Class 144 trains
 

After recently travelling on a Class 144 train in West Yorkshire I was very impressed with it compared to the Class 142s that I’m used to. The Class 144 provided a much more comfortable journey than a 142 and I was surprised that the 144 is still a form of Pacer train. The seats provided are actually more comfortable, in my opinion, than the ones on the former Arriva Trains Northern 156s which are uncomfortable unless you sit up very straight. They are a lot more comfortable than 150s on the Northern network which seem like the seating patterns were designed assuming that all passengers are under 5ft6. The engines are also quieter than on 142s and 150s.

I would hope that if Metro invest in replacements for 144s when there still 142s on the Northern network that the 144s remain in service in place of the 142s.

144's are marginally better than 142's but still crap, I hated working on them when I was at Leeds.

There are some awful trains on the Northern Rail network. The 150s and 156s have poor seating as well as the 142s being 'donkey-nodders'

I think the fact that you've said the 144s are some of the best just shows how poor the trains are in the North of England.

In my view one of the worst DMUs of all time is the 150. They are too noisy, claustrophobic and hot like a greenhouse in summer. These noise levels wouldn't have met European noise levels on a bus in the mid 1980s. I've often let a 150 go and wait of the next service if one shows up on a 142 diagram in summer.

I really can't see a problem with the 144s apart from the Richmond seating which makes the interiors claustrophobic.

One of my favourite units were the now extinct 141s, I used to travel a lot to Yorkshire in the 1990s to have a ride on them.

The problem with most 142s and 150s is having three seats on one side of the aisle and two on the other side and yet still having less seating overall than a 156. I actually found a 142 more like a greenhouse the other week when a fault with the train meant that the heaters wouldn't turn off unless the engine was turned off.

My Dad was recently on a Virgin Voyager service to Birmingham where they had the same problem with heaters, but only in a handful of carriages. Anyone got any ideas as to why this could be?

Adam

The 156s have more seating as they are 23m long compared to 150s (20m) and Pacers (15.10m). The 156s are perfect in most respects apart from the narrow doorways. They were designed for limited stop services. Now they are being used on local services loading is a problem at busy periods. Maybe consideration could be given to fitting double doors on them as on 150s?

The 142 that was like a greenhouse wasn't a Mereseytavel one by any chance, was it? Apparently the heating cannot be switched off on these even in summer!

. These noise levels wouldn't have met European noise levels on a bus in the mid 1980s.

You want to try sitting in the cab of a class 66 for 5 odd hours and see what you think

Les

On Friday 07/09/07 I had a ride from Lancaster to Carnforth on 142 048 it only takes a few minutes but was I glad to get off it, the temp was 20 degrees and the heaters were on inside the train, most uncomfortable train journey I have ever had. Chris.

The refurbished 150s have larger seats than the non-refurbished ones and rather than maintaining the same amount of leg room, they decided to reduce the amount of leg room.

They alternate with 142s on the Manchester Victoria to Huddersfield route, but on that route you don’t want either due to the amount of noise made in the tunnels! I’m sure that people who use other routes that use 150s on long distances including Northern’s trains which originate south of Manchester and go to Blackpool, aren’t happy with the amount of space on board.