British Rail Class 168
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The Class 168 Clubman is a British diesel-hydraulic multiple unit passenger train used on Chiltern Main Line services between London Marylebone and the West Midlands.
The trains were built by Adtranz at the Derby Litchurch Lane Works, in several batches from 1998. The first batch was classified 168/0 under TOPS and resembled the Class 165 units built previously by BREL York. The Networker-design cab was an interim solution pending the design of a completely new cab for further Turbostar batches. Subsequent builds, subclassed as 168/1 and 168/2, were constructed at the same time as Class 165s and thus are part of the Turbostar group of trains.
History
Network SouthEast originally planned the Class 168 for its expansion of service on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill or New Street. These units were planned to have a higher top speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) and better acceleration than the Class 165 Networker Turbo DMU trains. In the event, privatisation intervened before Network SouthEast acquired any trains.
In September 1996, Chiltern Railways ordered four trains from Adtranz at a cost of £34 million, first units ordered by any train operating company since the privatisation of the UK rail industry. These Clubman 168/0 trains were delivered as three-car sets, but were later lengthened to four.
In 2023, Chiltern announced the refurbishment of the entire Class 168 fleet, costing £10.7 million. The units are receiving new carpets, reupholstered seats, 5G wi-fi and charging points, as well as a new revised livery. The first unit to be refurbished was unveiled on 10 October 2024.
Variants
Three different variants of the 168 were produced: 168/0, 168/1 and 168/2. Both Classes 168/1 and 168/2 are actually of the same design as the Class 170 Turbostar DMU trains, mainly due to the redesigned cab ends. The nine Class 170s that Chiltern obtained from First TransPennine Express were converted by Brush Traction to operate with the Class 168 fleet and redesignated as Class 168/3. Unit 168329 was converted by Porterbrook into a diesel-battery hybrid. It was tested in 2021 on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway and entered service as HybridFlex in February 2022. it was reverted back to a regular diesel unit later that year, after operations failed.
Fleet details
| Class | Operator | Qty. | Year built | Cars per unit | Unit numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 168/0 | Chiltern Railways | 5 | 1998 | 4 | 168001–168005 |
| 168/1 | 2 | 2000 | 168106–168107 | ||
| 6 | 3 | 168108–168113 | |||
| 168/2 | 3 | 2004 | 168214, 168218–168219 | ||
| 3 | 4 | 168215–168217 | |||
| 168/3 | 8 | 2000 | 2 | 168321–168328 | |
| 1 | 168329 ("HybridFlex" demonstrator) |
Named units
The following units been named:
- 168001 Adrian Shooter
- 168215 Marylebone Station 125 Years
Further reading
- "First post-privatisation new train enters service on Chiltern Lines". RAIL. No. 332. EMAP Apex Publications. 16 June 1998. p. 11. ISSN . OCLC .