British Rail Class 197

When built, Transport for Wales intend to deploy the Class 197 fleet to replace Class 158 and Class 175 units which operate various regional and regional express routes between Wales and England, such as the Cambrian Lines. They are also expected to replace Class 150/Class 153 units on the Conwy Valley line and allow extension of Liverpool Lime Street to Chester services into North Wales and south to Cardiff Central. 21 of the 2-car units will be fitted with ETCS signalling equipment to enable them to operate on the Cambrian lines; since late 2010, only ETCS-fitted trains can operate over the route.[8]

Four variants of the Class 197 have been ordered; it is not yet known whether these will be given separate subclasses. The planned fleet breakdown is as follows:

• 21 units formed of 2 carriages (one DMSL and one DMS) and fitted with ETCS to allow operation on the Cambrian Lines[9]
• 30 units formed of 2 carriages (one DMSL and one DMS)
• 14 units formed of 3 carriages (one DMSL, one MSL and one DMC)[3] primarily for use between Swansea and Manchester – the DMC (Driving Motor Composite) carriage will contain a small first class section
• 12 units formed of 3 carriages (one DMSL, one MSL and one DMS)

In January 2020, it was revealed that franchise holder Keolis Amey Operations had specified Fainsa Comrail seats for the Class 197s, which are fitted to Thameslink’s Class 700 trains and Northern’s Class 195 units. The seats are described by some as "ironing boards" due to their hardness and have been criticised as uncomfortable to sit in for extended periods of time. The government-owned Transport for Wales intervened with £1.9m of additional funding to allow the specification to be changed.[10] Following this intervention, the Class 197s will now be fitted with Fainsa Sophia seats instead of the Fainsa Comrails originally planned,[11] despite the fact that the Class 800/1 IETs for Great Western Railway and LNER, which are fitted with Sophia seats, have still come under fire[12] for their uncomfortable seats. [13]

The Class 197 trains will also have fewer toilets than the Class 158 and Class 175 trains they are intended to replace. Both the 158s and the 175s have a toilet in every carriage (ie. 2 toilets per 2-car unit and 3 toilets per 3-car unit).[3] The Class 197s will have only 1 toilet in each 2-car unit and 2 toilets on a 3-car unit, meaning they will fail to meet the rail industry’s minimum standards for inter-urban services (which set a limit of 85 seats per toilet, which compares to 116 seats per toilet on a 2-car Class 197).[14] While TfW have claimed that this downgrade is “in line with toilet provision on new fleets being delivered to other operators”,[15] TransPennine Express have recently introduced new ‘Nova’ trains (Class 802, Class 397 and Mark 5A coaches) with less than 85 seats per toilet.[16]

TfW have claimed that ‘carriages will be bright, airy with open window space. We have carefully chosen a layout to ensure that customers have a comfortable journey, and, where possible, this includes aligning seats with windows so that customers can enjoy the beautiful countryside.’ [17] However, the published seat plans show at least one table with the view almost entirely blocked by a window pillar and many other seats with a restricted view.[18] This is because TfW chose the default window and door layout also used on Northern's Class 195 units, rather than specifying the improved window and door layout like West Midlands Trains did for their Class 196 units.