British Rail Class 185
Diesel Hydraulic Multiple Unit Train.
The British Rail Class 185 Desiro is a class of diesel-hydraulic multiple-unit (DHMU) passenger trains built by Siemens Transportation Systems in Germany for the train operating company First TransPennine Express. They are currently operated by TransPennine Express.
A £260 million order for 51 three-car trains and associated maintenance depots was placed in 2003, and deliveries took place between 2006 and 2007.
Background and history
In 2003, First TransPennine Express (FTPE), a consortium of FirstGroup and Keolis, was awarded the TransPennine Express (TPE) franchise. One obligation under the franchise agreement was to introduce a new fleet of diesel multiple units, capable of operating at speeds up to 100 mph (160 km/h). Also specified was air conditioning, two toilets per vehicle with one suitable for reduced-mobility passengers, gangways between individual carriages, luggage and bicycle storage space, passenger compartment CCTV, provision for wheelchair passengers, and first-class seating. Additionally, the train's acceleration was to be an improvement on the Class 158, and comparable to the Class 180. The agreement specified 168 carriages, with an initial option to reduce the carriage order by 18.
The franchise agreement also required the construction of two depots for the new rolling stock; the main depot was to be at Manchester, with a depot for stabling and maintenance at York. In addition, a depot at Cleethorpes was to be upgraded with refuelling and controlled emission toilet servicing facilities, and a train electric auxiliary supply.
“British Rail Class 185” enters the record as diesel Hydraulic Multiple Unit Train. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what British, Rail and Class can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q672565. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2003, 2006 and 2007.
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This entry incorporates text from “British Rail Class 185” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.