#4559
Pacer (British Rail)
built by Unknown builder· from 1984· family of 5 classes of British diesel multiple unit / railbuses
2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Exeter St Davids - FGW 142064 and 143611: Geof Sheppard· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 2. 142006 and 143625: train_photos· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
Pacer was the operational name of the British Rail Classes 140, 141, 142, 143 and 144 diesel multiple unit railbuses built between 1980 and 1987. They were inexpensively developed using a passenger body based on the Leyland National bus on top of a chassis based on the HSFV1 research vehicle. The railbuses were intended as a short-term solution to a shortage of rolling stock, with a lifespan of no more than 20 years.
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 42 years ago, in 1984.
- Served for 36 years (1984–2020).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1984
- in service from
- 1984
- retired
- 2020
- status
- retired
- number built
- 165
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- diesel
- builders
- Unknown builder
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- —
- formation
- 2 cars per unit (140/141/142/143/144)/ 3 cars per unit (144)
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7121935, Wikipedia: Pacer (British Rail) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.