the 195's are better to drive in my opinion, the driver's seats on the 158's are garbage, but i'll admit that IF the AC is working on a 158, they are more pleasant for passnegers. The 195's have a far lower set down time though as they were designed more for speedy boarding and alighting than for comfort, hence the large empty areas around the doors
@@TheArkamedBat I don’t agree that it was privatisation. It was deliberately under invested in under BR because Thatcher hated railways. I think it’s a combination of things, not helped by not having British companies build our trains anymore and a general lack of pride or care for our own industries and a different throwaway society with endless subcontractors now.
As a passenger I found them rather less comfortable than expected (a 170 felt far superior), I was quite underwhelmed. The interior is ok but the comfort isn't much above a 156, which given 156s are agricultural heaps of junk isn't saying much. That said I had no idea 158s were as old as this.
If these go I'll miss the American Lorry truck sound on the outside and the interior hydraulic arm groaning on the inside like a lorry crane lifting its hydraulic arm.
Amazing to think that was 30 years ago! Really makes me feel old, as I remember when they came in. Nice trains but sadly they weren’t allowed to build enough, which lead to many overcrowded journeys in a 2 car unit.
@@grassytramtracks Hmm, the 166s suburban seat layout and harsher ride (on jointed track anyway) is a disadvantage over the 158s. And they do sound noisier especially in mid-coach.
A time when the railway had less state sponsorship than it does today and also was trying to win business. A far cry from the overpriced 'take it or leave it' service that we have today. In 1993 the average age of the Regional Railways fleet was 8 years, what is the age of that fleet today? Whilst Northern England makes do with 35 year old Sprinters at the moment.
Thailand has got some of these trains as well but they aren't well maintained. Now, only a few routes are served by the 158 (a.k.a. the Sprinter), and the rest are parked in the shed without being useful. That's very sad.
These are very good machines, I live on the south coast and often took a trip on these from Southampton to Cardiff in the 90s and early 2000s, they occasionally ran all the way to Swansea as well. Very comfortable. The only criticism was that they only had 2-or 3 car sets on the route, even though if they had the extra units it could have sold way more seats. Easily one the best uk designs and probably the best thing BR did before it was privatised. Of course they're getting on now age-wise but still an excellent way to travel if it's longer distance by train.
I've used these plenty of times on that same route, and always hope to get a 158, but most of the time it's a 166, which has a completely inappropriate layout for the type of journey with 3+2 seats and no tables. GWR tried to do a refurb but the DafT said no.
Cardiff to Portsmouth , went from 7 car MK1 stock to eventually 2 car 158 .. then they added 1 car .. so we had 3 car hybrid thing ... now we have a 4 car Thames turbo 166 monster .... oh well
@@SionsTrainVideos "bean counters" are accountants that come up with cost cutting measures to save money, such as reducing train lengths or demanding that a new version of a product is redesigned to use less expensive parts or be less complex.
When TOCs properly maintain them(!) 158s are still pretty good trains today and their ride is better than many more recent MU builds. Top prize has always gone to the Waterloo-Exeter 159s, always very well turned-out and a tribute to the guys at Salisbury depot.
The 159 is Network South East's version of the 158 and is mainly used on the Exeter-Salisbury-London Waterloo route. The 159s have a few differences, mainly that they are 3-coach units and there is a first-class area in which not all of the seats line up with the windows. For the first 10 years of their lives they had a smoking area as well.
@@cedriclynch Around a dozen 158s were originally built with a centre car, for trans-pennine journeys, plus the 22 sets in RR's follow-on order which BREL completed just as a recession hit.... At that time, BRB HQ effectively 'instructed' NSE to take these units on, as it was deemed the only affordable way of replacing Wloo-Exe loco-haulage. These units were modified to NSE's spec, including first class as you say plus toilet waste tanks, classed as 159 and branded as SouthWestern Turbo to be consistent with Thames Turbo and Chiltern Turbo branding. The newly-privatised BREL refused to accept terms on BRB's variation order for the mods, which is why Babcock at Rosyth got the job!
I much prefer the 158s to the 195s which seem to be replacing them on the line near me. They may have all gone now, haven’t had a need to catch a train for almost a year, like many people.
Oh they’re an experience all right. A noisy, over crowded and soulless conveyance that make me pine for a mk1 compartment behind a filthy class 33 on load 9 in the winter darkness. Ah them were the days.
