NIR 80 Class

The Class 80 is a type of diesel electric multiple unit in service with Northern Ireland Railways.

By the early 1970’s the MED’s and units inherited from the GNR(I)

Great Northern Railway (Ireland)

The Great Northern Railway was an Irish railway company formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway , Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The Ulster Railway was the GNRI's oldest constituent, having opened between Belfast and Lisburn in 1839 and extended in stages...

 had been in service for 20 years, and the MPD’s for 10 years. To replace these increasingly life-expired units, Northern Ireland Railways

Northern Ireland Railways

NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways and for a brief period of time, Ulster Transport Railways , is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company , and is thus the only remaining...

 placed an order with BREL for 9 new DMU's. These were to be built as four 3-car and five 2-car sets and were delivered in 1974/75.

The Class 80 is a type of diesel electric multiple unit in service with Northern Ireland Railways.

History

By the early 1970’s the MED’s and units inherited from the GNR(I)

Great Northern Railway (Ireland)

The Great Northern Railway was an Irish railway company formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway , Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The Ulster Railway was the GNRI's oldest constituent, having opened between Belfast and Lisburn in 1839 and extended in stages...

 had been in service for 20 years, and the MPD’s for 10 years. To replace these increasingly life-expired units, Northern Ireland Railways

Northern Ireland Railways

NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways and for a brief period of time, Ulster Transport Railways , is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company , and is thus the only remaining...

 placed an order with BREL for 9 new DMU's. These were to be built as four 3-car and five 2-car sets and were delivered in 1974/75. Structurally, the new trains were based on the British Rail MK IIb

British Rail Mark 2

British Rail's second design of carriages was designated Mark 2. The Mark 2 has a semi-integral construction, giving it more strength than a Mark 1 in the event of an accident, although a key driver of the changed construction method was to overcome the serious corrosion problem point in the Mark 1...

 bodyshell, which NIR was already using for the Enterprise

Enterprise (train)

|}Enterprise is the name of the cross-border inter-city train service between Dublin Connolly and Belfast Central in Ireland and is jointly operated by Iarnród Éireann and NI Railways .-History:...

 service. The new trains were named as the Class 80.

The power cars were fitted with an English Electric

English Electric

English Electric was a British industrial manufacturer. Founded in 1918, it initially specialised in industrial electric motors and transformers...

 560 HP diesel engine, with electric transmission to two traction motors mounted on the rear bogie. The seating capacity of the power cars was 45, however after providing for wheelchair accommodation, this was reduced to 42. The vehicle also incorporated a guards/parcel compartment. The intermediate coaches were fitted with an additional door on each side to aid passenger flow and had a capacity of 87. The driving trailers had a small cab built at one end, which necessitated the removal of six seats. This cab was set to the left to preserve the gangway connection, so that two or more train sets could be coupled together and still allow passengers to travel between the trains. All three types are of integral construction, however the power cars, because of their weight, also have an underframe. They were similar to the UTA 70 Class

UTA 70 Class

UTA 70 Class was a diesel multiple unit train built for service on Northern Ireland s railways. The MED’s and MPD’s, which made use of readily available power and transmission units, were cheap to operate but noisier and not as comfortable as locomotive - hauled rolling stock, a fact which made...

, both mechanically and electrically.

The Class 80 was intended to replace the aging MED, MPD and ex-GNR AEC and BUT railcars on the NCC services and the suburban service between Bangor

Bangor railway station, Northern Ireland

Bangor railway station is a terminal railway station which serves the town of Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland. The station was opened by the Belfast and County Down Railway on 1 May 1865 and closed to goods traffic on 24 April 1950.-Service:...

 and Portadown

Portadown railway station

Portadown railway station serves Portadown in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The original Portadown station was sited half a mile east of the present station and opened on 12 September 1842, replacing a temporary station at Seagow that had opened the preceeding year...

. The railcars proved so successful that a second series was ordered in 1975, entering service in 1977/78.

Each vehicle was numbered individually, with power car numbers running from 8067 to 8069, and 8081 to 8099. The Intermediate Trailers were numbered 8761 to 8780 and the Driving Trailers were numbered 8731 to 8756. Power cars 8081 to 8089 were built between 1974/1975, while 8067 to 8069 and 8090 to 8099 were built between 1978/1979. Intermediate Trailers 8761 to 8764 were also built between 1974/1975, with 8765 to 8773 being completed between 1978/1979. Likewise, the Driving Trailers were also completed in batches, with 8731 to 8739 built between 1974/1975 and 8740 to 8751 built between 1978/1979. The additional coaches were conversions from BR or old NI Railways loco-hauled coaches, and were not original Class 80 vehicles. These were Intermediate Trailers 8752 to 8756 and Driving Trailers 8774 to 8780.

Refurbishment

Despite the increasing age and obselesence of the Class 80, the lack of available rolling stock has meant that NIR has been forced to retain a number of units, even in spite of the entry into service of the new Class 3000. As of 2009, NIR will maintain up to three 4-car units for use on passenger services. These will see a pair of 2-car units, a power car and driving trailer, coupled back to back. Six trailers will be refurbished and fitted with central door locking to enable them to remain in service until the new Class 4000 units enter service. [742 had been nominated for retention but was scrapped in May 2008 and replaced in the programme by 752]

The power cars are being overhauled at LH services in Staffordshire and the trailers at York Road works in Belfast

Set 89-733-738-69 remained in service until May 24 2008

97 was converted to a Sandite spraying vehicle in 2006 and in 2006 and 2007 was used on these duties coupled to 89. On October 1 2008 97 had a test run with refurbished 82 and this pair are being used for Sandite trains until December 2008

Set 93-754-749-94 has been sporadically on test since 23 July 2008. As of 3 November 2008, it has been reported than regular passenger services have been commenced with this set.

