Where can you still see HSTs?

The demise of High Speed Trains with LNER doesn’t mean the end of HST operation, but it does further reduce their geographic spread.

Nine sets from LNER will transfer to East Midlands Railway and remain in traffic serving St Pancras until December 2020, at which point they will be removed from traffic, therefore bringing an end to the trains serving London.

CrossCountry has five sets. These operate on the Scotland/North East-South West route, although not all five are in use every day. XC is known to be keen on more vehicles or even more sets, but this depends on the future of the franchise - Government cancelled the bidding in September 2018, when launching the Williams Review.

Great Western Railway, seen by many as the spiritual home of HSTs, retains short sets for regional services, although its long-distance services ended on May 18 ( RAIL 880).

Currently GWR has eight ‘Castle’ sets that are modified with sliding doors and controlled emission toilets. It was due to have 11, but delays at Wabtec Rail, Doncaster, have led to ‘Classic’ sets (unmodified) running in their place until the converted trains are ready.

The biggest operator of HSTs will be

ScotRail, although its project is now more than a year late. As part of the franchise awarded to Abellio in 2015, 26 HSTs were to be cascaded from GWR.

Seventeen five-coach and nine four-coach sets were ordered, with the stock to be converted by Wabtec at Doncaster. Delays caused by the condition of the coaches, as well as staff retention issues at the South Yorkshire site, meant that SR also had to introduce ‘Classic’ sets.

It currently has eight modified HSTs, branded Inter7City, when all 26 should have been in service by this time last year.

Network Rail has the New Measurement Train (NMT) formed of converted Mk 3s and powered by two ‘43s’. Suggestions that another would be converted have been denied by NR.

As for preservation, the first production power car (43002 Sir Kenneth Grange) has joined the National Collection and is now on display at the National Railway Museum in York. It will not return to traffic.

Plus, following the furore surrounding the NRM taking prototype power car 41001 back from the 125Group after the end of an eightyear loan, Porterbrook is donating EMR 43048 and 43089 to the preservation group. These will be retired once all LNER HSTs have transferred to the Midlands.