THE ‘PACER’ STORY Part 2: The Privatisation Years

PRIVATISATION of Britain’s railways brought with it many changes, but for the ‘Pacer’ fleets it was very much business as usual when the UK’s train operating companies passed into private hands. North Western Trains and Northern Spirit, as the franchises were to become known, took over the Class 142s and 144s based at Newton Heath and Heaton/Neville Hill respectively, while the ‘143’ fleet was split between Cardiff Railway Company and Wales & West.

Probably one of the first significant events, which went unnoticed by most, occurred on May 20, 1997, just a few weeks after the North West Regional Railways franchise passed into private hands, and before the launch of the new brand. On this day, No. 142004 had the distinction of becoming the first ‘Pacer’ to reach one million miles.

Tangible evidence of a ‘new’ railway from a Pacer perspective emerged in May 1998, when No. 142065 appeared in Northern Spirit colours of turquoise/ green. On the other side of the Pennines, it would be 2000 before the first set gained North Western Trains livery (blue with gold stars). Coincidentally, the unit concerned was No. 142023, which had been the first ‘Pacer’ to be painted into Regional Railways colours back in 1991.

Another development in 1998 was the arrival of the first Class 142s