The History of HSTs on the Cross Country Network
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- Опубліковано 9 гру 2022
- Greetings all! :D
Moving on with the history of the HSTs by region, we now arrive on the Cross Country network, a system, in the early 1980s, that was desperate for some kind of reprieve as years of dwindling passenger numbers pushed it to the brink of being cut, only for the introduction of the HSTs in 1982 to turn what had been one of BR's biggest loss-makers into a modest profit maker, and paving the way for the future of this often forgotten section of the UK railway system.
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References:
- 125Group (and their respective sources)
- Rail Revisited (and their respective sources)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references) - Авто та транспорт
Always prefer travelling on a 125 over the newer tilting models as you really notice the extra width of the carriages, so they feel much more roomy and airy.
Tilting is never even used by XC . Strange choice to design the sets for it!
Same here, I have only been London from Cornwall twice in my life, the first time in 2007 on a HST, the second time 2 weeks ago, on the newer train. I found the new trains that have replaced HST feel inferior to the old HST trains. the older trains seem allot more spacious.
@@iman2341 It was originally, but they eventually disabled it then removed the equipment altogether.
The WCML services running double length voyagers are fine, it's just that the current XC franchise has far too few trains for the passenger loads along much of their routes. The HSTs are hardly an upgrade though outside of increased capacity.
Voyagers just worst of all worlds, cramped due to being built for tilting yet they don't use it. XC desperately need to replace them with something proper or reduce the seating to 2+1 and double the trains. the HSTs would be great return simply for the capacity they offer. the full length units should have gone to XC rather than be retired.
Since Arriva took over Crosscountry, the service has gone down dramatically, I have seen dirty trains, bins on the train at the beginning of the journey, staff smoking on the platforms, and staff not wearing masks in 2020. I often see four carriage trains going from Plymouth to Edinburgh and I have often had to stand from York to Exeter, personally, I now avoid them at all costs and would go via London or pay double to travel with another operator. The franchise needs new trains to replace their voyagers and needs to be revoked from Arriva who haven't boosted capacity at all.
At least the Arriva services are LEAGUES nicer than any TfW or any vaguely Western service (excepting GWR of course). Sitting on the floor is the norm, and you usually get ~10-15 people crowded round each door _on a quiet day._ On peak hours you get passengers standing all along the carriage.
I don't mean to detract from your statement, just think it could be worse. Might make the journey more bearable next time.
I agree about Arriva providing a shoddy on-board experience, but capacity is outside of their control. The government dictate which rolling stock they can use, Arriva can’t just go shopping for more.
@@josephpbrown I agree, I was recently in Shropshire and I found ever other TFW service cancelled and when talking to the locals, they wanted the franchise to be re-privatised because the service on TFW was so bad with passengers standing from Swansea and Cardiff to as far as Manchester and many services not running. GWR provides a good service on routes and I have heard good things about SWR and that SWR may be even better than GWR on routes to the West Country.
In fairness during lockdown they started doubling voyagers so they could run all their trains during the reduced timetable, but I’ve realised that now on the Glasgow to Plymouth service is often 8 9 or 10 coaches
@@sprinterofficial8457 I live in York, so I often see Crosscountry services, and they are decreasing them to 4 or 5 carriages.
Look at all that food and drink being served onboard a spacious Mark 3 coach - these days you're lucky to get a snack and drink or even just squeeze onto a 4-car Voyager!
Rode one years ago from Penzance to London. One of the two diesel units was out of order, and the whole train had to be handled by the remaining one. It slowed to a crawl on the grades we passe, and we made London an hour late....
As Fridays roll around each week, my thoughts are always "I hope Ruairidh's video is about trains tomorrow". Today was a good day. The legendary HST on its non InterCity duties. Every time I see one in their original flying banana livery, I'm transported back to the early 80s. Standing on one of York's many platforms and waiting for the screaming Valentas. We didn't get HSTs diagrammed to my home city (Hull) initially, as it was served by the Deltics until 82. I wouldn't actually get to ride on one until 88, twelve years after the class's introduction -but what a day it was! Thanks for the memories. I'd love to see you do a vid on the 40s, or 33s.
HST/Intercity 125 has always been my favourite. Closely followed by Deltics. Great video, thanks.
Another great video! Wonderful that you finished with that familiar Paxman Valenta sound at the end there too. Nothing quite like thinking the noise part of the train leaving has already happened only then to be passed by the trailing power car that blows out your ear drums and feels like you're on the apron at Heathrow while a 747 takes off!
Man, how did BR seem to forget about half the routes they operate?
