The LAST CrossCountry HST Service

[@chiefpred9982]

This is a day, that will forever be marked in the history of the railways of Britain. It’s a sad, sad day. One we’ll never forget. RIP, crosscountry HST.

[@Rorywizz]

fr

[@Nooticus]

Absolutely. Im not even a ‘train guy’ im a railways guy, but last Thursday I made the trip up from London to go on the HST between Birmingham and Derby. A momentous occasion for sure. But everything goes eventually…

[@jerry2357]

It's bound to make CrossCountry trains more crowded.

[@Oddly1970]

Get a grip they’ve not exactly gone into oblivion still running on GWR and scottsrail

[@Nooticus]

get a grip, stop berating people for their personal experiences @@Oddly1970

[@MB100-u8f]

I accidentally got something that is very much a second rate version of what you did. I was travelling from Cardiff back to Devon and at Bristol Temple Meads boarded a HST - it was not rostered - it had officially 'retired' but was pressed back into service for one final journey due to a set swap (a major inbound delay at Birmingham). The guard announced that the train was making its final journey before retirement. So I didn't get the final Cross Country HST but I got a Cross Country HST on Sunday on its final journey

[@katrinabryce]

I was on the first HST train from Glasgow Queen Street to Kings Cross 👵🏻. Yes, it was Queen Street, not Central. The Euston Trains always left from Central, Kings Cross trains moved there later.

[@mattevans4377]

I think most of the love for HSTs, comes from being the smoothest trains on the network to this day. Whatver magic was used in those trains to make them so smooth, was taken to the grave by their designers.

[@Nooticus]

Such a comforting little jerking motion but still smooth!

[@DavidJones-kn9zb]

Australian fan here. I first travelled on a HST train on my first visit to the UK. My wife and I caught the HST from London to StAustell in Cornwall. Also I really enjoy your programs.

[@loco4loco]

The XPT is also a HST but modified so if you live near one of them and ever went on one you have been on a HST (Sorry if you already knew)

[@Richard-sl1qf]

In the last few weeks I've seen Australian tourists everywhere in the UK even in Swindon those crosscountrys are better than voyagers 😊

[@jarydm87]

XPT mustn’t have long left now then.

[@chiefpred9982]

@@jarydm87 they actually were going to replace them this year, but that’s been pushed back

[@TransportNut89]

Such an iconic train and locomotives too! I grew up in the 1990s with the IC Swallow livery. It got me into trains and love them

[@mysterybiscuits]

Can't help but be at least a little bit gutted - I've always preferred the HSTs over the Voyagers (hell, I've scheduled journeys to catch HSTs instead of Voyagers before).

[@nixcails]

I scheduled shifts around them.

[@WolfePaws]

As an 80s kid I always loved hearing the Valenta engined HSTs scream their way out of the station. I hated seeing my sisters go but at least I got to hear the glorious engines!

[@thetflthree]

Great video! Shame we couldn’t be there. Looks way more busy than the Class 313 farewell (which was also like 90% enthusiasts)! ~ Daniel

[@ashleyjlikestrains]

Because 321

[@JackTheToul]

The absolute dedication of everyone there to be spotting the HST at leeds at something like 11pm on a Monday 👏👏

[@chiefpred9982]

It shows that a lot of people care about them, and also that a lot of people are really going to miss them

[@JackTheToul]

@@chiefpred9982yeah im certainly going to miss them

[@djsmeguk]

They never sounded the same after they replaced the engines. The high pitched squealing roar as they throttled up to pull out was just 👌

[@lewis72]

I agree. Earlier engines were Valenta V12s. Later ones were MTUs. The scream of the turbo-charger fan baldes cutting through the intake air and the deep thrum of the V12 coupled with shit-loads of soot was really quite spectacular.

[@lyonnesse100]

As enthusiasts we all love the HST's; the iconic look, the comfort etc but the importance of them in railway history shouldn't be underestimated. As an ex railwayman and a wrinkly I well remember the state of Britain's railways back in the early 1970's or more importantly the public perception of it, much of which was entirely justified; run down with an air of decay. I remember the phrase at the time from enthusiasts, 'The HST killed the Deltics'. I prefer the other phrase that has emerged over time, 'the HST's saved the railways, and they did, without doubt. It didn't take long for the image of British Rail to improve. It's just a shame that the modern replacements have gone backwards as far as passenger comfort is concerned. Great channel, Nick and thanks from all of us that can't get around much these days. Steve.

