Class 196 Civity

The Class 196 diesel multiple units are part of the CAF Civity family like the Class 195 and 397. Twenty six sets (in a mixture of two and four car formations) have been built for West Midlands Railway for use on their routes from Birmingham New Street to Shrewsbury replacing Class 170s and other WMR services. Deliveries of the Class 196 began in 2020 and the type entered service in October 2022 initially on services to Shrewsbury [1].

West Midlands Railway 196 008 at Bedworth

Information
Number built:	80 (26 2 or 4-car sets)
Built:	2019-2022
Builder:	CAF Newport
Motor:	Rolls-Royce MTU 6H1800R85L diesel per car
Power:	523 hp (390 kW) per car

Twelve two-car sets and fourteen four-car sets have been built.

The type are also used on the Birmingham to Hereford, the Leamington-Nuneaton line (also known as the Elephant & Bear Line). The new Camp Hill services planned for 2025 could also use the Class 196. Some two-car sets could also be allocated to operate on the new East West Rail line between Oxford and Milton Keynes Central when it opens later this decade.

196 107 at Shrewsbury

Aboard a 196

196 009 at University

196 110 at Birmingham New Street

196 007 at Nuneaton

[1] "West Midlands Trains launches CAF 196s", Modern Railways (November 2022) p. 12

West Midlands Metro Urbos 3

The Urbos 3 fleet is the second generation of light rail rolling stock built for the West Midlands Metro from Wolverhampton to Birmingham, replacing the earlier T-69 fleet [1].

Tram 31 on Corporation Street

Information
Number built:	42
Built:	2012-15, 2021-23
Builder:	CAF
Motor:	12 traction motors (750v DC OHLE)
Power:	1, 320 hp (960 kW)

The Urbos is a successful type of modern tram built by CAF, used in dozens of light rail systems across the world though the West Midlands Metro fleet is the only Urbos 3 stock used in England (the type is also used in Edinburgh).

The trams were introduced for the extension of the West Midlands Metro from Birmingham Snow Hill to Birmingham New Street railway station. They are slightly wider than the T-69s they replaced (about seventeen centimetres) thus the line had to be closed for a few weeks to allow for platform modifications before the Urbos 3 could enter service. 

The trams are also nine metres longer and can carry up to 210 passengers per tram compared to 156 on the T-69 (though the actual number of seats is almost the same). All of the trams were given the pink and white livery of the Midlands Metro as it was originally known though all now carry the blue livery of the re-branded West Midlands Metro.

CAF have developed rechargable batteries for fitting to the fleet to allow them to operate on extensions to the metro where there are no overhead wires [2] such as around Birmingham town hall. Twenty one more trams were built in the early 2020s to strengthen the fleet as the West Midlands Metro expands.

Tram 38 (the first in the second batch) arrives at Loxdale

The original livery carried by the trams

Tram 48 at Edgbaston Village, the current terminus of Line 1

Look Ma no wires! A tram passes Birmingham Town Hall on battery power

Tram 51 heads towards West Bromwich

[1] Colin J Marsden, Rail Guide 2016 (Ian Allan, 2016) p. 280
[2] Colin J Marsden (ed.), Light Rail (Key Publishing, 2018) p. 63

Class 89

With new electrification of British Rail routes continuing in the 1980s, especially the East Coast Main Line (ECML), a new generation of electric locomotives would be required. The Class 89 was a prototype locomotive, with a Co-Co wheel arrangement unlike earlier AC electric locomotives which had all been Bo-Bos. The Class 89 was also fitted with advanced power control systems with a maximum power output of nearly 8,000 hp (and a continuous output of over 5, 748 hp). It is capable of travelling at 125 mp/h.

89 001 at Barrow Hill Roundhouse

Information
Number built:	1
Built:	1986
Builder:	BREL Crewe / Brush Traction
Motor:	6 Brush TM2201A traction motors (25kV AC OHLE)
Power:	5, 748 hp (4, 286 kW)
Wheel arrangement:	Co-Co

The locomotive was designed by Brush Traction and built by BREL Crewe in 1986. Early in the programme the Class 89 was considered as potential traction for the East Coast Main Line [1] and an eventual fleet of 33 to be built though by the time the Class 89 was built the specification for the ECML had changed (to be filled by the Class 91) and only one Class 89 ended up being built.

The Class 89 was used on test trains on both the West Coast Main Line and ECML in the late 1980s. Operations continued until 1992 when the locomotive suffered a serious failure, it was withdrawn by BR as being surplus to requirements (by then) and non-standard [2].

The Class 89 was saved by the privatising railway in 1996. The new operator on the ECML, Great North East Railway bought it back into service [3] and paid for an overhaul to help cover a shortage of motive power at the time. The Class 89 was withdrawn due to another failure in 2000 and again surplus to requirements. The locomotive was purchased for preservation in 2006, after a long overhaul and refurbishment it is planned for the Class 89 to return to the mainline for charter work.

89 001 front profile

89 001 wears Intercity swallow livery

Another photograph of 89 001

[1] Brian Haresnape, Electric Locomotives (Ian Allan, 1983) p. 20

[2] Gavin Morrison, AC Electric Locomotives (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 57

[3] Colin J. Marsden, Diesel & Electric Locomotive Guide (Ian Allan, 2011) p. 234