Because England is a classist society and they don’t care about you if you are not an upper class nitwit
London-centric thinking which still plagues the so-called "United" Kingdom! Levelling-up is another unfulfilled promise from a London-based Government.
I don’t know
Their first instinct was always “rationalisation”, when that should be the last resort.
@@kaitlyn__L Same thing would happen if the railways are nationalised yet the unions and spotters keep calling for it.
The best bit of the video for me was seeing glimpse of my hometown and where my parents live now. Seeing the HST's to the backdrop of the red cliffs and the sea wall.
Putting a match to a pipe and having a nice smoke. Wonderful.
Proof that British Rail getting a large number of HST 125's was actually a good thing for the rail system. At least they worked generally well on most services they were assigned to.
Another great film from Ruairidh. In the '70s and '80s the service was known as NE/SW and I always thought it was a bit of a Cinderella service. Coming from Yorkshire I often used it in the summer to get from Leeds to Devon/Cornwall and enjoyed going on the Devonian or the Cornishman in the summer for an annual holiday in the West Country. Normally Mark 1 coaches. It was always cheaper than going via London. The Voyager service of today has ruined the route with the overcrowded trains - the Secretary of State for Transport should be made to travel second class from Penzance to Glasgow at least once a month to see how wonderful his/her service is!
I used the Eurostar service once to get from York to London Waterloo, the long treck round London was a joke and with so many conflicting movements we arrived at Waterloo late causing a lot of stress and having to run from one platform to another to catch the Eurostar.
Nowadays I regularly travel from my home in Glasgow to York and back, and I will do anything to avoid using the dreadful Cross Country trains. On the last occasion I went to Cornwall I went via London and used the sleeper from Paddington, another good service using what some may consider "dated" rolling stock. ua-cam.com/video/AyVAbBlmvXU/v-deo.html
Penzance to Glasgow?
How about Penzance to Aberdeen and back down to Penzance again
6:08 Great Scotland Yard. It's The Eurostar Express Train. Thanks Mate. PS I Am Been On The Eurostar Express High Speed Electric Passenger Train From London St Pancreas In The City Of London In England In The United Kingdom To Disneyland Paris Near The City Of Paris In France Twice Back In September 2019 5 Years Ago And In June 2022 Just In Time For The Theme Park's 30th Anniversary Celebrations And It Was Super Awesome And It Was A Bit Like The Japanese Bullet Train In Tokyo And Osaka In Japan And A Bit Like LNER Gresley A4 Streamlined Pacific Express Steam Locomotives Mallard From The National Railway Museum In York In Yorkshire And Sir Nigel Gresley From The North Yorkshire Moors Railway And The Seven Valley Railway. Excellent. X
HST sets began working on Cross Country services in October 1981. More workings were taken over by HSTs from May 1982.
Fun fact: At 14:47 these units are stored in Barton upon Humber when new.
I had a trip in the New Measurement train when I was at university.
Great footage 👍😀 I do love the HST 😍😍
I miss the Virgin Trains both on the West Coast mainline services and the XC Service that they used to provide.
It was particularly handy for myself and my Dad.
My Dad worked for BSI at the time and he sometimes had clients to visit up in Aberdeen. Virgin XC ran a very good service twice a day from the South Coast up through Birmingham New Street and Preston which stopped at Lockerbie (just 4 miles from my parents home) before continuing on to Edinburgh Waverley, Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Montrose and Aberdeen.
We also have several family members who live in Kirkcaldy, so it meant that I could jump on at Lockerbie and off at Kirkcaldy as could my Granma the other way around.
It's 3 AM. I was going to go to bed, but, now, I see a new train video is posted. Oh well. I don't need sleep.
Eastern North America?
@@ziggybowman6875 yep
That way danger lies!
I too suffer from the "just one more" syndrome and more often than I care to admit have I looked at the time and seen a 4 followed by a 20.
My standard of work has deteriorated and if I don't stop soon, I'll probably be "let go!"
The London to Holyhead diagrams started in 1989 and were initially hired in sets from the GWML, running empty between London Euston and Old Oak Common depot. Because of the route they had to take, they were usually reverse-formed with the First Class at the north end, and of course were 2+7 (2x TF, 1x TRSB, 4x TS) until the GW sets were bumped up to 8 cars in 1991. This didn’t change until 1992 when a handful of ex-ECML sets were reallocated to Longsight depot in Manchester, and they would then also work peak workings between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston bookending the Holyhead (and Blackpool) workings. This is what got handed over to Virgin upon franchising in 1997.
I don’t even like trains yet here I am…. There’s something soothing about Ruairdh’s voice.
