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The British Rail Class 159 "Express Sprinter" is a diesel multiple unit, built from 1992-93 by BREL at Derby Works. The units were built as Class 158 units, but were rebuilt by Babcock Rail in Rosyth before entering traffic. Twenty-two 3-car units were built for Network SouthEast's West of England route from London Waterloo to Salisbury, Yeovil and Exeter. They were used to replace Class 50 locomotive-hauled passenger trains.

Units were numbered 159001-022, with individual cars numbered 52873-894 and 57873-894 for driving motor vehicles, and 58718-739 for intermediate motor vehicles. The entire class was maintained at a new depot at Salisbury.

1 Current Operations

Upon privatisation of British Rail, the West of England route passed to the South West Trains franchise, which was won by the Stagecoach Group. Units were progressively repainted from Network SouthEast's blue, red and white livery, into South West Trains' express livery.

Since then, the Class 159 fleet has been supplemented by nine Class 170 "Turbostar" units. The units sphere of operation has increased to include Summer-only trains beyond Exeter to PaigntonPaignton seafront in the late evening, at high tide. Paignton is an English coastal town on "the English Riviera" near Torquay, in the county of Devon. Over the years, the two towns have grown into each other, and together with Brixham to the south they f, Plymouth and PenzancePenzance is a port in Cornwall, England, facing east onto the English Channel. Incorporated in 1615, it has a population of about 20,000 people. The name Penzance is derived from the Cornish pen sans meaning "holy headland", it is the principal town on th. The units have also recently started working London Waterloo to Bristol Temple Meads via Salisbury services, which were previously operated by Arriva Trains Wales.

2 Fleet Details

Four units have been named after towns along the West of England route.

• 159001 - City of Exeter
• 159002 - City of Salisbury
• 159003 - TemplecombeTemplecombe is a village in Somerset, located between Yeovil and Salisbury, Wiltshire. It is served by trains on the London Waterloo to Exeter St. Davids West of England mainline. This route was originally built by the London and South Western Railway.
• 159004 - Basingstoke and Deane