[@JamesPetts]

It is very sad to see these go. I remember them when what are now the heritage liveries on the power cars were the normal liveries for these trains.

[@Jaba859]

Nick, for a short while they are stopping the iets at Radley station, it was kinda surreal as I've only known class 165 and 166 sets to stop there

[@TB76Returns]

"The lights are off....Spooky...." "TURBOSTAR!" (I at least had the pleasure of riding a Cross Country HST for the last time between Leeds and Sheffield in July)

[@Finfin06]

So sad seeing such a legendary train slowly being pulled out of service, however the voyagers are a reliable replacement. Hoping GWR and Scotrail keep their HST'S within the near future. Hopefully I can go to see one.

[@joshuanishanthchristian5217]

It seems a few have been sent to Mexico to serve as a stop-gap on their new express Atlantic-to-Pacific passenger services before they introduce more modern trains. So there's a bit of a roundabout opportunity there too

[@Finfin06]

Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Interesting.@@joshuanishanthchristian5217

[@kuzatheaviator]

GWRs are gone by December, Scotrail will probably retain them for the next few months.

[@ChineseTrainGuy]

Oh hell naw, the HSTs are FAR better than the voyager

[@dazzlingdaz187]

Disagree about the Voyagers, I hate them

[@xbx.trains2192]

Such good trains with such good history; real shame they're going. I'm so happy I got to see one on a holiday

[@egpx]

Nice one Nick, you and Natt restore my hope in the younger generation. Keep enjoying your train rides and sharing them with us. Blessed are the geek as they will inherit the earth 😁

[@ReubenAshwell]

Brilliant video Nick, it's so sad to see CrossCountry have now withdrawn their HST's, they will indeed be missed. Also I'm with you on getting out of the train to take pictures of it and then get straight back on, I fear that the train would leave without me.

[@MidlandMark]

After 45+ years in service, they still sound lovely (even re-engined), they still ride superbly, they still look amazing, they're still extremely comfortable; the InterCity 125/Class 43 is probably the high-point of British railway rolling stock production. And so nice of the staff at the end to be so understanding, acknowledging the train's place in history - good job, CrossCountry.

[@Thornaby37]

Sad to see the end of the Cross Country HSTs, but after 41 years service, I think it's fair to say that they have earned their retirement. The power cars looked magnificent in their heritage liveries

[@richardwills-woodward]

A lot of younger people don't realise this but the HST's used to often exceed 125mph! !30-135mph was not out of the question. There was even a rarer 140mph club, notably on the Great Western! 125mph also meant 125mph, whereas the awful 800's are driven at 122/123mph due to limiters at 124.8mph owing to european units in km/h, meaning they were programmed as near to 125mph instead of at 125mph. Drivers don't want to hit the limiter so 123mph is our lot today and definitely no over-speeding. London to York - I had a few journeys over the years flying with 1hr 40 minutes start to stop! Not a chance today with unnecessary bureaucracy and poor management all the way down. The engineers and railwaymen have left the railway. Britain up to the 1990's had the world's fastest plane, fastest passenger ship with Hovercraft, world's fastest car, and the world's fastest timetabled service (briefly) before the HST stood in second for quite a number of years! Today, young people know nothing of Britain's prowess and success in the world, instead denigrating a fantasy of evil that never existed in the heart of Britain. Very sad to see propaganda beat facts for those of us that are older and lived through wonderful times in the big picture of the world, and lived in the best country in the world. Now, younger people think we can't do anything for ourselves and we must have others do it for us from government to law, infrastructure etc. The result of that thinking is... we don't! We have freedom we refuse to use now, and people that prefer we don't do anything differently from others....as we always did for centuries and to great success. This only ended about 20-25 years ago. A young person today has no idea the country that existed only just before they were born not long ago. I wish they knew the real history of this country and fought to have it back in modern form.

[@Nooticus]

Im not even a ‘train enthusiast’, im a railway enthusiast, but for this very very special occasion, last Thursday I made the trip up from London to go on the HST between Birmingham and Derby. A momentous occasion for sure. But everything ends eventually… it’s important to stay positive

[@Nooticus]

That final shot was pretty emotional. The HST is certainly one of, if not THE most loved type of train in the world im sure. Props to you Nick for getting the editing done on this so quickly, hope it equals a lot of extra traffic to the video for you 👏

[@DarrenChilvers]

Pointless journey for you, Retford - Retford

[@ronyinparis]

SUCH an iconic duo on SUCH an iconic train!

