THE Great Central Railway has become the first line to take delivery of a complete Class 153 diesel multiple unit with the arrival of No. 153371 from Long Marston on December 11.
The former West Midlands Trains single-car unit, which was handed back to Porterbrook in October 2020, is due to be joined by No. 153308, a former Angel Trains unit which last saw use with East Midlands Railway in December 2021. Since then, it has been stored at Ely Papworth.
The GCR is keen to emphasise that the pair of ‘153s’ have not been acquired for preservation but are for use by its training and testing department. In the past, the line has provided facilities for main line operators to undertake crew training, using its fleet of first generation DMUs. The ‘153s’ will enable a more modern unit to be used for this function.
Additionally, it is hoped to use them for other commercial
