InterCity 125 - Introduction Into Service

Introduction Into Service

Deliveries continued through 1976, and in October a partial service of HSTs running at 125 mph (201 km/h) began on the Western Region. A radical update of the standard BR livery on the power cars was complemented by the 'Inter-City 125' branding, which also appeared on timetables and promotional literature. By the start of the summer timetable in May 1977, the full complement of 27 Class 253 sets (253001 – 253027) was in service on the Western Region, completely replacing locomotive-hauled trains on the Bristol and South Wales routes. Passenger volumes on the trains rapidly increased due to the speed and frequency of the service, an effect previously seen only when electric trains had replaced diesel or steam services. The displacement by HSTs of the British Rail Class 50 locomotives to slower services effectively finished off the last 'Western' diesel-hydraulics Class 52 by early 1977.

The production of Class 254 continued through 1977 for East Coast Main Line services. Initially, British Rail planned to fit uprated 2,500 bhp (1,900 kW) Valenta engines to these longer HSTs, but this plan was shelved as the intensive running on the Western Region began to result in a high level of engine failures, often due to inadequate cooling; for a while, the WR power cars were derated to 2,000 bhp (1,500 kW). The Class 254s began to work important ECML expresses such as the Flying Scotsman from the summer timetable in May 1978. Within a year they had displaced the Deltics to lesser workings and reduced the London-Edinburgh journey time by up to an hour.

Production of HSTs continued until 1982, allowing them to take over services from London to the West Country, on the Cross Country Route and latterly on the Midland Main Line, serving destinations such as London, Bristol, Edinburgh, as far south as Penzance and as far north as Aberdeen and Inverness. Ninety-five HST sets, including 197 Class 43 powercars, were built between 1976 and 1982. More Mark 3 trailer cars were built in the 1980s for the Western Region Class 253s, making them eight-car rakes in common with those used on East Coast and Midland Main Line services. During the 1990s only the Cross-Country sets remained as seven-car rakes, with just one first-class carriage.

Not only did the HST bring considerable improvements in service on the railways, British Rail entered a period of active marketing which accompanied and supported the train's introduction. The Intercity service overall had become a vast success for British Rail.