Class 143 (26 vehicles)
The Class 143 units were an intermediate development of the "Pacer" family, further improving on the Class 142 design by means of a slightly slightly superior body design by Alexander. The Class 143's and 144's are very similar, with 143's having Barclay underframes.
In common with all surviving pacer classes at the time, Class 143's became a victim of the national media in the final five years of their working lives. In spite of better reliability than newer units, and their use strengthening/lengthening services that were badly overcrowded, public and enthusiasts alike "turned" on them and they gained an irreversible reputation for rough riding, poor quality and cheap build quality. At 35 years of age, these criticisms were not wholly unfounded, nevertheless it was interesting how the mainstream press (as opposed to the specialist railway press) singled the Class 142/143/144 fleet out, going into far more detail than is normal for end-of-life rolling stock. New disability access regulations scheduled to come into force in 2020 became the final nail in the coffin for the 14X fleet, forcing their much delayed withdrawal from service. Being seen as slightly superior to the Class 142, the Class 143's were to be the final pacers to run on the mainline network and were to operate into 2021.
The (smaller) Great Western Railway operated Exeter based fleet was the first to be withdrawn, in 2020, and of the eight units two were preserved. The remaining 15 Arriva operated Cardiff based fleet was retained for further mainline service into 2021 and finished in May that year, with eight being saved. In a suprise move a further three Great Western sets, which had been in storage awaiting disposal, were preserved in 2022, bringing the final total up to 13 sets.