On The Rails - 2nd Gen DMUs
The British Rail Class 143
The British Rail Class 143 is a diesel multiple unit, part of the Pacer family of trains introduced between 1985 and 1986. They originally worked in the North-East of England but were later transferred to Wales and South-West England.
The Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2008 require that all public passenger trains must be accessible by 1 January 2020. No Class 143 train currently meets this requirement. Porterbrook has proposed an extensive refurbishment of the Class 143 and 144 units in an attempt to meet this requirement although this would significantly reduce the number of seats.
First Great Western are planning on withdrawing their eight by December 2019 with a cascade programme allowing them to be replaced with Class 150s.
The units are currently used on short distance services around Cardiff and Exeter. Previously they were common on services in the Bristol area.