Arriva Trains Wales - Rolling Stock

Rolling Stock

As of March 2008, Arriva Trains Wales operates a fleet of 123 diesel multiple units. It also owns some Mark 2 coaching stock, used for locomotive-hauled express services between Holyhead and Cardiff, and has occasionally used hired-in locomotives to run extra services for sporting events.

ATW inherited a fleet of Class 142, Class 143, Class 150, Class 153, Class 158 and Class 175s from Wales & Borders. The Class 175s were a common user fleet with 11 required by First TransPennine Express each day.

In the early years of the franchise, ATW operated locomotive-hauled services using Mark 2 carriages on services from Cardiff Central to Rhymney and Fishguard Harbour hauled by EWS Class 37s and FiftyFund Class 50s, and from Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly to Holyhead hauled by Freightliner Class 47s and Virgin Trains Class 57s. ATW built up a fleet of 20 Mark 2 carriages to operate these; all had been withdrawn by 2007, most of them being stored at Long Marston.

ATW received 12 Class 150s cascaded from First ScotRail and another from One in 2004/05. In December 2006 another eight were transferred from First Great Western, notionally to provide stock for the Borderlands Line and Ebbw Valley Railway services.

Following the delivery of new stock to First TransPennine Express in 2006, all of the Class 175s becoming available to ATW, resulting in 16 Class 158s being released for transfer to other operators.

In 2006 heritage unit 121032 was purchased by ATW for use on the Cardiff Bay Shuttle. The unit was overhauled by LNWR, Crewe, entering service on 17 August 2006.

In November 2007 another nine Class 150s were transferred from Central Trains. From February 2008 five Class 150s (150278-282) were subleased to First Great Western. This was later reduced to four and then two, the last returning in 2011.

In December 2008 the loco-hauled Holyhead to Cardiff Premier Service was inaugurated. It was hauled by Class 57s on hire from Virgin Trains, initially in top-and-tail formation and later singularly, hauling three standard class Mark 2s and a Mark 3 first/buffet. Four Class 57s were repainted at Cardiff Canton and six Mark 2s were refreshed at Eastleigh Works. Class 67s took over from the Class 57s in March 2012, and Mark 3s refurbished by Pullman Rail from the Mark 2s in October 2012.

From October 2011 until August 2012, 150280 was subleased to National Express East Anglia/Greater Anglia.