#4621
British Rail Class 144
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by British Rail Engineering Limited· from 1986· class of 23 British 3-car railbuses
6 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 144001 SHF: Peter Skuce· Public domain
- 2. Lancaster - Northern 144008: Geof Sheppard· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. 144012 ePacer Leeds: PeterSkuce· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. 144evo: Slenderman7676· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. 144evo2: Slenderman7676· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 6. Class 144e Pacer DMU: Samson Ng . D201@EAL· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 144 Pacer is a retired class of diesel multiple unit (DMU) passenger trains built at Derby between 1986 and 1987. British Rail, seeking to procure improved derivatives of the earlier Class 141, placed an order with the manufacturers British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) and Walter Alexander to construct their own variant, the Class 144. A total of 23 units were constructed.
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 40 years ago, in 1986.
- 15.1 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Seats 195: 4 full city buses (~50 seats each).
- Served for 34 years (1986–2020).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1986
- in service from
- 1986
- retired
- 2020
- status
- retired
- number built
- 23
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- British Rail Engineering Limited, Walter Alexander Coachbuilders
- operators
- Arriva Rail North, Arriva Trains Northern, British Rail, Network Rail, Northern Rail, Northern Trains, Regional Railways
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- —
- formation
- 2 or 3 cars per unit:DMS, Driver's cab, Motor car, Standard class saloon-DMSL, Driver's cab, Motor car, Standard class…
- length
- 15.1 m
- capacity
- 195 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q3303614, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 144 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.