Class 195

British Rail Class 195 (CAF Civity) — Northern’s modern diesel workhorse

The British Rail Class 195 is the diesel half of the fleet refresh that was meant to drag Northern’s day-to-day railway out of the late 20th century and into something closer to the present tense. Built by CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) as part of its Civity family, and owned by Eversholt Rail, the Class 195 is a modern diesel multiple unit (DMU) designed for regional work across the North of England: medium distances, frequent stops, a mix of commuters and leisure travellers, and the unglamorous reality of operating on routes where electrification is patchy, absent, or a political promise still in the filing cabinet.

Introduced to passenger service on 1 July 2019, the Class 195 was initially deployed on services linking Manchester Airport with Liverpool Lime Street (via Warrington) and with Barrow-in-Furness—a deliberately visible launch on busy, mixed-traffic routes where new trains are noticed quickly, for better or worse. Over time, the units spread across Northern’s non-electrified network, becoming the principal "new diesel" where the operator wanted higher reliability, better acceleration than some elderly stock, and a passenger environment that could credibly claim to be modern.

There are 58 units in total, built between 2017 and 2022: 25 two-car sets (Class 195/0) and 33 three-car sets (Class 195/1).

What follows is a factual description of the Class 195: what it is, why it exists, how it is built, and how it has been used.

Why the Class 195 was ordered

The Class 195 was ordered in a period when Northern’s rolling stock had become a public issue. For years, large parts of the network relied on trains that were either life-expired, unpopular, or both—most notoriously the "Pacer" units, which became shorthand for crowded, noisy, low-comfort regional travel. The franchise and political context created pressure for a visible improvement: not just refurbished interiors, but new trains with accessible toilets, air-conditioning, passenger information systems, and basic features that passengers elsewhere had come to treat as normal.

The solution Northern pursued was a large fleet order split between diesel and electric variants—58 Class 195 DMUs and 43 Class 331 EMUs, marketed as a generational upgrade. For diesel routes, the Class 195 was designed to offer a consistent standard across a diverse network: semi-fast links between cities, cross-Pennine services on non-electrified stretches, and longer regional journeys where old DMUs had been doing a hard job for too long.

In plain English: the Class 195 was not ordered to win design awards. It was ordered to reduce cancellations, improve capacity, modernise accessibility, and make Northern’s passenger offer less of a punchline.

Builder, ownership, and where the trains were made

The Class 195 is manufactured by CAF, with production associated with Irun (Spain) and Newport (Wales) in the programme’s industrial footprint.

This arrangement—rolling stock owned by a leasing company and operated by a franchise/contract operator—is standard modern UK practice. It matters because it shapes refurbishment decisions, end-of-lease planning, and how "fleet life" is managed. The Class 195 is, in that sense, a product of the contemporary railway: assets financed and owned separately from the day-to-day operator, with long-term reliability and residual value central to the business case.

Fleet size, formations, and capacity

The fleet is split into two formations:

• Class 195/0: two-car units, numbered 195001–195025, with a typical seating capacity quoted at 124 seats.
• Class 195/1: three-car units, numbered 195101–195133, with a typical seating capacity quoted at 204 seats.

These numbers are not trivia; they are the spine of how the units are deployed. Two-car sets suit routes with lower demand, shorter platforms, or operational constraints. Three-car sets suit busier corridors and longer journeys where standing for an hour is not a reasonable business model. Northern can also operate multiple units together (up to 12 cars within class), giving the flexibility to strengthen services at peaks without reinventing the timetable.

The basic car arrangement is expressed in the usual railway shorthand: driving motor cars at the ends, and (on the three-car sets) an intermediate motor car in the middle. Importantly, each vehicle carries its own traction "package" rather than relying on one powered car hauling unpowered trailers, giving the units robust distributed performance for regional stop-start work.

Traction and performance: diesel power done the modern way

The Class 195 is a diesel-mechanical / diesel-hydraulic multiple unit, using a modern engine-and-gearbox setup rather than a classic diesel-electric arrangement. The core traction package is:

• One engine per car: MTU 6H 1800 series engines (turbo-diesel), with modern emissions control including SCR (selective catalytic reduction).
• Transmission: ZF EcoLife 6-speed automatic gearboxes.
• Maximum speed: 100 mph.

In practical service terms, this combination is aimed at the sweet spot for UK regional diesel work: brisk acceleration away from stops, the ability to keep pace on main lines shared with faster services, and enough top speed to avoid being a rolling roadblock on semi-fast diagrams. A modern gearbox also helps with fuel efficiency and drivability, smoothing out what older mechanical units could make feel like a series of jolts between gears.

Power output is commonly quoted as 390 kW per engine, giving an overall installed traction power in the region of 780 kW for a two-car and 1170 kW for a three-car set. Those figures, again, are less about bragging rights and more about operating economics: the units need enough performance to keep time on busy mixed-traffic routes without requiring heroic driving or perfect conditions.

Safety and signalling equipment includes the standard UK package such as AWS and TPWS, with provision for ETCS as the network modernises.

Passenger environment: what changed compared with the old fleet

The passenger improvements offered by the Class 195 were not subtle, particularly when compared with the older DMUs it was intended to replace.

