British Rail Class 165
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| British Rail Class 165 "Network Turbo" | |
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 165117 passing Royal Oak tube station on 12 April 2007 sporting First Great Western livery |
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| In service | 1990 - present |
| Manufacturer | BREL |
| Family name | Networker |
| Refurbishment | 2003-2005 (165/0) |
| Number built | 39 (165/0) 37 (165/1) |
| Formation | 2 or 3 cars per trainset |
| Capacity | 165/0: 184 (2-car); 276 (3-car) |
| Operator | Chiltern Railways First Great Western |
| Lines served | Great Western Main Line and branches Chiltern Main Line and branches |
| Specifications | |
| Car length | 22.91m |
| Width | 2.81m |
| Maximum speed | 75 mph (165/0) 90 mph (165/1) |
| Engine | Perkins 2006-TWH of 350hp |
| Gauge | 1435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) |
| Safety systems | ATP (165/0), AWS, TPWS, Tripcock system (165/0) |
The British Rail Class 165 "Network Turbo" diesel multiple units were built by BREL at York Works from 1990-92.[1] These units are suburban trains, with an express version appearing later in the form of Class 166 "Network Express Turbo" units. The Class 165 belongs to the Turbo and the Networker families of trains.
The 165s were built under British Rail's modernisation plans of the 1980s for the Marylebone lines and the local lines out of Paddington, making these lines suitable for privatisation.
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[edit] Description
Two batches of units were built for different subdivisions of Network SouthEast (NSE). These are described below.
[edit] Class 165/0
Thirty-nine Class 165/0 units were built from 1990-91 for the Chiltern subdivisions of NSE, numbered 165001-039. Both 2-car and 3-car variants were built. Units 165001-028 were delivered as 2-car units, and were followed by eleven 3-car units numbered 165029-039. These vehicles have a top speed of 75mph. They are fitted with tripcocks for working over the London Underground lines between Amersham and Harrow. Automatic Train Protection is also fitted making it one of the few units to have this feature in Britain.
Each unit was formed of two outer driving motors, with an additional intermediate motor in the 3-car units. The technical description of the formation is DMSL+MS+DMS. Individual carriages are numbered as follows:
- 58801-58833 and 58873-58878 - DMSL
- 55404-55414 - MS
- 58834-58866 and 58867-58872 - DMS
These units were built to replace elderly Class 115 "Heritage" DMUs, which previously operated services on the Chiltern route. Routes operated by the "Network Turbo" units included fast services from London Marylebone to Princes Risborough, Banbury, Leamington Spa, Solihull and Birmingham Snow Hill, and local services from Aylesbury to London and Princes Risbough.
Chiltern's new Turbo fleet was maintained at a new depot built at Aylesbury.
All units were delivered in Network South East livery. Two units (165003 and 165005) were later repainted into Thames Trains livery. All now carry Chiltern Railways livery.
[edit] Class 165/1
Thirty-seven Class 165/1 units were built in 1992 for the Thames Line subdivision of NSE, numbered 165101-137. Like the Chiltern units, both 2-car and 3-car variants were built. Units 165101-117 were delivered as 3-car units, followed by the 2-car units 165118-137. They are re-geared for a top speed of 90 mph, more suitable for mainline use.
Each unit was formed of two outer driving motors, with an additional intermediate motor in the 3-car units. The technical description of the formation is DMCL+MS+DMS. Individual carriages are numbered as follows:
- 58953-58969 and 58879-58898 - DMCL
- 55415-55431 - MS
- 58916-58932 and 58933-58952 - DMS
These units were built to replace elderly Class 101, 104, 108, 117, 119 and 121 "Heritage" DMUs, and locomotive-hauled trains on services from London Paddington along the Great Western Main Line. Their main destinations included local trains to Reading, Greenford, Newbury, Bedwyn, Oxford, Banbury and Bicester, and services along the branch lines to Windsor and Eton, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow and Greenford.
[edit] Current operations
Following privatisation, the Class 165 fleet was operated by two franchises. Chiltern Railways operated the former Chiltern division, whilst Thames Trains operated the former Thames division. As the fleet are wide-bodied to take advantage of the GWR and GCR gauges, they are restricted to these lines.
[edit] Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways inherited 34 Class 165/0 units from Network South East, and the other five were transferred from Thames Trains in 2004. The subsequent arrival of new Class 168 'Clubman' units has pushed the 165s down the pecking order, and nowadays they are seldom found on expresses to Birmingham, generally working on shorter routes, such as stopping services to Aylesbury and High Wycombe.
The fleet is maintained at Aylesbury Depot which has been enlarged since British Rail days. Light maintenance and refuelling is carried out at Wembley LMD and Tyseley Depot. Units are also regularly stabled at Marylebone and Banbury.
All Chiltern units were refurbished between 2003 and 2005.[2] Air cooling was added and the opening hopper windows replaced with sealed units. A new passenger information system similar to that on the Class 168 units was added, and the first-class section was removed; Chiltern having become a standard-class only railway in 2003. The original 3+2 seating at the outer ends of the driving vehicles was replaced by new 2+2 seating. 3+2 seating was retained in the centre areas of the driving vehicles and throughout the centre vehicles of the three-car units. A cycle/wheelchair area with tip up seats was also added to each unit.
[edit] First Great Western
Thames Trains inherited the first five Class 165/0 and all the Class 165/1 units. The franchise was won by the Go-Ahead Group, who introduced a new blue, white and green livery. There were two variants of this livery; the Express livery carried by Class 166 units had full-height green swish over the doors, whereas the Class 165 units had smaller green circles over the doors.
In April 2004, operation of the Thames Trains franchise passed to the First Group, who operated the company as First Great Western Link. The livery remained the same, but FGW Link branding was applied over the obsolete Thames Trains logo.
In 2004, due to deliveries of new Class 180 "Adelante" units on sister company First Great Western, the five Class 165/0 units became redundant and were transferred to Chiltern Railways. These units have since been refurbished and are only distinguishable from the other 165/0 units by minor detail differences.
In February 2005, one unit, no. 165136 was painted in a special London 2012 livery. This is showing First Great Western's commitment to supporting the London 2012 Olympics.
During 2007, the Class 165/1 units have been re-liveried with the First Great Western Neon Dynamic Lines livery.
One unit, no. 165115, was withdrawn in 1999 after two coaches were destroyed in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash. One driving motor remains as a spare vehicle, the rest having been scrapped.
It is now rumored that when Crossrail arrives in 2017 that some class 165's will transfer to operate the Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour services. To help strengthen services. This will also be possible because the local services to Greenford, the Slough to Windsor branch will be replaced by new build of DMU likely to be class 172's
[edit] Fleet details
| Class | Year Built | Cars per Unit | No. Units | Number Range | Operator | Notes |
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| Class 165/0 | 1990-91 | 2 | 28 | 165001-028 | Chiltern | Units 165001-005 ex. Thames Trains. |
| 3 | 11 | 165029-039 | Chiltern | - | ||
| Class 165/1 | 1992 | 3 | 17 | 165101-117 | First Great Western | Unit 165115 withdrawn after accident. |
| 2 | 20 | 165118-137 | First Great Western | - |
The Class 165s can only be coupled with the Class 166 and Class 168 as these three DMU classes have a different pattern of electrical studs on their coupler faces.
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