04.12.19
LNER to say goodbye to Intercity 125 High Speed Train
More than four decades of service to be celebrated by London North Eastern Railway from the iconic High-Speed Train (HST) on the East Coast route with a special farewell tour in December.
LNER will mark the occasion by operating a four-day special service taking in the majority of destinations along the LNER route and the train will be painted in the original British Rail InterCity 125 livery.
Money raised from tour will go towards LNER partner charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). The charity specifically works to prevent male suicide and has already received more than £100,000 in donations from LNER customers donating ‘Delay Repay’ claims to go towards the campaign.
The tour will commence on Wednesday 18th December when the Intercity 125 HST will travel from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, and then as a special treat for those on board the train will take a special route on to Inverness.
The second day will see the farewell service depart Inverness for Edinburgh, Newcastle, York and Leeds before a final stretch on day four stopping all stations from Leeds to London King’s Cross.
David Horne, Managing Director of LNER, said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to express our appreciation for the decades of service from the iconic Intercity 125 on the East Coast route. We recognise the huge transformation these trains gave to rail travel when they were introduced in the 1970s, and want to show our appreciation by taking them around the route one last time.
“We’re particularly delighted that on its last service with LNER, we will take the HST on a route it’s not done with us before, from Aberdeen across to Inverness.
“Our HST farewell tour gives our customers and communities the opportunity to see the train in its original lively after serving the country so well over the years before being replaced by our new world-class Azuma trains.”