Class 153

The Class 153 is a member of the Super Sprinter family of trains originally built by Leyland Bus in 1986-1987 as Class 155 units and later converted into Class 153s by Hunslet-Barclay in 1991-1992.

Originally built as class 155 units the Class 153s they were converted to aid in replacing the ageing first generation railcar fleet still used throughout British Rail’s network.

Fitted with a smaller cab on what used to be the rear of a 155 coach it is significantly smaller than the main cab.

They are fitted with BSI couplers allowing them to work in tandem with most if not all other members of the Sprinter family including pacers and the modern Turbostars.

As new they had 75 seats (with flip down seats), Anglia refurbished them with bike racks which took the total down to 69 seats and when they was refurbished to meet PRM requirements they had 59 seats.

They are still used a fair amount throughout the railways today, Scotrail and Transport for Wales remain the largest passenger operators while Network Rail use a fleet of them for Track inspection. One Unit is preserved at the Grand Central Railway.