[@lewis72]

6:42 That's the 'Swallow" livery. The original InterCity livery was the first loco that your viewed at 5:59 . We used to catch these about once a year from Peterborough to Donny in the early '80s. Then I would catch them much more frequently from Paddington to Reading in the early '90s during my uni days. They had the Valenta V12 engines then, which were much more noisier and smokier than the later re-engined MTU units, which lost a lot of the character of the HST.

[@AymanTravelTransport]

Interestingly, my first ever HST was also a CrossCountry service a few months back, but in the opposite direction from Leeds to Derby. Last month, I managed to bash all three types of HSTs with the All Line Rover: GWR Castle sets down the West Country (Exeter to Plymouth, Plymouth to Truro and Penzance to Plymouth); XC HST from Plymouth to Birmingham; and Scotrail HSTs between Glasgow, Perth, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

[@kieranstravels]

It was an absolute pleasure to talk to both of you on the approach to Leeds. It was an excellent evening!

[@InkItOut]

Yeah it was great meeting you! 😄

[@kieranstravels]

​@@InkItOutYou too!

[@arthurvasey]

I get those trains from Taunton to Darlington and back all the time - what’s replacing them? I’ll be travelling up to Middlesbrough over Christmas - what type of train am I likely to get?

[@simonsv9449]

A Class 221 or 220 to York and a Class 185 to Middlesbrough.

[@JISJ1964]

I love when the "team" does the film. No slam doors.

[@sonsofanoraks]

I've been ridng HST's since my first time in 1977 on the Western Region. After awhile, you just accepted them as standard Inter-City locos! Now I see them on heritage lines!!! Still love them!

[@cedarcam]

It's sad we lost our most comfortable quiet train. I am glad I managed to get one to Bristol and back a few weeks ago for my farewell trip. Shows how well liked they were when so many turned out to see the last one in Leeds at that late hour.

[@nixcails]

I was on board down the other end of the country. Did Plymouth to Exeter on it. Fortunately still got my local Castle sets to get me between offices.

[@chrisoddy8744]

Man, I must have just missed you by a few metres at Sheffield!! Had I known you were on Platform 1 I'd have come and said hi - as it happened I rocked up at about 20 past having legged it across the city from a band rehearsal and headed onto P2 to get a better video of the HST leaving 😂

[@Sim0nTrains]

Great video Nick, didn't seen rammed as I noticed this at Birmingham New Street to Tamworth

[@MF-fg3cg]

The train that saved the railway and poss the best train every built

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

I loved your "fly on the wall" presentation Nick, especially at Leeds City station.

[@Andrewjg_89]

Farewell CrossCountry Class 43 HSTs. Thanks for being with us for long time and serving the North and South of England and of course Scotland. I will definitely miss them so much.

[@alexdavis5766]

Had one of these from New Street to Exeter St Davids and unfortunately the disabled toilet in the standard wheelchair space was broken, so I got to go in 1st class. Had so many people at each station taking photos of the train and I was in the front carriage so I’m sure I was in most of those photos! Then got to St Davids and the lift was broken, so I had to cross the line on the old post office crossing. A very unique train trip

[@ChineseTrainGuy]

Rip HST: you will never be forgotten

[@neilbain8736]

It's sad to see them go. I made a point of going to Inverness last year. With Scotrail they tend to be 5 coaches long and are logo'd Inter 7 for Scotland's seven cities. The manually operated doors doors have been replaced with automatic sliding doors. I last regularly used them a lot between Leicester and Nottingham and it was always fun running to find which end had the bike compartment but at least they were proper bike spaces in a guards compartment and you didn't fight twith passengers and pushchairs to have to manoeuvre your bike into the bike space. When I was a kid a driver kindly showed me the driver's cab. I laugh at this now but I remember him saying it was like an aircraft cockpit as I looked in awe and agreement. But these were the day of class 47's on push pull runs with mkIII coaches (did they actually get as far as MKIIIe or am I imagining things?).

[@paultidd9332]

I’m kicking myself, I didn’t know about this, and I live practically next door to Leeds Railway Station!! - I would have down to the platform. I will have heard it go past my window to Neville Hill Depot. I’ve been along to the over companies HST farewells. I hope you enjoyed your night in Leeds Malmaison?

