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Class 769 FLEX
A Class 319 electric train of the late 1980s, built for Thameslink, given a diesel generator under each driving car so it can run beyond the overhead wires. Porterbrook and Brush converted eight for Northern, which has run them since May 2021 between Southport, Wigan, Bolton, Manchester and Stalybridge.
Drawing to come
- Type
- Bi-mode multiple unit (electric and diesel)
- Builder
- BREL, York (as Class 319s); converted by Wabtec Brush at Loughborough for Porterbrook
- Built
- 1988 (as Class 319/4s); converted from 2018
- In service
- since 2021
- Operators
- Northern
- Formation
- 4 cars: a motor car, a trailer with a toilet, and two driving trailers, each with a diesel generator underneath (DTSO-MSO-TSOL-DTCO, as built as Class 319/4s)
- Trains in fleet
- 8
- Fleets
- Northern: 8
- Top speed
- 100 mph on electric power; about 87 mph on diesel (Porterbrook's modelling, 2018)
- Power
- Bi-mode: 25 kV AC overhead, or two 390 kW MAN D2876 diesel engines driving ABB alternators, one under each driving trailer, feeding the Class 319's four GEC traction motors (990 kW) on the motor car
- Car height
- 3.58 m
- Car width
- 2.82 m
- Profile
- main-line
- Total capacity
- 286 or 303 seats and 105 or 109 standing per unit (Northern's 2022 contract)
- Status
- In service with Northern: eight units (769424, 431, 434, 442, 448, 450, 456 and 458), maintained at Allerton, with former Transport for Wales units hired in to cover overhauls at Brodie Engineering, Kilmarnock. Northern plans to replace them in 2032.
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DTSO | Driving trailer standard open, with a diesel generator (DTSO) | 19.83 m | 2 double |
| MSO | Motor standard open (MSO) | 19.92 m | 2 double |
| TSOL | Trailer standard open with lavatory (TSOL) | 19.92 m | 2 double |
| DTCO | Driving trailer composite open, with a diesel generator (DTCO) | 19.83 m | 2 double |
Sources
- Class 319 Electric Multiple Unit (issue 01, revision A), Porterbrook, August 2012, pp. 5, 34-37 (Class 319/4: 40 built in 1988 by BREL; DTSO-MSO-TSOL-DTCO; 19.83 m (driving trailers) and 19.92 m; 2.82 m wide; 3.58 m high; bi-parting sliding doors at the thirds, four per car; four GEC G315BZ motors, 990 kW; 100 mph)
- Bi-Mode Good, Tri-Mode Better (Malcolm Dobell), Rail Engineer, 27 September 2018 (MAN D2876 engines of up to 390 kW with ABB alternators, one on each driving trailer; about 550 kW at the motors; balancing speed about 87 mph on diesel, 100 mph on electric; conversion by Wabtec Brush at Loughborough; Northern's eight; GWR's 19 tri-mode)
- Northern introduces bi-mode FLEX trains, Northern (press release), 19 May 2021 (eight 769s from the May 2021 timetable, Southport to Stalybridge and Alderley Edge; built by Porterbrook with Wabtec/Brush)
- Ex-Transport for Wales '769s' helping to cover Northern overhauls, RAIL (Pip Dunn), 7 October 2025 (Northern's eight by number; overhauls by Brodie Engineering at Kilmarnock; former TfW 769421 and 769452 covering)
- 2x Additional Cl. 769s to be leased to support driver training (notice 021961-2025), Find a Tender (Northern Trains Limited), 15 May 2025 (two more 769s leased, maintained at Allerton, Southport to Manchester Oxford Road and Stalybridge)
- DfT OLR Holdings Limited and Northern Trains Limited 2022: services contract (public register copy, version 1.1x), Department for Transport, 24 February 2022, pp. 145-146 (Appendix 1 to Schedule 1.6, Table 1) (eight four-car units (32 vehicles); 286 or 303 seats and 105 or 109 standing)
- Passenger benefits key to Northern's lease of Class 350s, Rail, 13 July 2026 (Northern plans to replace its 769s in 2032)
- Our fleet: now and into the future (Stakeholder Conference presentation), Northern (Northern Trains Limited), November 2025 (769s in Northern's fleet, November 2025, and in the first replacement programme)
- British Rail Class 769, Wikipedia, accessed 7 October 2026 (in service from November 2020 (cross-check))
unverified introduced: Northern says the eight made their debut in the May 2021 timetable; Wikipedia gives November 2020, conversion dates: Rail Engineer saw the first units being converted in 2018, and the first was due to Northern in January 2019; when the last was finished isn't recorded, car figures: Porterbrook's 2012 figures for the Class 319/4, before conversion; the diesel equipment is underneath and shouldn't change the body, formation: the 319/4s had first class in the DTCO; whether Northern's units keep it isn't published, though the contract's seat counts (286 or 303) equal those it gives for Class 319s, 750 V DC: the 319s were dual-voltage; Rail Engineer says only GWR's ordered units were to be tri-mode, so Northern's are listed as AC and diesel, replacement: Northern's November 2025 slide puts the 769s in the first replacement programme, with the 150s, 155s and 156s; RAIL (July 2026) gives 2032 for the 769s