For its time, the Class 158 was good-looking for a British train (in my opinion). But those very narrow doors look like a wheelchair could hardly fit through. Or someone morbidly obese.
@@SionsTrainVideos I was born in February 1992, but honestly can't remember what trains I went on before 2002 - my first memory of being on a train is actually on a Wales & Borders Trains 158 from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth in August 2002, and I think my Nan *still* has the tickets!
Scuds were/ are 153s, the real accountants' train. When their only engine failed, unless through coolant loss that can be fixed by topping up from the toilet tank, destination is only reached by 'assistance front/rear' or by bus/ taxi!
An interesting look back in time, very so/so units but do the job. Looks like most of it was filmed on the Edinburgh/Glasgow via Falkirk High line as I believe we (Scotland) got them first(?)
@@ryanairadventuresandmore231 the (in) famous" Liverpool to Norwich" via Sheffield and Nottingham. Like previous commentators have said: was usually a two-car set off peak and always needed to be three and during the peak, was an absolutely rammed 3 when it couldve filled 5. They weren't funded for the future only for the time of their purchase, knowing that sale of BR was about to happen.
That narrator has been bugging me. I know the voice.........its actor Christian Rodska. hes done a lot for radio 4. Off the top of my head, google "uncle morts north country" - he's the narrator.
Back when the railway was at it’s best, way before private companies took over and made it to what it is today! Only if we could go back to being British Rail
if you like trains that sound like lorries get yourself over to Denmark and have a ride on their rubber nose DMUs before they all go. They use a 12-speed ZF (I think) and go through the gears like a lorry would. Cracking trains as well, though very dated also now.
Class 158s used to have a public pay phone 📞 containing phone card until around perhaps 🤔 the year 2000. I’ve been on the class 158s. Used to be used for CrossCountry Trains 🚊 and TransPennine Express. Maximum speed is 90 mph. First class accommodation happens to ScotRail only. 159s are the same to 158s are called South Western Railway 🚃 conveys first class accommodation. All 158s and 159s contain a lavatory 🚽🚻. All accommodation is non-smoking 🚭. Various train 🚊 companies have class 158s are East Midlands Railway 🚃, Great Western Railway 🚃, Northern Rail, ScotRail, South Western Railway 🚃 and finally Transport For Wales 🏴. By 2030 could the 158s be with a few train operators. 😄👍
What air con? Sweated my butt off on Manchester to Leeds for ages untill the 185s came, comfy when not many people where on train but awful between Huddersfield and Leeds
I wonder when these videos would've actually been shown. Where would one have gone to watch this before the internet? Too long to be a news segment or an ad, too short to be a documentary.
@@TheArkamedBat that'd be really cost ineffective. the pendolinos are fine on their own. theyre supported by the 221s and the 350s, as well as the trains on the specific lines and branches the 390s run through
If only the 158's where that good, try getting on a 2 car 158 on a Friday afternoon on a Liverpool to Norwich service when its rammed to the gunnels. 158's good idea but sadly not long enough..
Any service covering that distance should be minimum 6 cars just like the ones Cross Country don’t provide.Joke in the 21st century with rail passenger use increasing.
That's not a problem with the 158 specifically. That's just a train operating company failing to project customer numbers correctly / operating too small a unit.
@@droge192 I agree entirely.It beggars belief that a passenger growth strategy seems non existent in the TOC contracts citing Cross Country as the prime example still operating 4/5 car sets that replaced 6 carriage loco hauled stock back in 2003..The 158's I have travelled in are very comfortable.
@@LukeAlfordUKsteam i wish they would just keep them. Amazing trains in my opinion i wouldnt change anything about them. EMR are replacing theirs with 170s but i dont like them at all
Comfort and refinement are not something I associate with Scotrail 158s in 2024, as for air conditioning someone must have knicked it. I'm sure they were great in their day but they are very long in the tooth today.
I find these and its variants awfully noisy with a sub-standard acceleration. Parallel to this one the DB equivalent was Bombardier‘s class 644: It accelerated at 1m/sec and only used two engines on a 3-car set.
Maybe because the 158s were built in the early 90s while the 644 was built near 2010? Ofc the 644 is going to be more modern and overall just better smh
Scotrail ruined these with the last overhaul. Seats are too close together and if your anything over 5ft5 you’ve nae chance of getting under a table 😂😂
