Im a train driver and love it unfortunately not long after I passed out we got new trains called 143s .If you can imagine a bus on train wheels no suspension,a gearbox that ofton got stuck in 1st max speed 20 but best of all cable breaks after about the 3rd break application on your journey the brakes became virtually non existant
Do you live & work up North, then? Far as I knew, they only operated in the North, &, latterly, the South West.
They all have to be removed from service soon I think due to (lack of) accessibility.
Dreadful things, & certainly not suitable for southerners or posh folk, oh no.
I live near Newcastle and work trains out of Newcastle main routes are over the lovely tyne valley line to carlise and the not so nice run to Middlesboro down the coast.We have no 143s left but have 142s which are basicly the same but with different gearbox and brakes.I think I will be retired before we get new trains
.We do also have some 156s which are proper trains with suspension but also very basic
I think Maureen (The Nun) is a guard on these, for Arriva, or Northern Rail.