This Yorkshire heritage railway is getting a Pacer - but it's not even left service yet

The Class 144 unit, numbered 144011, will be retired in May after 34 years of running on the network, mainly on Northern's Yorkshire routes.

It's one of the first generation of Pacer diesels manufactured in the mid-1980s, and which are currently being phased out.

Two of the second-generation Class 142 Pacers have been acquired by another local preserved line, the Wensleydale Railway.

The Pacer will be based in the shed at Haworth, which is home to a number of steam and diesel locomotives.

The train worked out of Neville Hill depot in Leeds for most of its operational life, serving the Airedale Line between Leeds/Bradford and Skipton via Keighley - meaning it will make a fitting return to its home turf.

After the line was electrified in the 1990s, the Class 144s still regularly called at Keighley on services betweeen Leeds and Lancaster via Skipton.

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society chairman Matt Stroh said: “Offering a Pacer a home on a West Yorkshire heritage railway is very fitting, because these units have been the mainstay of operations in the area for over three decades. We are very grateful to Porterbrook for giving us this opportunity.”

The Class 144 was designed as a low-cost solution to replace some of the original first generation of diesel multiple units, dating from the 1950s. It was designed and built by British Rail and Walter Alexander in 1985 and introduced to passenger service in 1986. Only 23 were ever made.

Class 144 units have spent their entire working lives operating throughout West Yorkshire and can often be cited for re-invigorating declining local services and supporting the re-opening of smaller stations after they were introduced.

Tim Moody from KVWR explained that they felt the Pacer would 'tell a story' about local rail history and complement the railway's steam offering.

"We believe that the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway is an ideal home for a Class 144. We appreciate that our wide variety of steam locomotives hauling period carriages will continue to be the main attraction for many visitors, but we also recognise that preservation and history does not stand still or stop at a set point in time.

"What is considered modern and maybe unloved today is tomorrow's history and heritage. With only 23 Class 144s ever being built, and having worked in West Yorkshire their entire lives, they are an important part of the story of rail travel in our local area and we believe that with suitable interpretation it will become an interesting and valuable asset which visitors young and old can continue to ride on and experience, now and in the future.

"The Class 144 will further the objectives of the preservation society and I believe will attract new visitors in the future, especially younger generations, which is vitally important for working museums such as ours."