Railway enthusiasts, young and old, can look forward to the treat of a lifetime by enjoying an Ultimate Pacer Driver Experience at the Midland Railway Trust’s headquarters at Butterley Station near Ripley in Derbyshire.
For their experience, participants can choose from Class 141 diesel multiple unit (DMU) No. 141113, Class 142 DMU No. 142011, or Class 142 DMU No. 142013.
The experience includes a tea and biscuits on arrival and a buffet lunch, and is scheduled to finish at 16:00. During the day, participants can take turns being the driver or guard, or travelling as a passenger, when they will be the only passenger on board.
The day’s experience is priced at £600 per session rather than per person, and can be shared by up to four people, which brings the price down to £150 per person. However, experience has shown that most people taking part would rather enjoy the day by themselves instead of having to share the driver’s cab with anyone else.
Ultimate Pacer Driver Experiences are being held throughout 2026, but only on Fridays, and on the following dates: 10th and 17th April, 1st and 8th May, 5th and 19th June, 3rd and 10th July, 7th and 14th August, 11th and 18th September, and 9th and 16th October.
Bookings should be made online through the Midland Railway Butterley website at Buy Ultimate Pacer Experience 2026 Tickets online – Midland Railway Butterley.
Other railways running driver experience days include the Severn Valley Railway, with both steam and diesel locomotives, and the Stephenson Steam Railway in North Tyneside, where visitors can enjoy a hands-on driving experience at the controls of British Rail Class 03 diesel locomotive No. 03078.
Responses
I can remember travelling on these buses on train tracks for the first time in the 80s as they were introduced as stop gap. So uncomfortable they were, I would sometimes sit in a cold Manchester or Salford Station, to avoid travelling on these backbreaking machines. It was a relief, and celebration, that I travelled on the last one, the day before they were withdrawn. ( I hadn’t planed to, it happened to be working the service I was using). I would have been happy to see their preservation to have just been in photographs. They were undoubtably the worst trains ever to enter service.
I agree, Pacers were just about the most horribly uncomfortable, rough riding and draughty rail vehicles ever put into service.
Unfortunately, quite a few heritage railways have bought these horrors and are running the majority of their services with them. The Wensleydale Railway is a prime example. I get that they’re cheap to run, but having a trip on one of these offers no attraction to me at all, and I doubt I’m alone in this!