British Rail Class 175
The British Rail Class 175 "Coradia 1000" is a type of diesel multiple-unit passenger train operated by Transport for Wales Rail in the United Kingdom. The fleet of 27 sets was built between 1999 and 2001 by Alstom at Washwood Heath. Owned by Angel Trains, they were built for North Western Trains (later first North Western), before being transferred to Wales & Borders, and then to Arriva Trains Wales and then Transport for Wales Rail Services (KeolisAmey Wales) and then to government-owned Transport for Wales Rail. Description. In July 1997, North Western Trains placed an  order with Alstom for 27 sets. The original order was for 11 two-carriage units with a top speed of , seven three-carriage units with a top speed of 100 mph and nine three-carriage units with a top speed of . This was reconfigured to 11 two-carriage and 16 three-carriage units all with a top speed of 100 mph. As they were constructed, the old locomotive sheds at Chester TMD were replaced with a purpose-built facility in order to service the Class 175 units. Units were tested at low speed at the Severn Valley Railway before further  testing and driver training at the Old Dalby Test Track from November 1999. The first unit entered service on 20 June 2000. The two-carriage units are numbered 175001–175011, and the three-carriage units 175101–175116. Carriages are labelled as coaches A–B–C, with two-car units having no coach B. Each train has provision for two disabled passengers in coach A, and storage for two bicycles in coach C. Early reliability problems meant that some services were operated by old rolling stock at short notice. Remedial work included improving brakes and bogies, which greatly improved the reliability of the  units. Class 175 "Coradias" are fitted with a passenger information system, which consists of onboard LED display and audio announcements of train destinations and arrivals. Operations. The Class 175 fleet was operated by First North Western (FNW) from Birmingham New Street, Crewe and Manchester to Llandudno, Holyhead, Barrow and Windermere. As part of a restructure of franchise areas, in October 2003 FNW's services on the North Wales Coast Line from Birmingham and Manchester to Llandudno and Holyhead were transferred to the Wales & Borders franchise. All 27 Class 175s were transferred to Wales & Borders, who then sublet 11 to FNW . This arrangement continued when FNW's Manchester to Barrow and Windermere services passed to First TransPennine Express (FTPE) in February 2004. After FTPE took delivery of Class 185s, this arrangement ceased in December 2006. All passed with the Wales & Borders franchise to Arriva Trains Wales in December 2003. Their sphere operation was extended to South Wales via the Welsh Marches Line to Cardiff, Swansea, Pembroke Dock, Fishguard and Milford Haven. All passed with the franchise to Transport for Wales Services in October 2018, the units then passed with the franchise to Transport for Wales Rail in 2021. The trains were  refurbished at Alstom's Widnes modernisation centre between 2019 and 2022. All are scheduled to be replaced by Class 197 Diesel multiple units (DMUs) by 2023. Accidents and Incidents. On 16 January 2010, unit 175103 operating the 08:30 service from to struck two cars at Moreton-on-Lugg crossing between Hereford and Leominster. The front seat passenger in one of the cars was fatally injured, although there were no casualties on the train. The train did not derail. The signaller had raised the barriers in error when the train was approaching the crossing, and he was arrested on suspicion of  manslaughter in July 2010. The same service collided with a trailer on the Morfa Main level crossing near Kidwelly on 31 January 2011. No-one was injured, but the unit involved, 175108, received nearly £82,000 worth of damage due to striking the trailer at . The farmer in charge of the trailer was sentenced to a 36-week suspended jail sentence and was ordered to carry out 200hours of community work. On 19 December 2011, unit 175002 collided with a lorry at the Llanboidy level crossing near Whitland. The train was operating the service from Milford Haven to Manchester Piccadilly  and the driver of the lorry was arrested on suspicion of endangering safety. Class 175 units have caught fire in 2004 at (175008), 2009 at , 2011 at Manchester Piccadilly, 2017 both at Shrewsbury (175109) and between Chester and Crewe, 2018 at Deganwy, and in 2019 both near Pontrilas (175107) and at Gowerton (175102). In February 2018, the entire Class 175 fleet was temporarily withdrawn from service for safety checks. After further investigation, it was found that a track fault between Newport and Cwmbran had caused wheel damage to several class 175 units, and also some Class 158s. Fleet details. < DIV> Named units. Some of the class have received names: All except for "Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru" were named by First North Western. The nameplates were all removed in 2009 when the fleet was repainted into Arriva Trains Wales livery.