Multiple Units of Ireland.html



A wide variety of diesel and electric multiple units have been used on Ireland's railways. This page lists all those that have been used in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It should be noted that except with the NIR 3000 class the numbers given by each class in the lists below are those allocated to the coaches that make up the units in that class, otherwise unit numbers are not used in Ireland.

Republic of Ireland

2700 Class DMU at Limerick Colbert

8100 Class EMU

Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE), which controlled the Republic's railways between 1945-86, mainly used locomotives and hauled stock for its passenger trains. What diesel multiple unit cars it did have were numbered in the 25xx series. Since 1987, Iarnród Éireann (IE) have been increasing the use of this type of train, in order to replace older locomotives and carriages. The only electrified railway network in Ireland is the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) system. Its fleet of electric multiple units is numbered in the 8xxx series.

Diesel Multiple Units

Class	Manufacturer	In Service	Withdrawn	Image
2600 Class (II)	Tokyu Car	1993-		[1]
2700 Class	GEC Alstom	1998-
2800 Class	Tokyu Car	2000-
2900 Class	CAF	2002-
22000 Class	Rotem	2007-

Electric Multiple Units

• 8100 Class: Numbers 8101+8301 to 8140+8340
• 8200 Class: Numbers 8201+8401 to 8205+8405
• 8500 Class: Numbers 8601+8501+8502+8602 to 8607+8507+8508+8608
• 8510 Class: Numbers 8611+8511+8512+8612 to 8615+8515+8516+8616
• 8520 Class: Numbers 8621+8521+8522+8622 to 8639+8539+8540+8640

Northern Ireland

3000 Class train at Belfast Central

The majority of passenger services in Northern Ireland have been operated by diesel multiple units since the mid-1950s (the major exception being the locomotive-hauled Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin), under the tenure of both the Ulster Transport Authority (1948-1966) and Northern Ireland Railways (since 1967). From 2001, all items of rolling stock in use on NIR had 8000 added to their number so as to be part of the Translink number series, which incorporates their road vehicles. The new 3000 Class stock are the first multiple units to be numbered from new in the Translink series. NIR will purchase an additional 20 new trains for entry into service in 2011.

Class	Manufacturer	Number Built	In Service	Withdrawn	Image
AEC Class	UTA Works		1951 1958	1968 1972
MED Class	UTA Works	14 x 3-car sets	1952	1978
MPD Class	UTA Works	2 x 5-car sets 10 x 3 car sets	1958	1981
70 Class	UTA Works	8 x 3-car sets	1966	1986	[2]
80 Class	BREL	22 x 2/3-car sets	1974		[3]
RB3	BREL/Leyland	1 x single car	1983	1989	[4]
450 Class	BREL	9 x 3-car sets	1985		[5]
3000 Class	CAF	23 x 3-car sets	2005

Great Northern Railway (Ireland)

The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) straddled the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland, and so was not incorporated in either the CIE or UTA. However, mounting losses saw the network purchased jointly by the Irish and British governments on 1 September 1953. It was run as a joint board, independent of the CIE and UTA, until 30 September 1958 when it was dissolved and the remaining stock split equally between the two railways.

• AEC Class
• BUT Class

See also

• Steam Locomotives of Ireland
• Diesel Locomotives of Ireland
• Coaching Stock of Ireland

External links

• Tokyu Car 2800 Class
• CAF 2900 Class
• CAF 3000 Class
• Tokyu Car 8520 Class
• Eiretrains - Irish Railcars & DART units