HST modified with sliding doors enters traffic

The first shorter High Speed Train fitted with sliding doors entered traffic with Great Western Railway on March 29.

It worked the 0600 PenzanceExeter St Davids, 0924 return, 1257 Penzance-Newton Abbot, 1555 Newton Abbot-Plymouth and 1755 Plymouth-Penzance. The first power cars modified are 43016/093 and 43187, while Trailer Standards (TS) 48101/102/111 and Trailer Guard Standard (TGS) 49101 are the first carriages modified. These were converted from TS 42168/107, 42093 and 44055 respectively.

Eleven sets will be used by the operator. Wabtec Rail at Doncaster is modifying the HSTs, with the second set due in traffic later this year.

Running as four-coach sets, the shorter HSTs have been branded ‘Castles’ by GWR. Initially they will run between Exeter and Penzance, but will eventually run to Gloucester, Taunton and Cardiff.

The sets have been fitted with automated announcements, sliding doors, controlled emission toilets and improved passenger information systems. They are maintained at Laira. GWR Commercial Development Director Matthew Golton said: “These trains will replace smaller, less powerful trains on this part of the network, doubling the number of seats as part of our commitment to improving rolling stock across every part of our network.”

In total, 48 Mk 3s will be modified, along with 24 Class 43 HST power cars. There will be 11 sets with four spare coaches.

In terms of capacity, a twocar Class 150 that had been used on the routes had 139 seats, compared with 316 in the ‘short’ HSTs.

DAVID HUNT. Passengers board the 0600 Penzance-Exeter at Dawlish on March 29, the first time Great Western Railway’s short-formed High Speed Train with sliding doors was used in passenger traffic.

DAVID HUNT. The sliding doors fitted to the modified Mk 3s used by Great Western Railway on its four-car High Speed Trains.