#4885
British Rail Class 166
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by ABB Group· from 1993· British diesel multiple-unit passenger trains
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4 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 166208 in GWR by Chris Warman: Chris Warman from UK· CC BY 2.0
- 2. Class 166 Cockwood drone: kitmasterbloke· CC BY 4.0
- 3. Bristol Temple Meads - fGWR 166221 (58121): Geof Sheppard· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. Roger Watkins 166220: Geof Sheppard· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 166 Networker Turbo is a fleet of diesel-hydraulic multiple unit passenger trains, built by ABB Transportation at their Holgate Road Works in York between 1992 and 1993. They were specified by and built for British Rail, the state-owned railway operator in Great Britain at the time. The trains were designed as a faster, air-conditioned variant of the Class 165 Turbo, intended for longer-distance services, and, like the 165s, belong to the Networker family of trains.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 33 years ago, in 1993.
- Top speed is 1.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- 23.5 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Still in service after 33 years.
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1993
- in service from
- 1993
- status
- in service
- number built
- —
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- ABB Group
- operators
- Great Western Railway
- top speed
- 145 km/h
- power
- 261 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 2′B′+2′B′+B′2′
- formation
- 3 cars per unit: DMCL, Driver's cab, Motor car, Composite (first- and standard-class accommodation), Lavatory-MS, Motor…
- length
- 23.5 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q3303637, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 166 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.