NI Railways, the state-owned rail operator in
Northern Ireland, has fully replaced its fleet of
DEMUs with CxK types.
Class 3000 The
Class 3000 was the first new train type purchased by NIR for two decades, to replace the increasingly obsolete
NIR Class 80 units that had been in service since the mid-1970s. The £80m order, the largest in NIR's history at that point, was signed in 2002, with the first unit delivered in 2004. The 23 three-car units enabled NIR to withdraw most Class 80 units. It is the main passenger train type in Northern Ireland, and operates on most routes. The first six units have
CAWS to allow operation in the
Republic of Ireland.
Class 4000 The
Class 4000 is a follow-on from the C3K. Purchased in 2009, with the first unit delivered in 2011, the 20 three-car units replaced the 13 remaining Class 80 and
Class 450 sets, allowing for major service enhancements. NI Railways has an option to purchase 20 trailers to lengthen these units. In 2018, NI Railways announced a £66million order to purchase 21 new intermediate coaches to lengthen 7 of their Class 4000 units from 3 to 6 cars to help relieve capacity constraints on the Derry/Londonderry and Portadown Lines. The first 3 carriages arrived in March 2021, with all units entering service by January 2022. == Republic of Ireland ==