First Class 153 sent for scrapping
THE FIRST Class 153 unit has been dispatched to European Metal Recycling at Kingsbury, for scrap. 153302 was taken off-lease with East Midlands Railway as surplus to requirements in July 2020 and moved into store at Potter Group, Ely, along with 153318/368/372/374/382, all of which were put into store at the same time.
The 153, owned by Angel Trains, was later moved to Harry Needle Railroad Company’s facility at Worksop, where it was stripped of all reusable components before moving by road to Kingsbury, arriving at the site in early July for an appointment with the cutting torch.
The Class 153 units were created when BR decided to convert 35 two-car Class 155 DMUS into singlecar railcars with a cab at each end, creating 70 Class 153 units.
Seven additional Class 155 units that had been supplied new to the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive were not included in the Class 153 conversion project and these units remain in use with Northern.
The 153s were designed by BR to be used on rural lines that were lightly loaded most of the time, while some would also be used to increase capacity on some busier routes.