TIME HAS finally been called on the remaining high speed trains in use on the privatised CrossCountry network – more than 41 years since they first made their debut.
The last day of operation on September 18 saw retro-liveried 43007 and 43008 take charge of 1E73, the 16.27 Plymouth to Leeds service, the last timetabled passenger train to be worked by HSTs on CrossCountry. The train was strengthened with the addition of another Mk.3 trailer coach to take the formation to eight coaches to help with the anticipated demand from passengers wanting to travel on the final HST in normal service.
The full formation of the train was Class 43 power cars 43007 and 43008, with Mk.3 coaches 41193, 45003, 42378, 42373, 42377, 42097, 42376 and 44012 also in service.
As expected, the train proved to be popular, with on-board reports that the HST was full for a number of sections along its near-376 mile journey. Platforms and the lineside were also busy with people wishing to witness the trains pass into history.
It was announced in March this year that the CrossCountry HST fleet would be phased out by October. In a staff briefing, managing director Tom Joyner said at the time: “While our High Speed Trains have served us well, they have been in use for more than 40 years. We are making some changes to our fleet when the next timetable change is introduced in May. This is to enable us to run a more efficient service that also reflects the way people are now travelling for business and leisure and requires fewer trains to deliver the number of seats customers need at present.
“As such, there will be a phased removal of the High Speed Trains from the CrossCountry fleet. I absolutely acknowledge that they have played an important role in our business’s history and also our railway industry as a whole. We can be proud that we remain one of the last operators to run these trains.”
For the last period of operation, the HSTs have mainly operated on two diagrams each day, weekday trains usually being the 06.06 Edinburgh to