I love that too, I find a lot of youtubers can be very in your face and shouty with things, where Ruairdh is just really calm spoken and chilled out overall :)
Excellent yet succinct coverage of a very large topic, Ruairidh, thanks. I believe the Aitch Ess Tee will eventually be judged, by passengers at least, to be the best-ever long-distance UK train, especially as those observers are/were shielded from the dreadful screaming of the Valentas' turbos by the sound-proofing afforded by the lovely Mk3 vehicles.
Very good I agree, but Ruairidh does insist on adding the letter 'H' in front of Aitch in HST. Some people do it but I don't know why, and you've highlighted it above.
I love that we keep going back to the ol reliable HSTs for the Dawlish route. They'll never get rid of them completely down here, though they're trying.
Also love seeing the Swallow livery HST doing the cross country trains at the moment too. Hope to actually catch a ride behind it before it vanishes.
Arriva CrossCountry is the only non-open-access operator that doesn't have any station staff, despite there being stations that are only served by CrossCountry and no other operator. So as an example, Burton-upon-Trent is operated by East Midlands Railway but there are only XC trains that serve it.
I bloody love your videos. :)
5:29 This British Rail Class 86 Electric Locomotive Is A Appears In The First Season Episode Of Rosie And Jim The Original Series In 1990. Thanks A Lot Mate. X
Thanks for another interesting video
Now we just need one of these covering the class 222
Wow, crazy to think the HST is still operating.
It seems that the UK is where trains never die! At least, recently.
Nice to see your own video work included again .
Ruairidh , Your videos always convey the best information.
Greetings from Colorado Springs.
I always enjoyed traveling Virgin Cross-country as there was a good chance of getting a rebate on the ticket for any journey delayed over an hour. Besides the unreliability of the engines they were allocated, the length of the routes contributed to their poor reputation: if a train failed in the south west, every passenger up to Aberdeen was delayed.
Lucky you, I've suffered badly on those Virgin and Arriva routes
@@DaveSCameron I've suffered badly too. It is the case that being so long a route and going through so many regions, they are prone to delays and there is a lot of overcrowding - especially the services that go through Leeds. It also seems a route where somewhere along the line, on a daily basis, someone will throw themself in front of a train resulting in delays that have a knock on effect much later in a different part of the country.
I used Virgin XC a few times & found them as good if not better than Virgin on the WCML. The Voyagers were great on all the services I travelled. Haven’t been on a 125 since about 2009 so can’t comment on current usage but they were a train of their time & no longer compare with the modern distributed power units, any more than they did compared to a Western or a Warship.
You get a Like just for the final clip alone. Valenta screeeeammm!
Yep right up there with a pair of class 20 choppers... 🎶🎵👂
HST the best train to bless our rail network! Cheers another great video dude! Keep them up 😁😁😁
Audio is, mercifully, pristine again. 😃
Excellent!
Good video once again 👍👍👍
I absolutely love the HST's and it will be a sad day when they are gone for good.
I do miss those Paxman engines tho'.
Aitch ess tee trains as a kid were a real sign im going somewhere different and exciting.
inter city 125
I saw you at Teignmouth
brattling amongst the heavens
standing alongside the signals
is where I saw you rushing past through me.
I’ve spoken to one the main people at cross country at my rail college during industry week. From what he says the HSTs are gonna stay for a good few years more with them
The trouble is these things change from minute to minute. Even the higher up's don't seem to have a clue. Look how often in recent years a fleet of trains has been given extensive refurbishment for many more years service, only for a change of plan where they end up scrapped and replaced by something else. Then people wonder why we have one of the most expensive but lowest quality rail systems in the world.
14:29 I saw the sliding door cross country train a few times before and one of the powercars was in retro 1986 intercity livery
That would be 184 and the livery is called intercity executive
@@c3gfboy7 yeah
43184 in InterCity Executive
Question: what happened to the train video that was after the Push Pull video, and before the Picc-Vic video? Was it deleted? Will it be re-uploaded? Just curious. Love your videos!
Which one was that?
@@declangaming24 I can't quite remember. I just know there was a video. I made a whole playlist of all the train videos that were done, and I noticed that one of them was deleted.
That Paxman Valenta roar is much missed here in York.
And now we get IETs on GWR services which have horrible bus seats, cramped legroom and are always cold. Not better, just cheaper.
And higher ticket prices...
To be fair, BR promoted the living hell out of "The Cornishman", but otherwise, the posters point still stands.
