transport equipment manufacturer with facilities concentrated in Europe and the USA....
) at their Litchurch Lane Works
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works
Derby Carriage and Wagon Works was built by the Midland Railway in Derby, England. The plant has been through many changes of ownership and is currently owned by Bombardier Transportation, a subsidiary of Bombardier Inc. of Canada. As of 2011 it is the only remaining passenger rolling stock...
in Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The Turbostar was the first new train type to be introduced after the privatisation of British Rail
Privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...
, and is the most common type of diesel multiple unit (its electrical variant, the Electrostar
Electrostar
Electrostar is the name given to a series of related electric multiple-unit passenger trains manufactured by Bombardier Transportation at their Litchurch Lane Works in Derby, England...
, is in turn the most common electric multiple unit
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
). The first units were ordered by Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...
in 1996 and were designated Class 168
British Rail Class 168
The Class 168 Clubman is a diesel multiple-unit train used on services between London and the Midlands.-Description:The units were built in several batches from 1997 onwards. The first batch of units was classified 168/0 under TOPS and resembled the Class 165 units previously built by BREL at York...
(also known as Clubman). Since then the family has grown with the addition of the Class 170, Class 171
British Rail Class 171
The Class 171 Turbostar is a type of diesel multiple unit built by Bombardier Transportation at their Litchurch Lane Works in Derby, England which is identical to the Class 170, except for the replacement of the BSI coupler with a Dellner coupler...
, and the Class 172
British Rail Class 172
The Class 172 is a type of diesel multiple unit of the Turbostar family, similar to the Class 168, Class 170 and Class 171.-Technical details and variants :There will be four sub-types:*Class 172/0 - two-car units in operation with London Overground...
.
Description and technical details
The Clubman/Turbostar/Electrostar platform is a modular design, which share the same basic design, bodyshell and core structure, and is optimised for speedy manufacture and easy maintenance. It consists of an underframe, which is created by seam-welding a number of aluminium alloy extrusionExtrusion
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A material is pushed or drawn through a die of the desired cross-section...
s, upon which bodyside panels are mounted followed by a single piece roof, again made from extruded sections. The car ends (cabs) are made from glass-reinforced plastic
Glass-reinforced plastic
Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....
and steel, and are huck-bolted onto the main car bodies. Underframe components are collected in ‘rafts’, which are bolted into slots on the underframe extrusion. The mostly aluminium alloy body gives light weight to help acceleration and energy efficiency.
Much of the design is derived from the Networker Turbo
Networker (train)
The Networker is a family of trains which operate on the UK railway system. They were built in the late 1980s and early 1990s by BREL . The trains were built for the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail...
Class 165
British Rail Class 165
The British Rail Class 165 Turbo is a fleet of suburban diesel multiple units , originally specified by and built for British Rail, the then United Kingdom state owned railway operator. They were built by BREL at York Works between 1990 and 1992...
and Class 166
British Rail Class 166
The British Rail Class 166 Turbo Express is a fleet of diesel multiple units , originally specified by and built for British Rail, the then United Kingdom state owned railway operator. They were built by ABB at York Works between 1992 and 1993...
trains built by BREL
BREL
British Rail Engineering Limited , was the railway systems engineering division of British Rail, until the design and building of trains in the UK was privatised in 1993. On 31 October 1969, the company was incorporated as British Rail Engineering Limited.-Main products:The vast majority of BREL's...
. Notable features shared are the aluminium alloy frame and two speed Voith
Voith
The Voith GmbH, which is headquartered in Germany, is a family-run corporation in the mechanical engineering sector with worldwide operations....
T211r hydrodynamic transmission
Turbo-transmission
Turbo-Transmissions are hydrodynamic, multi-stage drive assemblies designed for rail vehicles using internal combustion engines. The first turbo-transmission was developed in 1932 by Voith in Heidenheim, Germany...
system. The diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
has changed to an MTU
MTU Friedrichshafen
MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH is a manufacturer of commercial internal combustion engines founded by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach in 1909...
6R 183TD. A cardan
Universal joint
A universal joint, universal coupling, U joint, Cardan joint, Hardy-Spicer joint, or Hooke's joint is a joint or coupling in a rigid rod that allows the rod to 'bend' in any direction, and is commonly used in shafts that transmit rotary motion...
shaft links the output of the gearbox to ZF
ZF Friedrichshafen
ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a German public company headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south-west German region of Baden-Württemberg....
final drives (instead of Gmeinder
Gmeinder
Gmeinder GmbH was a German locomotive and engineering company based in Mosbach. Its products included diesel engines, small locomotives and other railway locomotive parts...
in the Networkers) on the inner bogie of each vehicle. The engine and transmission are situated under the body; one bogie per car is powered, the other bogie unpowered.
Turbostars have been acquired for use by several train operating companies
Train operating company
The term train operating company is used in the United Kingdom to describe the various businesses operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand...
