The Inter City 125 On BBC4
There was a documentary last night on BBC4 about the legendary High Speed Diesel Train or Inter City 125. It described how the politics, finances and some clever thinking produced a real icon.
Catch the documentary before it disappears from the BBC iPlayer!
The programme said that they’ll still be running in the 2030s on some routes. I wouldn’t bet on them still being running long after that.
Because of their speed and acceleration, they have proven that they can mix it on lines with both slow and higher speed traffic, so unlike heritage units like steam trains, they don’t cause pathing problems. Since they have now been updated with new engines, they produce a lot less noise and emissions too.
It is still proposed that they will be used for services to the far south west for many years, as electrifying the route from Exeter will be very difficult and expensive. They even did the journey from Plymouth to London in well under three hours recently. I reported it on this post.
But if they did a bit of marketing and perhaps uprated the catering, they could create a line, that would be a must-ride one for all visitors to Cornwall from London.
I have believed for a long time, that these trains will never go quietly. They’ll be like Routemasters and even if they’re not in main line service, they’ll turn up in the most surprising of places. The ghost of Jimmy Saville will see to that!
No comments yet.
The Anonymous Widower 
Leave a comment