04 October 2016

40 Years of the '125'



Today marks the 40th anniversary of the full introduction of the iconic High Speed Train to British Rail's Western Region; while some trains were in traffic from August 1976, 4 October marked the beginning of their 125mph operations on the Great Western route out of Paddington.

These iconic diesel units made the UK the second nation in Europe to run trains at over 200 km/h and remain in daily service, now older than some of their drivers. Some of the features may be antiquated now, but with the plans to upgrade the Mark 3 carriages with sliding doors and retention toilets for the surviving units, the story of the InterCity 125 is not over yet.

Happy Birthday, Congratulations and thank you to Sir Kenneth Grange for such an iconic shape.

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