High Speed Train is renamed on the Severn Valley Railway
THE Severn Valley Railway received its first visit from a Class 125 High Speed Train in 20 years on September 27, when CrossCountry’s power car No. 43366 pulled its train into Kidderminster Town station. There it was renamed HST 40, celebrating 40 years of HST services on the CrossCountry network in a ceremony that also saw GB Railfreight’s Class 66 No. 66799 named Modern RailwaysDiamond Jubilee after that magazine’s 60th anniversary.
No. 43366 arrived on a railtour from Leeds, the trip raising funds for the Railway Benefit Fund. After renaming, the train collected an additional 60 passengers at Kidderminster before completing two return journeys over the SVR to Bridgnorth and returning to Leeds on the main line.
“An InterCity 125 travelling along the length of our beautifully preserved line isn’t something you see every day,” said SVR managing director Helen Smith. “It’s been a pleasure to welcome this special celebratory railtour and add our own sprinkling of heritage magic.”
Capable of travelling at 148.5mph, the HST power cars are officially the fastest diesel locomotives in the world. Ironically, the SVR, as a heritage line, has a maximum speed limit of 25mph, a fact not lost on CrossCountry’s managing director, Tom Joyner: “It means you can enjoy the trip even more; you get longer to spend on the train, so that’s no bad thing. When we were thinking about how best to celebrate 40 years of CrossCountry operating HSTs, we needed somewhere that represents a great day out and has meaning from a railway perspective, and this is it!
“It was also an opportunity to support our heritage lines, which have struggled during the pandemic.
“They are working railways which are major tourist attractions and therefore provide valuable support for the economies of the regions they serve.”