HST makes final call at Grantham

Trainspotters waved farewell to one of the British railway’s most iconic locomotives as it made a final journey through Grantham today.

The Intercity 125 High-Speed Train (HST), operated by London North Eastern Railway (LNER), embarked on its final tour of the East Coast Main Line in old British Rail colours.

It will be replaced by LNER’s new fleet of Azuma trains after a four-day farewell tour of the route.

It left Edinburgh for Leeds at 9.37am yesterday before leaving the Yorkshire city at 11.01am for its final journey to London Kings Cross.

The power cars and the carriages of the train were painted in original British Rail InterCity 125 colours to mark the moment.

David Horne, managing director of LNER, said: “After four decades of service, it’s brilliant to be recognising the contribution of the InterCity 125 trains with one last trip along the East Coast.

“These trains had a huge impact when they were first introduced, no more so than in Scotland where it reduced journey times between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross by up to an hour.

“Launching our farewell tour at Edinburgh is therefore a perfect way to begin our goodbye to these iconic machines.

“With the full train in its original livery, the tour gives people along the route a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the train in all its glory as it travels by world famous landmarks and landscapes.”

Nicknamed ‘The Journey Shrinker’ for the reduction in journey times it brought about, the very first High-Speed-Train made its public debut in October 1976. In 1978 they were officially introduced onto the East Coast route.

Apparently it has made the equivalent of 507 trips to the Moon and back.

Money raised from the tour will go towards LNER partner charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).

The charity works to prevent male suicide and has already benefited from more than £100,000 in donations from LNER customers donating ‘Delay Repay’ claims to help support the campaign.