British Rail Class 158

The British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple unit passenger train built for regional express services, the most capable member of the Sprinter family that replaced British Rail's first generation of diesel multiple units. British Rail Engineering Limited constructed the class between 1989 and 1992 at its Derby Litchurch Lane Works, mostly as two-car sets with some three-car sets for the busy Transpennine route. Each aluminium-bodied vehicle has its own turbo-diesel engine driving both axles of the inner bogie through a hydrokinetic transmission, for a maximum speed of 90 mph. The first Express Sprinters entered service with ScotRail in September 1990 and the type spread to secondary routes across the Midlands, Northern England, Wales and the South West. The Class 159 is an almost identical variant converted from Class 158 sets for services from London Waterloo to the West of England.