Class 159s: 30 Years' Service
Class 159s: 30 Years’ Service
By the late 1980s, the Class 50 and Class 47 locomotives working Network SouthEast’s West of England line from London Waterloo to Salisbury and Exeter St David’s were in dire need of replacement. Although a study favoured electrification of the line or the introduction of new DMUs, it proved fortuitous that surplus Class 158s from a Regional Railways order were made available.
Rebuilt by Babcock Rail in Rosyth dockyard with First Class accommodation and other refinements, they were designated Class 159, and were launched at Salisbury by representatives of Network SouthEast in 1992. The trains entered full service in July 1993 and since then have given reliable service over the years, latterly for South West Trains and currently for South Western Railway.
Almost in the blink of an eye, 2023 marked their 30th anniversary, and the lack of plans to replace them in the immediate future means that they will live on for some years to come. This book contains more than 230 images of Class 159s at work at a variety of picturesque locations.
Available: NOW
ISBN: 978 1 80282 359 2
Price: £16.99
Series: Britain’s Railways Series, vol 47
Format: Paperback, 96 pages
Author: Mark V. Pike