[@Ulleskelf]

A couple of months ago I was heading from Birmingham to Leeds and an HST rolled in. My final HST journey with a love affair that started when I got a Hornby HST set for Christmas in 1978!

[@jerry2357]

I remember visiting Litchurch Lane carriage works when they were building the TGSs for the Cross Country HSTs.

[@Ardonix]

I went on it from Birmingham to Derby, wonderful journey and met a couple of people!

[@bobbythomas200420032]

Hi Nick a fantastic video and I really enjoyed it so much. Thank you for making this.

[@jacobporrett]

Thank you for Sharing Nick. Glad you had fun.

[@CrazyEditorEll]

Great vid! I wish I could’ve took that. Better than voyager I got the other day!

[@nodrogwarob]

I used to travel regularly between the north west and Plymouth on the Devon-Scot (Aberdeen to Plymouth) during the 90s AND EARLY 00'S on BR at first and latterly Virgin XC. I love the HST's and wish they could make an electrified version of them with the same shell.

[@uhhitsjxydxn]

Very good video Nick! I appreciate you filming these kind of videos for us.

[@macstyle2012]

I remember going on one of the first HSTs when i was a kid, late 1970s from Leeds to Harrogate.

[@GaffGiff]

There's one of those in stoke on both this friday and sunday, seeing them both!

[@captainminecraft631]

Here’s a list of the remaining HSR services: Cardiff-Penzance Edinburg-Aberdeen Glasgow-Inverness Edinburg-Inverness Glasgow-Aberdeen There’s also an HSR train, the “New Measurement Train” that inspects track. It holds the “Flying Banana” paint scheme.

[@stephenharper9961]

It was definitely needed if you could get out to see it, the hsts have always be massively iconic, it will be sad to see this go

[@ukrailspotter21]

RIP XC HST, they'll be missed unfortunately. Great video Nick 👍

[@PamelaBane]

Thanks Nick for another great video

[@simonthorn6117]

Love it that you dropped in at least twice you had a hotel room booked ! Let’s hope it was a double room, Nick Badley you dirty dog !

[@MB100-u8f]

yeah a single for 2 people is not much fun and only ever done by very hard up students?

[@AnthonyFurnival]

I extended my stay in Birmingham just to see this! Great trains which will be sadly missed.

[@everyone06]

Best thing about the old school HSTs is you cant hear or feel the rumble of the engine underneath the carriage which makes it a much quieter journey.

[@christopherfriedl3578]

I’ve had lots of fond memories travelling on the HST in the 1980s with my parents & brother down to Birmingham New Street from Newcastle for connection to Wolverhampton where my family lives. Very sad to see them go 😢

[@HatsuneMiku3D]

I grew up with hts as the norm back in the 80s/90s when I used to train spot and bash, traveled all across the UK during the golden years of class 20s through to when 91s were new, then I got married and moved to the US.

[@IowaTrainGay]

What a train! Great video and what a day in history!

[@mohammedmay]

I first rode on the Cross Country HST to Tamworth and I was lucky to see it lots of times at New Street and Derby.

[@somax1259]

I am so sad that I couldn't ride the Last HST as i love them and had i knew i would have tried my hardest to get a seat on their

[@immrmessy]

If you can make it to Australia in the next year or two, the XPT version will still be running

[@Thebigfour1923]

I planned to come down from carforth to board at Sheffield but a stubborn black 5 45407 presented me from sad

[@ConProductions]

Sad to see them go. Nice video. I saw this at Wakefield Westgate

[@KeiranCounsellKC1994]

So sad to see these trains dissappearing, I honestly thought they would be around forever as a kid as they were so popular and this was the 1990s, sadly they will be gone just before I turn 30, wish I could have had just another fantastic decade with them

[@hamshackleton]

How long before the IET's join them - with - as I understand it - seats as comfortable as church pews!

[@MrRocketguitar]

Still running in Cornwall caught one Tuesday much nicer than the new replacements

[@TruckinAboutWithSteve]

the lead loco is the original intercity livery. the rear loco is the swallow livery

[@officialmcdeath]

Hello 61016, I'd like report something that doesn't look right - my CrossCountry train is a Voyager \m/

[@highpath4776]

Ideal livery mix and match for someone to play with their years of Hornby HST sets !

