Farewell stop for iconic train
Rail fans see Inter-City125’s last trip
Train enthusiasts were in Stirling last week to bid farewell to an iconic high-speed train on its farewell tour.
The last LNER Inter-City 125 high speed train was for the final time operating on the East Coast line and made a pit-stop at Stirling station on Thursday.
The trains served east coast commuters and communities for over 30 years but is now headed for ‘retirement’.
In their place will be the new Azuma trains, offering more seats, extra routes and modern interiors.
Before leaving the platform for the last time, train enthusiasts were given one last chance to get a glimpse of the locomotive.
Work was carried out to re-paint it in the original colours of British Rail as it rolled out for its final journey.
On Wednesday, it left Edinburgh for Aberdeen and then on to Inverness and on Thursday it travelled from Inverness to Edinburgh via Stirling, where around 20 people turned out for a look as it stopped at the station for 15 minutes.
On Friday, it continued from Edinburgh to Leeds and from there to King’s Cross in London on Saturday.
The trains were first introduced in hour. Launching our farewell tour at Edinburgh was therefore a perfect way to begin our goodbye to these iconic machines.
“With the full train in its original livery, the tour gave people along the route a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the train in all its glory as it travelled by famous landmarks and landscapes.”
Money raised from the tour will go towards LNER partner charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) – which works to prevent male suicide. The last scheduled InterCity 125 passenger service was the 19.35 London King’s Cross-to-Leeds train on December 15.