#5989
British Rail Class 196
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles· from 2022· British diesel multiple-unit (DMU) train built by CAF
3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 196101 at Worcester July 2020: Railphotographyuk· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 2. 196005, Coventry, March 25th 2025: Southsea_Matt· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 3. A Chiltern Railways Class 196 Civity at Milton Keynes Central Station: ZakariaFadel07· CC0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 196 Civity is a class of diesel multiple unit built for West Midlands Trains by Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF. A total of 26 units have been built; 12 two-car units and 14 four-car units. They are the first train of the Civity family to feature end gangways.
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 4 years ago, in 2022.
- Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 15 minutes.
- 1.6 MW is about 18 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Seats 311: 6 full city buses (~50 seats each).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 2022
- in service from
- 2022
- status
- in service
- number built
- 26
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
- operators
- West Midlands Trains, Chiltern Railways
- top speed
- 161 km/h
- power
- 1.6 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- formation
- 2 cars per 196/0 unit:, DMSL, Driver's cab, Motor car, Standard class (open saloon), Lavatory-DMS, Driver's cab, Motor…
- capacity
- 311 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q55605968, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 196 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.