Onboard West Midlands' Class 196s

Class 196s at Shrewsbury Station

Last month, I was all the way up in Birmingham to attend an event. I thought this would be a great chance for me to have a look at West Midlands' Civity units. 

Now, the West Midlands Railway (WMR)'s Civity units, built by CAF and identified as the Class 196s, are purchased to replace the Class 170s, which used to serve the Wolverhampton–Shrewsbury line. The 196s currently run between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa, Birmingham and Hereford, and Birmingham and Shrewsbury, which is the service that I'll be reviewing in this post. 

The last time I was on a Civity unit was all the way back in April 2024, while I was travelling in South Wales. I was onboard a packed class 197 from Cardiff to Swansea. As the train is completely full, there's not much of a chance to do a proper review. But if you're interested in my Wales trip, click here.

196113 at Birmingham New St, plat. 4C

Anyway, I made my way to Birmingham New Street Station on a sunny Monday morning, brought a ticket to Shrewsbury on one of those Avanti branded ticket machines, and find my way to platform 4C, which is all the way at the western end of platform 4. (On the day of my travel the escalators leading down to platform 4C in the red zone is also out of service, resulting in passengers all stuck waiting for this tiny lift down to the platforms. Luckily, the station staff redirected us to the blue zone to head down to the platforms. but that of course means that I have to walk ages to get back to the other end of the platform.) Platform 4C is this odd bay platform that the Shrewsbury services normally terminate on. I walked all the way to the front of the train and boarded the front coach. 

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Class 196 Interior

The service I was on is the 2J12 10:26 service to Shrewsbury, operated by 196113, a 4 car variaent of the 196s. The service itself is fairly empty, and we left New Street around 2 minutes late and made our way up to Wolverhampton.

Passenger Info Displays are equipped throughout the train

I've also got a chance to have a chat with the guard about these units. Apparently, these didn't come with guard panels, and they have to be retrofitted on them for guard operations. He also confirmed that Driver Only Operation (DOO) won't be implemented any time soon due to union objections (which is good news for the passengers). These units are also planned to have the "ironing board" seats (the official name is actually the Compin Fainsa Com Rail) just like the ones of the Class 700s, but since got upgraded to fancier, higher-spec seats. Also, it's worth mentioning that these units will eventually be introduced on the East West Rail line from Oxford to Milton Keynes, operated by Chiltern Railways.

After the delightful chat with the guard, the train arrived at Wolverhampton, where a driver change occurs (interesting, right?). Once we're past Wolverhampton, we're officially on the Wolverhampton–Shrewsbury line, which we will stop at all stations along the line (apparently there's a faster service that skips some stations. But the fastest train between Birmingham and Shrewsbury would be the Transport for Wales train to North and Northwest Wales).

FISA Lean 2 Economy Seats

Anyway, as the train slowly makes it way up to Shropshire, I thought this would be a perfect time to review the train properly, and what better place to start other than the seats. Just like the Class 197s, as mentioned before, the Class 196s are upgraded to fancier seats. But instead of the Sophia on the 197s, the 196s are fitted with the FISA Lean 2 Economy seats (but no armrests). The Lean 2 Economy seats are... mediocre in my opinion as I think they could still use a bit more padding. But nonetheless, they're definitely better than the ironing board seats, but of course, nowhere near as good as the Richmond seats on the (or some of the) class 158s and 159s.  

FISA Lean 2 Economy Seat Tray Tables

The legroom is fairly spacious on the airline style seats (I'm around 5 ft 7) 

The table seats

A Plug socket and a USB (Type-A) port under the seats

A single plug socket and a USB port is provided under each pair of seats or in front of the seats for airline style seats. WMR also provides free Wi-Fi on these units so you can watch your favorite SpongeBob episodes onboard.

Info Screens indicating which side of the doors would open

The accessible toilet.

I managed to take a look at the accessible toilet, which is clean and wasn't covered with graffities, unlike certain Thameslink units. There's also another standard toilet located in the MSL (Motor, Standard Class Seating, Lavatory) coach. But on the 2 car variants of the 196s, there'll only be one accessible toilet, and no standard toilets included.

The Safety Card of the DMSL (Driver Cab, Motor, Standard Class Seating, Lavatory) coach

Shrewsbury Signal Box

The train didn't really pick up many passengers until Telford Central and Wellington, and finally after an hour and 19 minutes, we slowly pulled into Shrewsbury on time, finishing our 45-mile-long journey.  

Overall, I found the train comfortable enough for the routes it operates on. The trains are air-conditioned, the seats are adequate, and the route itself, while not the fastest way to travel between the two cities, is certainly scenic. Especially the bit between Wellington and Shrewsbury. Where the picturesque Shropshire countryside is on display out of the windows.

So, what are your thoughts on these units? Do you think they are a great fit on the routes that they serve? Let me know down in the comments!

(P.S. I spoke to a fellow enthusiast spotting at Shrewsbury on the same day and apparently the drivers have expressed that they prefer the old 170s.)