Northern has said goodbye to its fleet of Pacer trains after more than 30 years in service.
The last Pacer to carry passengers made its final journey from Kirkby to Manchester Victoria on Friday 27th November 2020.
142004 completed the final journey at 5:45 pm, marking just over 35 years of continuous service in Northern England.
Chris Jackson, Regional Director at Northern, said: “The Pacers have kept millions of northerners on the move and, while they have served us well and provided some communities with rail services they may have otherwise lost, it is time to give them a well-earned rest.
“Northern has overseen significant modernisation in recent months, and the retiring Pacers have made way for a fleet of 100 brand-new trains which are already servicing people across the north of England.”
The 102 strong fleet of Pacer trains completed more than 300 million miles in service.
Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary with Cabinet Responsibility for the Northern Powerhouse, said: “The Pacer fleet has connected communities on the Northern network for over 30 years, but today marks the sun finally setting on trains that have become loved by some, but hated by many.”
“This marks a new era of transport in the north, with passengers enjoying a brand new fleet of trains, delivering more modern services and creating a more reliable network across the north.”
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Goodbye my old friend. As what the song said’s.
Farewell Class 142 Pacer. 😢😭
It could be so exciting, to see some of the Preserved Pacers, not only Preserved for further use along Heritage Railways, but to also see them Repainted/Restored…
Hopefully back into good ol’ BR liveries, such as West Yorkshire Carmine-Cream Metro, BR Provincial Blue, or Who Knows!
So far, Most of these Classic ex-BR/Second Generation Pacers have found A New Lease of Life, Along Heritage Railways.
Whilst some are now seeing A Completely Different Use, Non-Rail-Related Use.
I’ve Rode Aboard some of these ex-BR/Northern Pacer Units ‘in-person’ before, & I’d Most Definitely look forward, to Riding Aboard said Preserved Pacer on any Heritage Railway ‘in-person’ someday.
Well I’ll Be… This is Definitely the End of the Line, for these ex-British Rail Pacer Unit fleet… of whom have indeed come A Surprisingly long Way Since they first Roamed the Rails of the UK Rail Network.
35 Years is such A long, long time, Though the Pacers have done A Good Job Carrying Passengers across the North, Especially since their introduction by British Rail in the 1980s.