Bombardier Turbostar
Turbostar is the name given to a series of diesel multiple units (DMU) built by Bombardier Transportation (previously ADtranz) at their Litchurch Lane Works in Derby, England. The Turbostar was the first new train type to be introduced after the privatisation of British Rail, and is the most common type of diesel multiple unit (its electrical variant, the Electrostar, is the most common electric multiple unit). There are four different variants of the Turbostar, designated Class 168 (also known as Clubman), Class 170, Class 171, and (in development) the Class 172.
Description
Turbostars have been acquired for use by several train operating companies, each with different specifications. One of the more noticeable differences with later units compared to earlier ones, is the larger headlights now specified for safety reasons.
Units are numbered 168xxx, 170xxx, 171xxx or 172xxx, where xxx is the serial number of the unit. Individual carriages are numbered 50xxx and 79xxx for driving motor cars, and 56xxx and 54xxx for centre cars.
Turbostars use an MTU 6R 183TD engine.
Working in multiple
One factor in the popularity of this type of unit is that the Class 170 variant of Turbostars, unlike all other types built since privatisation, are fully capable of working in multiple with older types from the 15X Sprinter series of units, giving them much more flexibility, although there are issues with so-called "sandwich" formations, formed either 170-15X-170 or 15X-170-15X, which does cause problems with empty stock movements where up to 4 units of various types coupled together is common. A possible side effect of this is that Turbostars performance is also in line with the 2nd generation 15X units, in fact being somewhat behind a 150 or 156 on "short hop" workings, and behind a 158 on longer distance workings unless there is enough 100mph running to take advantage of the 10mph higher speed of the Class 170.
Turbostar variants
| Class | Image | Operator | Introduced | Number | Carriages | End gangways |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 168 "Clubman" |  |
Chiltern Railways | 1998 | 19 | 3 or 4 | No |
| 170 |  |
CrossCountry First ScotRail London Midland National Express East Anglia South West Trains First TransPennine Express |
1998 | 122 | 2 or 3 | No |
| 171 |  |
Southern | 2003 | 16 | 2 or 4 | No |
| 172 (On order) |
Chiltern Railways London Midland London Overground |
2010 | 39 | 2 or 3 | 172/2 and 172/3[1] |