British Rail Metro-Cammell Lightweight

what is it?

In 1955, Metropolitan Cammell produced its first lightweight diesel multiple units, the prototypes of what were to become one of British Rail's most successful and longest-lived First Generation DMU types, the Class 101.

who runs it

British RailEREastern Region of British RailwaysLMLondon Midland Region of British Railways

base stats

• power 112 kWpower output
• weight 31.5 tin working order
• seats 125passengers
• built 36made in total

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 71 years ago, in 1955.
• 🐘Weighs about as much as 5 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 📏34.8 m long: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🧍Seats 125: 3 full city buses (~50 seats each).
• ⌛Served for 26 years (1955–1981).

metro: Urban rapid transit: frequent, high-capacity trains, often underground.

spec sheet

built

1955

in service from

1955

retired

1981

status

retired

number built

36

kind

metro

traction

diesel

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

builders

Metro-Cammell

operators

British Rail, Eastern Region of British Railways, London Midland Region of British Railways

top speed

—

power

112 kW

gauge

1,435 mm standard gauge

formation

2 car sets: DMBS-DTSL or DMBS-DTCL

length

34.8 m

weight

31.5 t

capacity

125 passengers

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.