Chiltern Railways have secured Mk5a carriages for use on its Loco Hauled journeys from London Marylebone.
The Mark 5A carriages, which were previously operated by TransPennine Express on its Scarborough services, will replace the outgoing Mark 3 carriages and will be in use from Spring 2026.
Passengers will find plug sockets, USB ports, enhanced WiFi and new customer information screens.
First Class will be introduced in 2026, offering a more spacious seats for passengers.
The carriages will be operated with Class 68 locomotives, which will have start-stop technology and be powered by vegetable oil.
The Class 68 locomotive will be on one end and the Mk5 will have a cabin at the other end with controls for the driver to power the Class 68 at the other end.
Richard Allan, Managing Director of Chiltern Railways, said: “We are thrilled for our customers that we will be able to replace our oldest trains, which are nearly 50 years old, and replace them with their modern equivalent that are just six years old and provide significant improvement to their on-board experience.
“Chiltern will be renting more trains than it has today which means we can operate additional services from the end of 2026 to help meet rising demand. The trains will be formed of modern carriages hauled by locomotives fuelled by recycled vegetable oil and fitted with the latest stop-start engine technology.
“Our 2030 vision includes a three-phase plan to modernise and decarbonise our trains. Phase one is underway with interior improvements to our existing diesel trains; phase two is to replace our oldest trains – today’s announcement; we remain ambitious and determined to achieve phase three of our vision, which is to replace our 35-year-old diesel trains with battery-electric trains.”
Responses
I was amazed to learn that Chiltern Railways is to use the Class 68 locomotives because they were withdrawn by Transpennine due to complaints of their horrendous noise. When in I was in Leeds, Manchester and Yorks stations normal conversation had to stop when a Class 68 came in.
It is surprising that Transpennine couldn’t find an alternative and quieter locomotive.
Will they also be used on London Marylebone-Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon services. Or just Marylebone-Birmingham Moor Street/Snow Hill.
As a previous user of this stock on the Scarborough route, I hope something can be done about the atrocious ride quality, particularly low-speed pointwork, where it felt as if the train was derailing. The Class 68 locos are very noisy, but Chiltern users are used to them on the Mark 3 trains already.
I wondered where these had got to, I think the word ‘cabin’ should really be replaced with the correct wording of ‘Driving Trailer’, as these Mark five coaches when coupled to the class 68 Locomotives become Push Pull sets.
People in the past have asked what a driving trailer is, hence a different approach this time
LOL the use of the word cabin is a bit ambiguous with none of the standard usage referring to trains. Cabin to me makes me think of log cabins or a room on a boat. Driving Trailer at least gives an indication as to what happens I.e. the train is driven from that area and Trailer indicates that it’s not powered. The use of driving trailer for the image show is correct in railway terms.
It is very good for all commuters in Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire and the Midlands they will see the new trains when they come into service
You mean 2nd hand trains not new trains.