Fleet details

Class	Operator	No. in service	Year Built	Cars per Set	Unit nos.	Notes
Class 80	Northern Ireland Railways	1	1974-1978	4	8069-8733-8738-8089 8082-8747-8752-8090 8093-8479-8754-8094	69 under refurbishment 89-94 under test

Status Of Class 80 Units

Key:	Refurbished	Scrapped	Unknown

Engines

Status	Notes
67	Scrapped	Was involved in the derailment at Downhill in 2002, after colliding with a rockfall. Scrapped 6th December 2004.
8068	Scrapped	Removed from Adelaide Yard and crushed on 30th May 2008
8069	To be Refurbished	Undergoing refurbishment by LH services at Barton under Needwood, England.
8081	Scrapped	Named 'The Boys Brigade' in 1988. Bomb damaged in 1976 but re-built 2 years later. Scrapped as of January 2006
8082	Refurbished	Badly damaged in the arson attack at Lurgan, but repaired in 1999. Returned after refurbishment by LH services on 15th September 2008, and was coupled with Sandite car 8097. Currently coupled with 8097 on sandite duties.
8083	Scrapped	Damaged during 1992, rebuilt the following year and finally scrapped during July 2008.
8084		N/A
8085	Scrapped	Removed from Adelaide and destroyed 11th July 2008.
8086	Scrapped	Named 'Glendun' in 1992. Removed and destroyed July 2008
8087	Scrapped	Rebuilt in 1979 after being damaged by a bomb at Londonderry. Scrapped at January 2006.
88	Scrapped	Scrapped after an accident at Hilden. Equipment was re-used in power car 8459, to make up the ninth Class 450 set.
8089	Refurbished	Refurbished by LH services at Barton under Needwood, England, and returned to York Road Works on 8 July 2009.
8090	Refurbished	Refurbished by LH services at Barton under Needwood, England, and returned to Adelaide Yard on 14 December 2008. Currently linked with 8082, 8747 and 8752
8091	Scrapped	Scrapped 28 May 2008.
8092	Scrapped	Scrapped during May 2009
8093	Refurbished	Damaged at Finaghy in 1980, but rebuilt the following year. Returned after refurbishment by LH services on 12th May 2008 and currently in passenger service with 8094. Also coupled with Driving Trailers 8749 and 8754.
8094	Refurbished	Named 'Glenariff' in 1989. Returned on 2 April 2008 and currently stored at York Road Depot.
8095		N/A
8096	Scrapped	Named 'Glenshane' in 1989. Scrapped as at January 2006.
8097		Named 'Glenshesk' in 1990. Currently on sandite duty for a 4th year running, and coupled to 8082.
8098	Scrapped	Named 'Glenoe' in 1989. Scrapped by Clearways 28 May 2008.
8099		Named 'Sir Myles Humpreys' in 1978. Damaged in an attack in May 1993, but repaired during 1994. Currently at the East Lancashire Railway in Bury, Manchester, England

Intermediate Trailers

Status	Notes
8761		N/A
8762	Scrapped	Scrapped in July 2008
8763	Scrapped	Scrapped during May 2009
8764	Scrapped	Removed from Adelaide Yard 29 May 2008 and destroyed by Clearways.
8765	Scrapped	Removed from Adelaide Yard 29 May 2008 and destroyed by Clearways.
8766	Scrapped	Destroyed during July 2008
8767	Scrapped	NI Railways destroyed this vehicle by fire.
8768	Scrapped	Scrapped 6th May 2005.
8769		N/A
8770		N/A
8771	Scrapped	As of May 2007, it was sited at Ballynure. Possibility of preservation.
8772	Scrapped	Destroyed by arson on 6 July 1997.
8773		N/A
8774	Scrapped	Scrapped during May 2009
8775	Scrapped	Scrapped as at January 2006.
8776	Scrapped	Scrapped during May 2009
8777	Scrapped	Scrapped 6th May 2005.
8778	Scrapped	Destroyed by arson in July 1997.
8779	Scrapped	Destroyed during July 2008
8780	Scrapped	Destroyed July 2008

Driving Trailers

Status	Notes
8731		N/A
8732	Scrapped	Scrapped as at January 2006.
8733	To be Refurbished	To be refurbished as part of the plan to return 3 class 80 trains to service.
8734	Scrapped	Destroyed May 2008
8735		N/A
8736	Scrapped	Destroyed May 2008
8737	Scrapped	Destroyed in an arson attack in 1997
8738	To be Refurbished	To be refurbished as part of the plan to return 3 class 80 trains to service.
8739	Scrapped	Scrapped as at January 2006.
8740	Scrapped	NI Railways destroyed this vehicle by fire.
8741		N/A
8742	Scrapped	Destroyed by Clearways 30 May 2008.
8743	Scrapped	Scrapped during May 2009
8744	Scrapped	Destroyed July 2008
8745	Scrapped	Scrapped during May 2009
8746		N/A
8747	Refurbished	Currently linked to 8090, 8082 and 8452.
8748		N/A
8749	Refurbished	Currently in service with engines 8093 and 8094 along with driving trailer 8754. Brought into service on 3 November 2008.
8750		N/A
8751	Scrapped	Destroyed in an arson attack in 1997
8752	Refurbished	Refurbished as part of the plan to return 3 class 80 trains to service. Currently joined with 8090, 8082 and 8747
8753	Scrapped	Removed from Adelaide Yard 29 May 2008 and destroyed by Clearways.
8754	Refurbished	Currently in service with Engines 8093 and 8094 along with Driving Trailer 8749. Returned to service on 3 November 2008.
8755	Scrapped	Scrapped 6th May 2005.
8756	Scrapped	Scrapped 6th May 2005.