, each with different specifications. One of the more noticeable differences with later units compared to earlier ones are the larger headlights now specified for safety reasons.
Units are numbered 168 xxx, 170 xxx, 171 xxx, or 172 xxx, where xxx is the serial number of the unit. Individual carriages are numbered 50xxx and 79xxx for driving motor cars, and 56xxx and 54xxx for centre cars.
Working in multiple
One factor which contributes to the popularity of the Turbostars is that Class 170 units are fully capable of working in multiple with older types from the Class 15x SprinterSprinter (train)
The Sprinter is a family of diesel multiple unit trains in use on the UK railway system. They were built in the 1980s and early 1990s by BREL, Metro Cammell and Leyland. Most are based around a Cummins engine with Voith hydraulic transmission, although some class 158s have a Perkins engine...
and Class 16x Networker Turbo
Networker (train)
The Networker is a family of trains which operate on the UK railway system. They were built in the late 1980s and early 1990s by BREL . The trains were built for the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail...
series of units as well as other units of the same class, unlike all other types built since privatisation, giving them much more flexibility. However, there are issues with so-called "sandwich" formations, formed either 170-15x-170 or 15x-170-15x, which causes problems with empty stock movements where up to 4 units of various types coupled together is common. A possible side effect of this is that Turbostars' performance is in line with the second generation 15x units, in fact being somewhat slower than a Class 150
British Rail Class 150
The British Rail Class 150 "Sprinter" diesel multiple units were built by BREL from 1984-87. A total of 137 units were built in three main subclasses, replacing many of the earlier first-generation "Heritage" DMUs.- Background :...
or Class 156
British Rail Class 156
The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train . 114 of these units were built from 1987 to 1989 by Metro-Cammell at its Washwood Heath Works in Birmingham...
on "short hop" workings, and slower than a Class 158
British Rail Class 158
British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train, built for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at its Derby Works. They were built to replace many locomotive-hauled passenger trains, and allowed cascading of existing Sprinter units to replace elderly 'heritage' DMUs...
on longer distance workings unless there is enough 100mph running to take advantage of the 10mph higher top speed of the Class 170.
The Class 171 units are fitted with Dellner couplers rather than BSI (Bergische Stahl Industrie) couplers, which means that they can operate in multiple with Southern's Class 377 Electrostar
British Rail Class 377
The Class 377 Electrostar is an electric multiple unit type built by Bombardier Transportation at their Derby Works, from 2001 to present. The Electrostar family, which also includes Classes 357, 375, 376, 378, and 379, is the most numerous type of EMU built in the post-privatisation period of...
EMUs.
Turbostar variants
| Class | Image | Operator | Introduced | Number | Carriages | End gangways |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 168 British Rail Class 168 The Class 168 Clubman is a diesel multiple-unit train used on services between London and the Midlands.-Description:The units were built in several batches from 1997 onwards. The first batch of units was classified 168/0 under TOPS and resembled the Class 165 units previously built by BREL at York... "Clubman" |
 |
Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches... |
1998 | 19 | 3 or 4 | No |
| 170 | CrossCountry CrossCountry CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva... First ScotRail First ScotRail ScotRail Railways Ltd. is the FirstGroup-owned train operating company running domestic passenger trains within Scotland, northern England and the cross-border Caledonian Sleeper service to London using the brand ScotRail which is the property of the Scottish Government... London Midland London Midland London Midland is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Legally named London and Birmingham Railway Ltd, it is a subsidiary of Govia, and has operated the West Midlands franchise since 11 November 2007.... National Express East Anglia First TransPennine Express First TransPennine Express First TransPennine Express is a British train operating company. It is a joint operation between First Group and Keolis . It operates regular passenger services in northern England, including services linking the west and east coasts across the Pennines... |
1998 | 122 | 2 or 3 | No | |
| 171 British Rail Class 171 The Class 171 Turbostar is a type of diesel multiple unit built by Bombardier Transportation at their Litchurch Lane Works in Derby, England which is identical to the Class 170, except for the replacement of the BSI coupler with a Dellner coupler... |
 |
Southern Southern (train operating company) Southern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Officially named Southern Railway Ltd., it is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, and has operated the South Central rail franchise since October 2000 and the Gatwick Express service... |
2003 | 16 | 2 or 4 | No |
| 172 British Rail Class 172 The Class 172 is a type of diesel multiple unit of the Turbostar family, similar to the Class 168, Class 170 and Class 171.-Technical details and variants :There will be four sub-types:*Class 172/0 - two-car units in operation with London Overground... (On order) |
Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches... London Midland London Midland London Midland is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Legally named London and Birmingham Railway Ltd, it is a subsidiary of Govia, and has operated the West Midlands franchise since 11 November 2007.... London Overground London Overground London Overground is a suburban rail network in London and Hertfordshire. It has been operated by London Overground Rail Operations since 2007 as part of the National Rail network, under the franchise control and branding of Transport for London... |
2010 | 39 | 2 or 3 | 172/2 and 172/3 |