#3706
British Rail Class 123
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Swindon Works· from 1963· class of 10 four-car diesel multiple units built by Swindon Works
_Inter_City_(later_Class_123)_W52097%2C_W59236%2C_W59238%2C_W52088_(8237760873).jpg)
3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. BR (Swindon) Inter City (later Class 123) W52097, W59236, W59238, W52088 (8237760873): Hugh Llewelyn· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 2. Mixed 4 car DMU Class 123 124 at Manchester Piccadilly: David Ingham from Bury, Lancashire, England· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 3. HST and a Class 123 DMU at Doncaster in July 1981: The Basingstoker· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The British Rail Class 123 was a design of diesel multiple unit built for British Rail in 1963. They were the last first-generation DMUs built for British Railways and were built at Swindon Works. Ten of the four-car sets were built and introduced in 1963.
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 63 years ago, in 1963.
- 686 kW is about 8 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 19.5 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Seats 200: 4 full city buses (~50 seats each).
- Served for 21 years (1963–1984).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1963
- in service from
- 1963
- retired
- 1984
- status
- retired
- number built
- 10
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Swindon Works
- operators
- British Rail, Western Region of British Railways
- top speed
- 113 km/h
- power
- 686 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- formation
- DMBSL-TCK-TSL[RB]-DMSK
- length
- 19.5 m
- capacity
- 200 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4970724, Wikipedia: British Rail Class 123 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.