Hello again! :D

On September 18th, 2023, the High Speed Train bowed out of service on the Cross Country network after 41 years, bringing an end to the last long-distance passenger operations for these venerable trains.

HST sets first appeared on the Cross Country route between Scotland, Northern England and the South Coast during late 1982, whereupon these machines revolutionised travel on a sector of the British Rail network commonly forgotten by the management.

While there was a brief stint of withdrawal for these trains during the mid-2000s, when Virgin Cross Country replaced them en masse with the Class 220 and 221 Voyager units, they were soon back on hire from the likes of GNER and Midland Mainline, before finally seeing a full reintroduction in 2008 by Arriva Cross Country, who acquired ten Class 43 powercars to create five rakes of 7-car sets.

Now, though, the HST's have met their final demise. Therefore, in thanks to nearly half a century of dedicated service, I have spent the last few weeks returning to my old ways, capturing Cross Country HST operations across the Trent Valley, with most of these clips being during diversions via the Cross-City Line between Lichfield and Birmingham:

00:25 - Heading south with a diverted Leeds to Plymouth express are InterCity Executive liveried 43184, and BR Blue and Grey liveried 43007. Three powercars had been returned to heritage liveries to mark the end of HST operation with Cross Country.
01:00 - On the same day, a regular Cross Country set works south with the afternoon Edinburgh to Plymouth train, again diverted via Lichfield.
01:38 - With the extractor fans whirring in the background, a Cross Country set departs from the cover of Birmingham New Street into the wind and rain of a late August day.
02:55 - Speeding across the Trent Valley with the evening Plymouth to Leeds service are heritage liveried 43007 and 43008. This was 43008's first day in traffic wearing InterCity Swallow colours.
03:35 - Passing south through Lichfield is a diverted HST, seen in the company of a Class 323 at the currently closed high-level platform of Trent Valley Station.
04:15 - On a glorious late summer day, 43008 leads 43007 on a southbound diverted service between Lichfield and Shenstone.
04:56 - Amid the construction works being undertaken at Lichfield Trent Valley high level, a northbound set accelerates over the West Coast Mainline.
05:24 - Passing a Class 323 set south of Trent Valley Station, 43008 again leads 43007 on a southbound service along the Cross-City line towards Birmingham.
05:55 - Finally, at the end of the very last full week of Cross Country HST operation, we see the evening train from Plymouth to Leeds showing what it can do as it accelerates away from a stop at Tamworth, set against the fading light of a mid-September day.

Enjoy! :D