Great job. Can you please do a video on the class 458? It has a surprisingly lengthy history
5:36 This British Railways InterCity Class 47 Diesel Express Locomotive Is A Bit Like BoCo The Diesel Engine From Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends The Original Series. Thanks Mate. X
The Paxman Valenta sound is almost as evocative as that of a Rolls Royce Merlin
I really love the HST train. I think they could easily work to 2030 without problems.
At least the Auroras from Hitachi look great and they do not feel as cramped as the Voyagers.
Aye, without problems *laughs in Ex-GWR Scotrail HSTs*
@@speccylimone3684 Hahaha makes sense
HST could possibly last just as long as the class 20's and 37's have so far.
And the latter 2 have been running since 1960.
Why would you want a 50 year old diesel running around on tracks that should have been electrified 50 years ago. Electric trains are superior in every single way
43's operate the hourly service from Cardiff Central to Penzance although as the day goes on they only get as far as Plymouth or Taunton
Make the most of this as they are gradually being phased out during 2023.
Ah... Vermin Voyager... Because who doesn't like like riding on train that smells like an overflowing cess pit in August? Happy days 🙂
9:19 Celebrity chef, Kevin Woodford
Depends on what you mean by long distance, HST 125's are still active in Scotland.
Wonder how the 125's in LNER Swallow would look
@@davidty2006the LNER swallow livery would look great on the InterCity125 sets
Your usual Interesting and informative format, but alas your new vox settings made it quite difficult for me to hear what you were saying quite a lot of the time, due to hearing issues.
Yes it’s quite boomy now. The old way was noisier, but I’m sure a better balance could be reached. I assume his problem is using the posture that’s best for the old mic on the new one.
Still can't beat a 125 imo, but their time eventually had to come.
They lived a lot longer than designed to and with exception of lackluster maintenance towards the end by some companies were extremely reliable and comfortable to ride on (atleast on the WCML were i rode them most).
Oh, yes! Those screaming Valentas. 😃
I was hoping you would mention the new short (4 coach) versions, and the reasoning behind 4 rather than 8 coaches… they look quite cute!
Reasoning: They aren't in frontline intercity service, so why bother.
I still think GWR should've made them have a first class, a buffet coach and two standard class coaches instead of standard only, makes them feel like a really low effort conversion
Very interesting video, thank you!
I will always feel the UK needs an all weather purpose power car
And price caps
Hmm, they got rid of a time consuming loco change but in return have a diesel train under the wires all the way from London to Birmingham.
Hey do you have any references for the Eurostar link services I’m v interested
Can you do one on the HSTs on the Midland Mainline?
14:26 why does everyone forget Scotrail operate Long distance HST services aswell id concider Edinburgh-inverness long distance
Time to cover the BR Mk 1 coaching stock
I much prefer an HST to a Voyager. The thought of Voyagers being replaced by the rather dreadful Hitachi 800 series (even if the seats are changed from those on GWR and LNER) isn't attractive, even if it does mean the end of diesel under the wires. It's a pity we can't have re-engineered HSTs rather than the Hitachis.
I would choose an IET over a voyager any day, even if I had to pay loads more money for it!
Awk shut it, all this "plastic crap" pish is a load of shite, ok the seats aren't exactly the best for their journeys but other than that they're a million above an HST Mk3 imo
I mean i guess nothing can really beat retrofitted BREL stock.
Class 91's in their new Swallow liverly look so modern and new despite being 30+ years old.
Intercity 125 ❤️
beewwwwwwwp bewwwwwwwwwp
**that’s my horn**
The greatest trains ever to tun on British metals? I'd say so.
Love the HST, did the Doncaster-London route a few times of year soon after they were introduced. Travel times that aren't achieved with the current Hitachi 800 things. When they're introduced to x-country, will they avoid the issues voyagers suffered from passing thru Dawlish?
I'm pretty sure I heard about GWR Class 80x's failing at Dawlish due to high winds and water crashing over the defence systems in place...
Where is the arch at 5:58?
That's at Conwy in North Wales.
BRING BACK THE FULL SET LONG DISTANCE HSTS
‘Haitch’ST?
Oh
It's nice to see GWR still running their Castle Class sets around the west of England and Wales. We shall miss them when they finally retire.
inter city 125
so it seems like every "HST killer" has failed. I wonder if these new upcoming sets will finally do it, or will HST's be back again in a few years time
They'll be back!
Well they've already been largely killed by the IETs only the scotrail and cross-country sets left from 2024 and I doubt those will last much longer after, they can't go on forever and the recent Stonehaven crash combined with existing accessibility and other issues shows that they're no longer up to the task
@@james123212 pretty sure anything would have come off at Stonehaven.
