BREL Derby

About

BREL Derby is the post-1969 designation of the Derby Locomotive Works and Litchurch Lane Carriage Works under British Rail Engineering Limited. The Locomotive Works closed in 1990; the Litchurch Lane carriage and EMU works survived through ABB (1989), Adtranz (1996), Bombardier (2001) and (since the takeover of Bombardier Transportation in 2021) Alstom.

BREL Derby's most successful products were the Class 150–158 Sprinter family of diesel multiple-units (1984 onwards), the Class 165–166 Networker Turbo DMUs, the Class 168 'Clubman' for Chiltern, and the Class 313–323 series of EMUs for the BR-era electrified network. The works also built the Mark 3 carriages for the InterCity 125 HST and the Mark 4 carriages for the InterCity 225.

Litchurch Lane today (under Alstom) builds the Aventra and Coradia Iridium platforms for Crossrail (Class 345), Great Western Railway and Greater Anglia, and remains the principal UK rolling stock manufacturing centre.

Locomotives built here

British Rail Class 142 Pacer — BR Class 142 "Pacer" — two-car DMU built 1985–87 by BR Derby/Leyland. 96 sets. Combined a Leyland National bus body on a four-wheel railway underframe — a controversial cost-cut design with rough riding and limited capacity. Withdrawn 2019–21; some preserved on heritage railways.
British Rail Class 144 Pacer — BR Class 144 "Pacer" — final Pacer variant, built 1986–87 by BREL Derby/Walter Alexander. 23 sets. Withdrawn 2019. Several preserved.
British Rail Class 151 — BR Class 151 — three-car DMU prototype built 1985 by Metro-Cammell. Only two prototypes; not selected for production. Both withdrawn 1989; not preserved.
British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter — BR Class 158 "Express Sprinter" — two- or three-car DMU built 1989–92 by BREL Derby. 182 cars. Designed for cross-country and longer-distance services where Class 156 Sprinters were insufficient. Many still in mainline service in 2026 with multiple operators.
British Rail Class 210 — BR Class 210 — three- and four-car DEMU built 1981 by BR Derby. Two prototypes only (210 001 and 210 002). Project cancelled; both withdrawn 1987. Not preserved.

Location	Derby
Founded	1 April 1969