Yesterday, I took what might have been my final ride on an InterCity 125 High Speed Train. These were the mainstay of our long distance service here in the West Country and South Wales for over 40 years but with electrification of parts of the main lines to Plymouth, Bristol and Swansea were replaced by new bi-mode trains that operate on electric traction when it's available. There are now just one or two journeys a day operated by High Speed Trains, run by Cross Country from Edinburgh and Leeds to Plymouth, and they are to be withdrawn from service in the next couple of months.
Over the years, we have come to love these trains. They were the "plan B" development as a stop-gap when they came in, but yet they represented a huge step forward with power cars at both ends removing the need for shunting and locomotive changes at route ends - the benefits of multiple units (except they could not work in multiple) and the quietness and smoothness of unpowered passenger carriages.
I joined the train yesterday at Cheltenham Spa and rode as far as Taunton. The train - 1V56, the 09:08 Edinburgh to Plymouth; due to leave Cheltenham it was quarter of an hour late there, and it recovered about 5 minutes by Taunton. Packed in standard class with what I would describe as leisure traffic, I wonder how this train would have looked had it been operated by a 4 or 5 carriage Voyager rather than the 7 passenger carriages + power cars.
The journey itself was, frankly, uneventful.
HSTs▸ are so smooth and noiseless that the passengers simply don't notice the speed at which they're travelling, and the miles just slip by. The on-train announcements were notable for their clarity (what a contrast to other trains I was on during the day) and for their content, telling passengers of ongoing connections and of where seating was available for those standing in some coaches.
I caught up with the train manager and catering team as we approached Taunton and with permission took their picture and a couple of pictures in First Class too - very much to record something that's coming to an end. They tell me they love doing the HSTs; they also work Voyager duties already and that'll be their standard job into the future.
For all their great beauty and passenger experience - perhaps they "saved" the railway - these are 40 year old diesel trains and in spite of midlife (and late life) updates and refurbishments are getting worn out, corroding away, and less kind to the environment than more recent trains. Long mileages on electrified lines don't make sense either.
In their swansong, a number of high speed trains have been shortened and had their top speed clipped in the West of England. They're running around as "Castle Class" on regional rather than InterCity services, with only standard class and without any catering. They're also a number runninng on services withing Scotland - again, shortened and with a lower top speed. But again, their days are numbered. I do hope to have another ride or two on some of these grand dames of trains in their semi-retirement, but yesterday felt very much like the end of an era personally.
Click on the map to explore geographics
