Train journey to mark birth of UK high speed rail

Preparations are under way for a commemorative train journey to mark the birth of the UK's first high-speed rail service.

The arrival of the Intercity 125 HST on the route between London and Bristol in 1976 meant passengers could now travel on trains at up to 125mph - 25% faster than any other service in Britain.

Originally seen as a stopgap, the diesel powered trains allowed the then-national operator, British Rail, to fight back against the motor car, especially for people making journeys for business.

Gary Heelas, of the 125 group, which will be running the preserved train from Paddington through Bristol and on to South Wales, said: "We're basically retracing the steps on that very first day."

He compared the train to Concorde, which entered commercial service in the same year, due to how it speeded up travel and was regarded as a style icon.

The Intercity 125 regularly featured in TV adverts proclaiming "this is the age of the train".

One famously showed a locomotive painted to look like a police car, complete with flashing blue light, pulling alongside a High Speed Train, telling customers they would not risk being stopped for speeding if they made their journey by rail.

"It's one of the last great things that British Rail designed and built," said Heelas, from Woodley in Berkshire.

"And probably the most comfortable ride passengers have had then or now."

He set out with a group of fellow enthusiasts to try and preserve one of the trains when they were still in widespread use in the 1990s, and admits since then "things probably got a little out of hand".

The group now has five power cars and a set of nine coaches.

They are based at Buckley Wells, the same site that saw another railway icon, locomotive Flying Scotsman, returned to service 10 years ago after a lengthy restoration.

While modernised versions of the train remain in passenger service in Scotland, in the rest of the UK they have increasingly disappeared from the railway scene, though some have recently been exported to Mexico and Nigeria.

Their increasing scarcity means they have become a must see from some enthusiasts.

Many turned out as news spread that one of the power cars, due to haul the commemorative service, was being moved to be repainted into retro British Rail colours.

The team have been working hard to prepare the train for the commemorative run on the first Sunday in October.

"The mileage that the HST Group 125's do is far less than they used to do day-in, day-out," said engineer James Treblinski.

"But they still need the care and attention to be able to do 125mph on the mainline, as they were designed to."

Around three quarters of the seats for the special service had already been sold by the start of the month.

Roger Senior, who spent much of his life working on the high speed trains and now volunteers with the group, summed up their appeal.

"Speed, comfort, air conditioning and just the shape. You knew it was a winner," he said.

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