The Pacer train commuters LOVED to HATE! – Northern Class 142 Review

Northern rail perhaps one of the most hated train companies in the world from these slow Journeys to the outdated trains and the downright disgusting Interiors the company certainly has its problems but today we'll be traveling on what commuters say is their worst train the Pacer with a design based on a really old bus we'll be riding this bouncy train on a typical commuter Journey join me to see if it's really as bad as they say welcome to the modern Manchester Piccadilly station situated right in the heart of Britain's second largest city this station serves tens of thousands of Travelers every day including many who commute on Northern rail the main local operator in the city and much of the North heading inside we're met with a good selection of shops this includes w.h Smith's a few places to grab a drink as well as a bank and a supermarket more options are available upstairs but at the time of filming this area was closed Manchester Piccadilly boasts 14 platforms for its many departing trains most of these are terminal platforms accessible directly from the main Concourse my train today will be the 0840 Northern Service to Rosehill Marple will be departing from platform 2 but first there's an automatic ticket inspection which didn't actually work after getting through the gate line I can't see any Pacer trains I was getting worried that they weren't running today when I spotted one hiding away at the far end of the platform due to accessibility regulations at the time of filming the Pacer fleet was only allowed to operate when attached to an accessible train in this case a class 150 Sprinter unit anyway it's time to board our bus-like train even the doors on the Pacer resemble those of a bus but we'll go into the Train's history and design a little later on in the video [Applause] this Pacer like most is formed of two carriages my upper class followers will be delighted to find out that first class can be found on a different Drain Company back to reality though this Pacer has seating in a two plus two layout numerous interior designs exist including the two plus three bench seating which was particularly unpopular on Long Journeys believe me with the doors closing shortly before departure it's time to have a look at today's route for this journey we travel east out of Manchester Piccadilly before heading south from guide Bridge finally turning off for the Rose Hill Branch this journey is scheduled to take just half an hour to cover the 12 miles or about 19 kilometers [Applause] we depart on time at 0840 leaving behind one of the UK's biggest stations at this point you can hear the first problem with this train sorry about that headphone users [Applause] as we start to build speed the train soon starts bouncing around too to understand why this is we have to go back to when these trains were designed our story goes back to the 1960s with the development of the high-speed Freight vehicle a flat four-wheeled Freight wagon in the 1970s the British bus manufacturer Leyland had just begun manufacturing its latest model the Leyland National later that same decade British Rail and Leyland placed a modified bus body on the high-speed Freight vehicle thus making the first prototype rail bus this design evolved over the years and eventually in 1985 the first class 142 Pacer entered service [Applause] anyway we're soon arriving at our first station ashbury's stations on this route are frequent with it being part of Manchester's commuter Railway Network now that we're back on the move I think it's time to have a look at the dreaded interior of this Infamous bus train starting off of course with the seats these seats are actually reasonably comfortable with a fair amount of padding they won't win any awards but they're acceptable for shorter Journeys like this and the headrest is extremely soft as for legroom well it's tight but I've definitely seen worse that is unless you end up with this weird seat to be honest there's not a lot to say about this seat it just is what it is there's no armrests or seat back tables it's just a bunch of seats tightly packed together what I couldn't ignore was just how much of her poor condition the train was in with various stains of God knows what over many of the seats also there was a puddle of water on the floor these trains are known for leaking from time to time perhaps strangest of all I found what looked to be a former seat belt holder between seats now I know these trains are rough but that seems a tab dramatic finally some seat cushions just aren't attach to the base for some reason we've just left guide Bridge meaning we now head south on the line for Hyde and romiley as you may have guessed this isn't Britain's best looked after Railway meaning the suspension of the old Pacer is definitely having trouble we are now arriving into Hyde North one of six stations to serve the town with a population of just 34 000 Hyde must have one of the highest amounts of stations per person anywhere in the UK time to Brave the rickety Corridor connection to have a look at the toilet being a two-car train the Pacers have just one toilet I'm sure I don't need to be the one who tells you that you can't get a wheelchair in here whilst not totally filthy it's pretty battered just look at all this rust but worst of all the contents of this toilet just end up on the track [Applause] bins can be found at the central end of both carriages tucked away behind a seat the Pacer train is really quite odd with seats seemingly just put wherever they will fit there's also many telltale signs of its strange design history such as the cab window rather clumsily overflowing into the passenger area and speaking of the driver's Cab in case you were wondering no there's not a steering wheel or pedals just standard train controls as for luggage space it's a little bit weird one side of the carriage has no storage for luggage but the other side has an overhead luggage rack presumably people who travel forwards don't need anywhere to store their bags so now on to how much today's Journey cost for this trip I bought a peak time return ticket at a cost of four pounds 60. this includes my 16 to 25 railcard discount of one-third whilst not particularly cheap for a journey of this length it is roughly what I'd expect to pay on a commuter route such as this one we are now arriving at romily the station is located between two Junctions on the western side are two separate lines to Manchester with the Eastern Side featuring the railway to Sheffield via new Mills and the short Branch to Rosehill Marple from here we briefly catch a glimpse of the peak Forest Canal a mode of Transport that even predates the railways in the region this canal was first opened all the way back in 1796 long before the railway opened in 1862. next the train passes over the Marple Viaduct which runs parallel to the marble Aqueduct carrying the peak Forest canal this is where the train leaves the line to Sheffield via new Mills and heads down the branch to Rosehill Marple [Music] so is the Pacer really as bad as people say well it's difficult to give a fair answer from this journey alone oftentimes these trains would be a lot busier than the two I filmed these trains even ended up on some longer routes too with it not being unheard of to find these bus-like Contraptions on four hour trips also over the years these trains have got into a really bad condition with the inside being filthy and worn out whilst the outside is rusting away [Applause] nowadays northern's Pacer fleet has been completely replaced with both older Sprinter units but also brand new trains built by CAF in Spain as for where these trains are now the majority of the fleet were scrapped from 2019. however at least 30 of the units are known to still exist many of these in use on preserved Railways allowing many future generations to come and enjoy the novelty of these much maligned trains we arrive at Rose Hill Marple with a delay of two minutes at 09 12. personally I don't really mind these trains and actually prefer them to the class 150 Sprinter trains that replaced them which I think have less Pleasant interiors and are far more cramped once the bus doors are released we're free to leave the train at Rose Hill Marple so what do you think of the Pacer as always let me know your thoughts in the comments and for another even older train service then you'll want to see my video on the last steam train in Europe so click up here now to continue the journey

Channel: Superalbs Travels

Views: 152,511

Keywords: Superalbs Travels, Class 142, Pacer, Class 143, Class 144, Avanti, Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, LNER, Pendolino, Azuma, northern rail, northern, northern rail flash sale, northern rail 10p, northern trains, trainline, thetrainline, train strikes, rail strikes, RMT, northern train, commuters, commute, trains, trainspotting, train review, trip report, branchlines, manchester, romiley, rose hill marple, trains at, WCML, HVL, nonstop eurotrip, simply railway, bus train, buses, bus, train

Id: fo3ENkd69WQ

Length: 10min 8sec (608 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 25 2023