@@james123212 put slidy doors and a wheelchair space can extend there life look at what cross country, GWR, Scotrail did now GWR want to withdraw the castle sets so more power cars and MK3 coaches become available for other operators to pick up our most will be scrapped.
@@cakeskin3333yes, but the unibody construction and crashworthiness of the 8xx sets are much higher than the MK3s and the HSTs. Don’t forget that cab is basically just fibreglass.
Red & charcoal was dreadful!
Made them look like a bloody sweet wrapper
Scrap it!
No No No, I lived in Portsmouth until 1990, and never saw HST's. Portsmouth mostly were served by 423's between Portsmouth and Waterloo, Class 50's on the Cardiff run, and class 407 that ran out to the likes of Brighton.
Lived there 2009-2013 and never saw a diesel beyond the FGW service to Cardiff Central and the occasional works train or freight. Never saw anything branded cross country either.
@@lloydcollins6337 Crosscountry stopped going to Portsmouth after Arriva took over the franchise in 2007.
@@lloydcollins6337 I am talking 80's, Early to mid. There were a few services using old diesel slam doors from the lower stations at P&S, The 413's to Waterloo were 12 car sets.
I do believe there was the OCCASIONAL cross country from Portsmouth, that went up through Eastleigh, and out to Birmingham Direct with no change, but it was rare. It doesnt exist now, best you can do is 1 change.
You can see the 413's in this video at Portsmouth, In it you can see a Class 50 coming out of Fratton sidings, awaiting the arrival of the Cardiff service, in all its network South East livery. The Cardiff passes and heads down to Harbour, then the new engine from Fratton follows it down in order to form a new service to Cardiff, where the original engine, then goes back to Fratton to wait for the next hourly service to arrive.
ua-cam.com/video/Ylh7z73Rcm8/v-deo.html
[edit] you can see a 407 Diesel running in to Portsmouth and Southsea sidings.
But my favorite was Network Southeast day, always a Saturday, 10 quid, ANYWHERE on the Network Southeast, including London. so i would head out on the first trains of the day out to London, sit on the Underground all day, then in the evening take a train down to Salisbury in time to meet the final Cardiff to Portsmouth. Which was a blast in itself because it was an express service, Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, Salisbury, Southampton, Fareham, P&S, Portsmouth Harbour.
Another excellent robotic video by Computer McVeigh.
To be honest Arriva CrossCountry who still have the HSTs should keep them as well ScotRail. And as GWR aren’t going to use the HSTs anymore that they were used on the Castle Cary route. Perhaps Chiltern Railways might inherit them.
Unless CrossCountry are to replace these trains with Bi-Mode/Tri-Mode rolling stocks (Class 8xx) IETs that Hitachi will still manufacture to replace the Class 43 Mk3 rolling stocks with Hitachi’s IET AT300s.
The Voyagers really are awful trains.
Dreadful monologue - sounds like an AI product! 🙁
Nevertheless Ruairidh has over 90,000 subscribers! He can't help his voice.
@@Clivestravelandtrains No disputing that - fascinating subject - just felt it was rushed to get it into 16 minutes! All his stuff is good, so he still got two thumbs up!
Dreadful? Come on, this monologue voice is one of the better ones. I have heard far worse on other channels.
@@terribleatgames-rippedoff Yes indeed, I've heard far worse too, but AI can now read in that manner so I would prefer him to prove he's human by sounding less monotone, and slowing down a bit - this one, compared to some of his others just sounds too gabbled and rushed. Great content though, this is just intended to provide feedback on the delivery.
I find his voice really soothing, it has genuinely helped my Insomnia a lot since his motion history videos first started
The worst thing about these trains was the toilets at the ends of the coaches depositing effluence all over the track. The speed would whip the spray up and all over the doors. Many an unwary passenger has caught hold of a wet door handle and once sat down comfortably would proceed to eat their sandwiches.
That's absolutely disgusting if true.Pity the fool leaning out of the door window more,as said bowel contents is vaporised in the air around them .
Mmm tasty sandwich 😋
You didn't mention the GWR Castle Class short sets.
These are due to be replaced next year after only just being introduced.
The trouble with short sets, as Grand Central found out to their cost, is the reduction in speed .....
2 power cars with 5 or more coaches = 125 mph.
2 power cars with 4 coaches = 100 mph.
2 power cars with 3 coaches = 90 mph.
2 power cars with 2 coaches = 75mph.
2 power cars with 1 coach = 65 mph.
2 power cars back to back or a single power car = 65 mph.
Is this because they're not Cross Country HST sets?
@@TheJononator literally