British Rail-era trains travelling through Bolton could soon be a thing of the past as rail bosses look to replace them. The Class 150 ‘Sprinter’ diesel trains were developed and built by British Rail Engineering Limited in the 1980s, for use across regional services. Four decades on, the ageing trains, which are formed of two or three cars, are still in use across many operators across the country, including Northern, London Northwestern, Great Western Railway, and Transport for Wales.
The Class 150 units were built for British Rail (Image: K. Krallis (SV1XV), Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0) Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox.
Northern’s units have been refurbished since they were first introduced. In 2019, the units had WiFi and power sockets added , as well as real-time passenger information screens – while, in 2022, a unit was kitted out with ‘LIDAR’ scanning cameras to help identify defects in the railway track. Some rail fans have called the units – which regularly run from Bolton towards Clitheroe and Blackburn – the ‘worst trains’ in Northern’s fleet – owing to interior conditions, a lack of air conditioning, and more.
Meanwhile, trains serving destinations from Bolton such as Manchester Airport and Blackpool North have already been upgraded. Follow The Bolton News on Facebook , Instagram , X (Twitter) , and TikTok . In 2018, fully air conditioned trains manufactured by Spanish firm CAF were unveiled.