Staycation Express HST launched
RAIL CHARTER Services (RCS) launched its second summer season of ‘Staycation Express’ services on July 19, with its newly completed 2x5 HST set replacing the loco-hauled stock in use last year.
The train now features former East Midlands Railway VP185 HST power cars 43058 and 43059, along with five former Great Western Railway Mk 3 HST trailer coaches. All of the coaches are now first class accommodation and the seating has been configured into table bays of two and four, with a table beneath each window to maximise the views from the train. The former airline style seating configuration and standard class seating has been replaced. Screens have been fitted between each seating bay, partly in response to social distancing requirements and also to aid privacy. Railways Illustrated met Rail Charter Services director and co-founder
Adrian Quine on board the first public service of 2021, where he explained why RCS had chosen to develop its product around a short-formed HST set, rather than loco-hauled coaching stock.
Mr Quine explained: “Last year's first season was set up at fairly short notice to see if there was a demand for such a service and to help us develop the concept. The ex-greater Anglia Mark 3 coaches are earmarked for Locomotive Services’ Intercity charter brand, so we wouldn’t have been able to use them in future years and the locohauled service was only ever intended to be a stop-gap.
“With the HST we have a proven and reliable train, that is capable of providing the high quality passenger accommodation we want and the provision of a power car at each end gives us operational flexibility.”
RCS is a separate company to LSL, although there are close links between the two organisations. LSL is contracted by RCS to provide train crews for the services.
The HST is painted in British Racing Green, with a thick and thin silver band running along the lower bodyside of the train, and a gloss black roof. Fleet numbers are silver and located at the ends of each vehicle between the two bodyside bands. An attractive bodyside crest states in Latin ‘Omnia Enim Possibilia Sunt’ – Everything is Possible – midway down the thicker silver band on each coach. But the RCS HST is much more than an external repaint – the train uses the popular leather first class seating that featured in GWR sets before the long-distance sets were withdrawn from service, although green panels have been stitched into the seats in place of the GWR motif.
Mr Quine said: “There was a lot
of work done to get the feel of the coaches right and ensure that every seating bay was adjacent to the windows. We also had to modify a large number of tables to accommodate the single seat bays and we have retained the plug sockets and USB ports on each table.”
Catering is provided too from the Mk3 buffet coach, 40804, with a brunch menu served on the first trip towards Carlisle and afternoon tea is served on the return leg back towards Skipton. All the produce served on the train has been sourced locally and Adrian Quine explained that RCS is keen to support local suppliers, so they also benefit from the trains running.
The main key to the success of the product is the line it operates over. The Skipton-settle-carlisle route is undoubtedly one of the most scenic railway lines in the UK and there is a strong demand for a mid-range tourist train that can operate alongside the usual Northern service on the line. RCS is working with the TOC to ensure that their respective services complement each other.
The present season is due to end in early September, but Mr Quine says they are keen to develop the train to operate at other times of the year. He explained they may consider operating the train on other routes, but believes the scenic nature of the Settle & Carlisle line is one of the main selling points of the ‘Staycation Express’.