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The end of an era: diesel InterCity 125 high-speed trains no longer serve Paddington. Many readers of this magazine will, like me, feel a sense of loss with this development. Yes, we know the quieter operation and cleaner air implied by the replacement of HSTs by electrically-operated Intercity Express Trains in this busy London terminus are to be welcomed, and in all fairness electric traction is only right for such an intensive operation as the Great Western main line. And yet for many of us, HSTs have – like the Rolling Stones – been part of the backdrop to our lives.
I remember the eager anticipation we had when the first HST services were introduced in the UK in 1976, on this very stretch of line. The French might indulge in the luxury of building Europe’s first high-speed line between Paris and Lyon, but us Brits knew how to cut our cloth. In the 1970s, we were busy developing the Advanced Passenger Train, which by the judicious use of tilt would allow us to slash journey times without going to the expense of building new lines. While we were waiting for the new wonder train to come along, we needed a stopgap: cue a diesel train, which, by dint of some clever engineering, would run ever…