[@MaximusPrime_gg]

It really is sad to see these classic British trains leaving

[@3infecteddugongs]

I’m from Australia and I’ve ridden the XPT but not the HST as I’ve never been to the UK before. Hopefully I can get a ride of a HST before they retire.

[@Photoline1]

My "first" (of many) HST journies was in 1984. Crikey.

[@johnrafferty8087]

Greatest stopgap on the Railway. You can understand why they are quite popular.

[@andynoden7696]

When the HST goes, its a concorde moment.

[@ejc7129]

Great video…Subscribed 😎👍🏽🎉

[@Britainbyrail]

absolutely gutted. forever The HST will be an ICON in railways around the world and a true masterpiece of british engineering. At least i can go on the final final XC HST run down to swanage.

[@ClassyWhale]

Now you need to go down to Mexico and ride them again!

[@NickBadley]

Maybe, if I get the budget one day!

[@OnTheMoveTransport]

Well it's only Scotrail now left as GWR just retired them but their farewell was on the West Somerset Railway last weekend. Update: they haven’t withdrawn them fully as saw one at Bodmin Parkway today

[@Jacksadventures-r2z]

did newton abbot to bristol so sad to see it go :(

[@cj-br9mq]

Thanks for good information video

[@HedleyOnTheHill]

yep all the vegetables are out. My mates were telling me about all the banter onboard the second last coach XD

[@ron.does.stuff.]

WAIT WHAT :( Hopefully there will be a HSTv2

[@trainman86trainstramsandmore]

Damn, wish I knew it was the final one. Oh well, going to see the last last one on that rail tour on the 26th

[@transportationuk7656]

Are you going on the Railtour next Tuesday? It’s going from Leeds to Swanage.

[@thomas-o8d3o]

2023 look so modern ,superb train with mk3s the public loved them ,what the general public must have thought when they was first introduced ,British built take a bow for providing great service

[@keithgrafton3067]

Nick just keep doing this look forward to the next one

[@samsam21amb]

Don’t worry you’ve still got XPT’s in Australia! To see them.

[@frenchhufflepuffie83]

If it's so popular, why did they stop it? Sorry I'm not from the UK

[@Nosregni]

The HSTs are nearly 50 years old.

[@stanley3647]

It's really old stock After few refurbishments, it was most comortable and reliable train in UK. But... Loosing train capacity because 2 locomotives per train: front and rear (this was problem on terminus stations) And imposible to split train. And running only on dielsel... So, IC modernisation program was introduced: IEC (Class 8xx) by Hitachi, which repacing these sets gradually.

[@Seagull81006]

Rest in Piece 125mph HSTs in Passenger Service (1976-2023). I know the flying banana can do 125, but the GWR and Scotrail HSTs that remain in passenger service are 100mph max i think

[@CreatorPolar]

I mean the GWR and Scotrail HSTs don’t have any speed restrictions imposed on them so theoretically they could achieve 125mph but no track that they run on can support that

[@Trainman10715]

@@CreatorPolar theyre limited to 110 by brake force

[@AFCManUk]

Quick question too..... Does the locomotive really make that much of a difference in quality/speed, seeing as the carriages you're riding in are exactly the same ones as pulled by Voyagers?

[@jerry2357]

HSTs are infinitely more comfortable than the Voyagers. The power units are at the ends of the train, rather than under the floor of the passenger carriages, so they are much quieter with less vibration. And the carriages aren't the same as the Voyagers.

[@epender]

They couldn't be the same carriages, not only because they have engines underneath the floors, but because some of the Voyagers have tilting capability, the carriages are slightly smaller to accommodate the extra space they take up while tilting.

[@jasonwyland5198]

Well done to both of you

[@BazBaz_Mhm]

The end of intercity hsts, as the gw and scot ones are shorter distance

[@neilsharpe7086]

How, what is basically a posh DMU was so loved by the public and became a legend in its own lifetime. IMHO these units have a lot of miles left in them and it is a shame they are being withdrawn in favour of those uncomfortable 800 series units and such like.

[@SamsVlogstrainsmore]

It’s sad to see the CrossCountry HSTS go.

[@WTF--GAMING--WTF]

i'm gonna miss the HST on long services so much 😢

[@scotland753]

It was my dream to go on that HST but I missed it 😢

[@jamesbalchin4640]

R.I.P HST 😢