About: British Rail Class 143

The British Rail Class 143 is a diesel multiple unit railbus, part of the Pacer family of passenger trains introduced between 1985 and 1986. During the 1980s, British Rail (BR) was interested in replacing its first-generation diesel multiple units, particularly in the use of railbuses to service its lightly used branch lines. It was decided to develop such a vehicle with a high level of commonality with the widely used Leyland National bus, leading to its modular design serving as the basis for the design. Several single and two-car prototypes were constructed and evaluated, leading to an initial production batch by British Leyland, designated as the Class 141 units. BR, seeking to procure improved derivatives of the Class 141, placed an order with the manufacturers Hunslet-Barclay and Wal