The Class 150 Sprinter 40 years on

It’s 40 years since the first Class 150 Sprinter appeared. Nearly all survive in traffic, with many derivatives also in use. But it’s inevitable that inroads will be made on them soon. Pip Dunn looks at ‘Sprinterisation’.

In the early 1980s, British Rail was fast approaching turmoil, after years of underinvestment left it still relying on elderly and outdated trains with vacuum brakes and steam heating.