We understand the retirement of our remaining High Speed Trains from passenger service in May is an important milestone and one which everyone at EMR is determined to recognise.
However, we are also living in unprecedented times and our absolute priority must always be to protect the safety of our colleagues and our customers and operate within the Government's restrictions to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
In marking the retirement of our HST’s we must balance both of these considerations.
As shown below, we are taking the opportunity to mark this occasion. We have renumbered the historic 43102 and reintroduced the Swallow livery as well as introducing the first (and only) EMR power car. There is much more to come and in the coming weeks we will be unveiling more ways to mark this occasion and providing opportunities for our passengers, partners and fans to get involved too.
However, we will not be advertising the final HST in passenger service.
Our HST's remain in passenger service up until the introduction of our new timetable. We are sure all of you will take the opportunity to ride on these iconic trains in the weeks to come.
Watch the team at Neville Hill depot as they pay homage to this well-loved ‘HST era’ as they welcomed back power car 43102, the famous World Speed Record holder for Rail Diesel Traction, in its Intercity Swallow livery.
The team at Neville Hill depot mark the occasion by re-livering a power car in our EMR brand colours. The 43274 is the first (and only) unique purple HST to enter service on the Midland Main Line.