LNER plans charity finale

MARKING the end of 41 years of High Speed Train operation on the East Coast Main Line, LNER is repainting a full HST in original ‘Flying Banana’ livery, with the Mk 3s in blue and grey.

The set will be used for a series of farewell charters on December 18-21, raising funds for the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) charity with which the operator works regularly, and for which several LNER staff volunteer.

The final regular passenger service operated by an LNER HST is to be on December 15, although as this issue of RAIL went to press it was unconfirmed what the final working would be.

The charity trains will serve destinations visited by HSTs throughout their ECML careers. On December 18, it will run from Edinburgh Waverley-Aberdeen, followed by Inverness-Newcastle on December 19. On December 20, the HST will run from Newcastle-York via Leeds. The final train will be on December 21, when it runs from Leeds-King’s Cross calling at several stations on its way south.

Tickets and timings will be released by LNER in the coming days. Full details will be available on the RAIL website, Facebook and Twitter pages.

LNER has selected 43302 as one of the two power cars to be painted into original ‘Flying Banana’ livery. Owned by Porterbrook, the ‘43’ is destined for East Midlands Railway once its LNER career is over ( RAIL 892). It began its career on the ECML and was chosen because it is the holder of the world speed record for diesels, achieving 148.5mph between Northallerton

and York during test running on November 1 1987. The other record power car (43159) is stored at Long Marston.

Wabtec Rail, Doncaster, will repaint the HST for LNER. And while no confirmation has been given, set EC56 arrived at the site on November 24. This features Trailer Kitchen

Buffet First (TFKB) 40720, Trailer First (TF) 41118/170, Trailer Standards (TS) 42241-244, 42363 and Trailer Guard Standard (TGS) 44098, and is owned by Angel Trains.

Some HSTs have already been removed from traffic, with two set for scrap in the coming weeks (see

Fleet News, pages 28-29) as LNER introduces Hitachi Azumas on its various routes.

Six Angel Trains and three Porterbrook HSTs will transfer to EMR, enabling the withdrawal of that operator’s HST fleet, which is less compliant with accessibility regulations ( RAIL 892).

ANTONY GUPPY. Then On June 3 1978, 254010 races towards Peterborough with the 1304 London King’s Cross-Newcastle. This was the year the HSTs were introduced onto the East Coast Main Line, and this look will be re-created for a series of final trains marking the end of HST operation with LNER.

Now

RICHARD CLINNICK. LNER 43302 arrives at Peterborough on June 12, on its way to London King’s Cross. This ‘43’ will be used to power the LNER’s charity train.