| Background: |
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| British Rail Class 168 Clubman | |
| Interiorimage: | Class 168 BMO interior.jpg |
| Interiorcaption: | Post 2008 refurbished Class 168/0 saloon |
| Service: | 20 May 1998present |
| Factory: | Derby Litchurch Lane Works |
| Family: | Clubman / Turbostar |
| Yearconstruction: | 1998–2004 |
| Refurbishment: | 2007–2008[1] 2024–present[2] |
| Numberbuilt: | 19 |
| Operator: | Chiltern Railways |
| Lines: | |
| Carbody: | Welded aluminium, |
| Width: | 2.69m (08.83feet) |
| Height: | 3.77m (12.37feet) |
| Doors: | Double-leaf sliding plug |
| Maxspeed: | 100mph |
| Poweroutput: | 315kW per engine |
| Acceleration: | 0.5m/s2 |
| Brakes: | Electro-pneumatic (disc) |
| Coupling: | BSI[3] |
| Multipleworking: | Within class, and with |
| Notes: | Sourced from [4] except where otherwise noted |
The Class 168 Clubman is a British diesel-hydraulic multiple unit passenger train used on Chiltern Line services between London Marylebone and the West Midlands. The trains were built by Adtranz at the Derby Litchurch Lane Works in several batches from 1998.
The first batch was classified 168/0 under TOPS and resembled the Class 165 units previously built by BREL York. The Networker-design cab was an interim solution pending the design of a completely new cab for further Turbostar batches. Subsequent builds, subclassed as 168/1 and 168/2, were constructed at the same time as the Class 170 Turbostar and thus are part of the Turbostar family of trains.
Network SouthEast originally planned the Class 168 for its expansion of service on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill or New Street. These units were planned to have a higher top speed of 100mph and better acceleration than the Class 165 Networker Turbo DMU trains. In the event, privatisation intervened before Network SouthEast acquired any trains.[5]
In September 1996, Chiltern Railways ordered four trains from Adtranz at a cost of £34 million, first units ordered by any train operating company since the privatisation of the UK rail industry. These Clubman 168/0 trains were delivered as 3-car sets but later lengthened to 4-car sets.
One unit has been converted to hybrid operation as of 2022, but is to be reverted to normal specifications following failed operations.[6]
In 2023, Chiltern announced the refurbishment of the entire class 168 fleet, costing £10.7 million. The units are receiveing new carpets, reupholstered seats, 5G Wi-Fi & charging points, as well as a new revised livery.[7] The first unit to be refurbished was unveiled on 10 October 2024.[8]
Three different variants of the 168 were produced - 168/0, 168/1 and 168/2. Both Classes 168/1 and 168/2 are actually of the same design as the Class 170 Turbostar DMU trains, mainly due to the redesigned cab ends. The nine Class 170s that Chiltern obtained from First TransPennine Express were converted by Brush Traction to operate with the Class 168 fleet, and redesignated as Class 168/3. 168329 has been converted by Porterbrook into a diesel/battery hybrid. It was tested in 2021 on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway[9] and entered service as "HybridFlex" in February 2022.[10]
| 168/0 | Chiltern Railways | 5 | 1998 | 4 | 168001–168005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 168/1 | 2 | 2000 | 168106–168107 | ||
| 6 | 3 | 168108–168113 | |||
| 168/2 | 3 | 2004 | 168214, 168218–168219 | ||
| 3 | 4 | 168215–168217 | |||
| 168/3 [11] | 8 | 2000 | 2 | 168321–168328 | |
| 1 | 168329 ("HybridFlex" demonstrator) |
The following units been named: