Talk:British Rail Class 159

158 versus 159
The rebuild consisted of the fitment of First Class accommodation, installing retention toilets and other modifications.

I would be interested to know what these other modifications were, and also what "fitment of First Class accommodation" entailed, as the Class 158 units I've seen already have First Class accommodation (and I'm pretty sure they've always had it).

Was it a case of installing more First Class accommodation, or better First Class accommodation than what was provided on the 158s?

It would also be interesting to know why retention toilets were fitted to the 159s, whereas they were not retrofitted to the 158s. Was this due to the use of a third rail supply in some areas (where I could envisage flushing directly onto the track might cause some interesting problems!) or was it for some other reason?

I suppose the key question is why they felt a need to create a new class, instead of just operating Class 158s. Why were Class 158s considered inadequate for the purpose? The units were going spare anyway, why couldn't they just use them as is? The article doesn't really address this. 217.155.20.163 22:30, 20 April 2007 (UTC)


 * As far as I am aware only the Scottish 158s had first class from new. The TPX and Virgin units had it retrofitted when refurbished. Also the Class 159s had 2+1 first class seating rather then the 158s 2+2. As for the different class number, a contempary issue of Rail claimed that 159s had been modified by NSE so as to be unable to work in Multiple with Regional Railways sprinters (don't you just love BR internal politics), much like Southerns 171s. They were modified to be sprinter compatible a few years later. --Enotayokel 16:11, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

References etc
Requesting references for basic data in the article. Also more info on BR operations (are the the current operations the same as those in the past -if so please say in article)

Also parts of article require clarification.Carrolljon (talk) 12:01, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Class 159 Brand Name
The Class 159 was never known by British Rail Network SouthEast or by railway enthusiasts as 'South Western Turbo'. The Class 159 has always been and will always be known as 'Wessex Turbo'. This is a well known FACT. Even South West Trains refer to the Class 159 as 'Wessex Turbo'.

Please do NOT alter the title.

--Peter Skuce (talk) 15:54, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

On the West of England  Line with  effect from  May 1992,  a        summer Saturday service will  be introduced between  Waterloo and Paignton. The weekday timetable will remain largely  as        at present, with  some minor changes  to improve  connections with Regional Railway services at Salisbury. The new Class 159 South Western Turbo units will be introduced as they are delivered from July. The full enhanced timetable is  likely to be similar in  frequency to  that operating  in May  1990 before cuts were introduced  and will  operate from  October 1992 (the proposed timetable will be made available shortly). It should be emphasised that these proposals are in  outline only.
 * Peter they were South Western Turbos from new. If you can find a photo or document then by all means, but as well as seeing the South Western Turbo logo on the stock, It seems governemnt documents back me up. From Hants CC's Transport Committie minutes.

And from the Southern Email Group The paint work is extremely well done with crisp lines and realistic looking colours. The numerals and lettering are of a similar high standard. Even with my reading glasses on I had to use a magnifying glass to read what I found to be the pin-sharp "South West Turbo" branding. The moulding and painting of the door opening buttons are a work of art. So impressed with the model was a work colleague of mine that they asked whether pressing the buttons opened the realistic looking plug doors. Well how about it Bachmann?

and [http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/gb/diesel/dmu/159/57876.jpg here is a picture, you can see the branding says "South Western Turbo" - if you can't you can still see it has three words

So its being changed back. --Enotayokel (talk) 20:17, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

I have today asked South West Trains the question of the brand name for the Class 159. My question was as follows:

Have the Class 159 ever been known or been given the nickname ‘Wessex Turbo’ during their lives, and were they known as ‘South West Turbo’ or is it ‘South Western Turbo’? Posted by Peter Skuce 25/02/2010

Answer: The class 159 trains were introduced in 1992 and had the name Wessex Turbo.

You can find this on the webpage: 

At the moment I will show both 'Wessex Turbo' and 'South Western Turbo' on the infobox.

Regards, --Peter Skuce (talk) 18:12, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Removed section
I've removed this section until we can get some references for it. Am also not sure if this really belongs on the 159 page, would it be better on the SWT page if combined with the rest of their fleet.

===Cleaning and Servicing=== Most of South West Trains’ Class 159s return to Salisbury TMD every night for cleaning (some are serviced there, others at Fratton TMD) excluding two units that remain at Exeter St Davids (New Yard) overnight with a crew to form the first trains of the next day.

The Class 159s are on a rolling programme of carpet upholstery cleaning every six months at Wimbledon TMD depot. --Enotayokel (talk) 09:09, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

Commons images
Hi. Just to let you know, the Commons category for Class 159s is now completely sorted by operator and livery. -mattbuck (Talk) 17:41, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Possible change to the title of this article
This article is currently named in accordance the WikiProject UK Railways naming conventions for British rolling stock allocated a TOPS number. A proposal to change this convention and/or its scope is being discussed at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject UK Railways, where your comments would be welcome.

External links modified
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The current photo
The current photo represents a class 158, therefore i'm changing it to a class 159.SageWater (talk) 10:00, 25 August 2017 (UTC)