event, the decision was taken to do this with the instead, forming the fleet. Post-privatisation As part of the privatisation of British Rail, the Class 156 fleet was split and sold to Angel Trains (76 units) and Porterbrook (38), who then leased the units to a number of train operating companies. Scotland At privatisation the Scottish fleet passed to the National Express owned ScotRail franchise, which used them until 2004 when the franchise was taken over by First ScotRail. All passed to Abellio ScotRail with the franchise in 2015. Units 156500–156514 were operated by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and originally wore its orange and black livery. This was replaced with a carmine and cream livery in 1997, which was also applied to further 14 units. Despite receiving these special liveries, the SPT units were not confined to any specific route and thus worked in tandem with the rest of the Class 156 fleet on other routes. In September 2008 Transport Scotland announced that all ScotRail trains (including those of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport) would be repainted in a new livery of blue with white saltire markings on the carriage ends. The first unit was repainted in this livery by RailCare Springburn in February 2009. In December 2014, unit 156478 was written off by Angel Trains and sold to Brodie Leasing after being damaged by floodwaters on the Glasgow South Western Line. Brodie Leasing repaired the unit and it returned to service with Abellio ScotRail in October 2016. Between 2016 and 2019, all of ScotRail's Class 156 units were refurbished to make them compliant with PRM-TSI standard. This refurbishment included a larger toilet, a dedicated wheelchair area and brand new interior upholstery with new seats similar to those found on the Class 385. In late 2018, five units transferred to Arriva Rail North after the Class 385s began to enter service. From 2020, Scotrail's Class 156 units began operating in multiple with Class 153 units on the West Highland Line to provide upgraded seating and additional capacity for bicycles and other sporting equipment. The ScotRail 156s currently operate the following routes: Glasgow Central to East Kilbride Glasgow Central to Kilmarnock/Carlisle. Glasgow Central/Ayr to Girvan/Stranraer Glasgow Queen Street to Anniesland Glasgow Queen Street to Mallaig/Oban Edinburgh Waverley to Oban (seasonal summer service) Only the fifteen units fitted with Radio Electronic Token Block signalling equipment can operate on the West Highland Line. East