The Great Central Railway (GCR) is taking delivery of two Class 153 single-car diesel units.

However, the units are not for preservation, but for GCR’s Testing and Training department to use in supporting local train operating companies to train their train crew.

The GCR has been providing this service for some time, and it provides a valuable source of income. It has been using Diesel Railcars for this purpose, but their technology is outdated, so they are limited in their suitability for training drivers of modern trains on the national railway.

The new units are more up-to-date and suitable, and will provide a more relevant training experience.

British Rail Class 153 ‘Super Sprinters’ were converted from two-coach Class 155 diesel multiple units in the early 1990s, and intended for use on rural branch lines.

RailAdvent’s online shop sells many products related to the Great Central Railway, which you can view here.

The Class 153s will also allow the GCR to run more training, and may be used to carry out tests for other technology testing contracts in the future. The Railway is looking forward to using the units to increase the services it offers to the rail industry.

The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway that runs along 8.25 miles of track between Loughborough and Leicester, and is named after the company that operated between 1897 and 1923 and originally built this stretch of railway.