Most prominently, the Class 195 brought:

• Air conditioning
• Onboard Wi-Fi
• At-seat power sockets
• A more detailed passenger information system
• Space for luggage and bicycles

These features are now common on modern UK trains, but on parts of the Northern network they represented a clear break from the past. Air conditioning and reliable passenger information matter more in a dispersed regional network than people sometimes admit: long dwell times, platform alterations, and weather disruption make good information and a tolerable cabin environment part of operational resilience, not just "comfort".

The units also feature wide vestibules and open internal circulation consistent with modern regional designs, designed to cope with heavy boarding and alighting at city stations and to keep dwell times under control.

Accessibility: modern compliance as standard

One of the most important changes brought by the Class 195 is that it was built in the era of modern accessibility expectations. Northern’s published train-type information highlights, among other features:

• Dedicated wheelchair spaces
• Wheelchair-accessible toilet
• Boarding ramp availability
• Priority seating
• Aural and visual passenger information
• Baby changing facilities

For a regional operator, these features are not optional extras; they are basic requirements for a railway that intends to be usable by everyone. They also influence fleet deployment: a route that relies on stock without accessible toilets or without practical wheelchair accommodation becomes an operational and reputational risk. The Class 195 helps Northern avoid that problem on diesel routes where replacing older trains has historically been difficult.

Introduction to service: dates and early deployment

The Class 195 entered passenger service on 1 July 2019, with early operations including the 04:53 Barrow-in-Furness to Manchester Airport working cited at the time as the first public service.

The last unit’s entry into service is commonly reported as occurring by December 2020, marking the practical completion of the initial roll-out (even though build and delivery milestones continued as programmes mature and acceptance is finalised).

Northern’s depot support for the class is associated with facilities such as Allerton (Liverpool) and Newton Heath (Manchester). The choice of depots reflects where the trains are used heavily: the Manchester–Liverpool axis, airport services, and the wider diesel network that radiates from those hubs.

Where they run: the role on the Northern network

The Class 195 is intended to work across Northern’s non-electrified routes, though exact allocations move with timetable changes, operational needs, and fleet availability. In broad terms, the units suit:

• airport links where luggage space matters,
• longer regional services where comfort and toilets are not negotiable,
• semi-fast routes that share track with inter-city services and need 100 mph capability,
• cross-country services within the North where electrification gaps make pure electric operation impractical.

Northern’s own public material has listed example corridors for Class 195 operation (noting that routes can be subject to change), reflecting the operator reality: you deploy the right train today, and tomorrow you deploy what you have that still fits the job.

Relationship to Class 331: two trains, one design philosophy

A notable aspect of the Class 195 story is how closely it tracks Northern’s Class 331 electrics. Both are CAF Civity products with broadly similar interiors, doors, and passenger amenities; the core difference is the traction system.

This is not just a procurement footnote. It affects:

• training: drivers and crew moving between types face fewer differences in layout and operation.
• maintenance philosophy: shared components and common design approaches can simplify parts stocking and technical knowledge.
• passenger perception: a consistent interior reduces the "lottery" feeling where one service is modern and the next feels like a museum piece.

From a network planning viewpoint, the pair also offers a strategic tool: electrify a route, and you can potentially substitute the electric sibling for the diesel without changing the customer offer too much.

Engineering details that matter day-to-day

Beyond the brochure features, the Class 195 includes practical engineering choices that support intensive regional service.

Doors and dwell time

The units use double-leaf sliding plug doors, a modern standard that balances fast boarding with good sealing and noise control. On a regional network, door performance is not a minor matter: slow doors and awkward boarding layouts accumulate minutes, and minutes become delays.

Couplers and flexibility

A modern automatic coupling system (commonly listed as Dellner) supports rapid coupling/uncoupling and multiple-unit working. This helps with service strengthening, splitting and joining, and rescue moves—particularly important when trains must be rearranged quickly to manage disruption.

Emissions control

The use of SCR and modern engines reflects the post-2010 reality: even diesel trains are expected to be cleaner than their predecessors. This does not make diesel "green", but it does mean the Class 195 is positioned as a cleaner, more compliant option than the older DMUs it replaced.

The Class 195 in the wider story of UK regional rail

Seen in isolation, the Class 195 is simply a modern DMU: competent, comfortable, and built to a common European platform. Its significance comes from what it replaced and what it enabled.

For decades, Northern’s network was a patchwork of aging DMUs, some refurbished multiple times, some designed for a very different railway. The Class 195 represented a decisive move towards:

• improved accessibility and passenger facilities,
• more consistent performance and reliability,
• higher-capacity formations where needed,
• a fleet strategy based on standardisation and long-term leasing.

It also belongs to a wider UK trend: ordering modern DMUs not as a proud end state but as a bridge. Electrification is slow and politically uneven; battery and hydrogen trials exist but are not yet universal answers; and the railway still needs trains that can run tomorrow. The Class 195 is that kind of train: a pragmatic diesel designed to do a hard job well while the network argues about its long-term power source.

Summary

The British Rail Class 195 is a modern CAF-built Civity diesel multiple unit fleet for Northern, owned by Eversholt Rail, introduced to passenger service on 1 July 2019.

Technically, the Class 195 uses one MTU engine per car with modern emissions control and ZF EcoLife automatic transmissions, providing a 100 mph capability suited to busy mixed-traffic corridors.

It is, ultimately, a practical northern workhorse: not designed to be adored, but designed to be used—heavily, daily, and across a network that rarely offers an easy day’s work.