The last of the Midland HST's

43272 is dwarfed by Ratcliffe Power Station as it departs from East Midlands Parkway working 1D48 the 15:34 St Pancras - Nottingham on 11th May 2021 - the final week of the Midland HST's.

The first half of 2021 saw a bittersweet ending to the 39 years of service accrued by the 'InterCity 125' High Speed Trains on the Midland Mainline. It was an end quite different to that afforded to most other popular trainsets- Covid-19 had made sure of that. 

The final couple of years history of the Midland Mainline HST's had been far from straightforward. The end of the East Midlands Trains franchise run by Stagecoach in summer 2019 had seen the HST's re-branding to that of the new incumbent, East Midlands Railway, an Abellio company. Further rapid changes however were on the horizon. EMR had pledged to remove its existing HST's from traffic by the end of 2019 as part of the governments directive to fulfill the Disabilities Discrimination Act. The East Midlands sets were the least modified of all HST vehicles then running. The Mk3's still had toilets which flushed to the track, no public address system and the power cars relied on the older VP185 power pack. 

EMR branded ex-EMT VP185 powered 43076 passes East Hyde (near Luton) on 21st March 2020, my last day out photting before the first national lockdown, working 1B49 12:50 Nottingham - St Pancras.

Shortly after de-branding from their modified East Midlands Trains livery, ex-Grand Central 43423 passes Attenborough nature reserve on 13th September 2019 with an ECS movement. The final Angel Trains buffer fitted power cars were withdrawn in December 2020.

There was however a slight problem- while the current HST's had to go, there was simply nothing to replace them immediately. The solution- the non-compliant HST vehicles would be replaced in the short term with 'less non-compliant' HST sets cascaded from the East Coast Main Line where they had recently finished with LNER. This stop gap plan would provide a better service for customers until the HST's could be replaced completely at the end of 2020. By this time electrification of the Midland Mainline to Corby would have gone live and released further compliant DMU's, and all of the class 180 'Adelantes' cascaded from Hull Trains would also be in service on the route. 

43295 at the helm of one of the shortened 'red' sets speeds through Syston with 1B23 on 12th May 2021.

Of course, as with all best made plans, things did not quite go to plan. The ex-LNER sets needed a much higher level of work to be re-instated onto the Midland than was predicted, both in terms of the power cars and the Mk3 stock, much of which was found to be in poor condition. The 2019 deadline to remove the old stock passed and while some of the refurbished ex-LNER MTU powered class 43's started to replace the VP185 power cars progress with the Mk3 coaches was even slower. 

Now in its final week as an HST, 1B63 is lead across the River Soar by 43251 on 11.05.21. The train is just a few minutes into it's journey from Nottingham and after entering Red Hill tunnel will emerge into East Midlands Parkway.

A regular Summer Saturday turn over recent years has been the 'Jolly Fisherman' trains to Skegness. 43076 stands at its destination having arrived as 1S01 the 07:53 from Derby on 1st August 2020. By the end of the summer season red ex-LNER power cars had taken over from the VP185's. 

Then Covid-19 came along, slowing progress with just about everything, not least the Corby electrification and the introduction of the troublesome Adelantes to the Midland. It took until December 2020 for the last VP185 power cars to finally be withdrawn, and even then most of the HST's still running on the Midland were formed of the 'new' red power cars sandwiching the original Mk3 stock. This situation was to end with the December 2020 timetable, which due to the next traunch of the UK lockdown saw a reduction in capacity across the network, reducing the requirement for the HST's and effectively curtailing the stock re-habilitation program at just a couple of sets. The great re-introduction of the full red HST's never did quite happen, with just enough stock and a few more power cars ultimately being available to provide just two weekday diagrams (now reduced to 6 coaches) into 2021 both based off Leeds Neville Hill. 

43320 leads 1C15 at Cossington early on a cold and crisp 12th April 2021. Full red 43238 was on the rear, regrettably for the photographers the set had been turned having run via Barrow Hill due to a signal failure earlier in the journey.

The weekday diagrams provided just enough work to keep the HST's entertained:

Set 1:
1C15 05:19 Leeds - St Pancras
5C15 09:10 St Pancras - Cricklewood

5D48 15:02 Cricklewood - St Pancras

1D48 15:34 St Pancras - Nottingham

1B69 17:45 Nottingham - St Pancras

1F70 20:01 St Pancras - Leeds

Set 2: 

1B23 06:34 Leeds - St Pancras (via Nottingham)

5M17 10:20 St Pancras - St Pancras (Route learner Wednesdays excepted via Leicester and Melton Mowbray)

1D43 14:35 St Pancras - Nottingham

1B63 16:45 Nottingham - St Pancras

1D66 19:04 St Pancras - Leeds

Weekend work varied due to engineering work but would typically see both sets complete one return trip from Leeds to London St Pancras.

The route of 5M17 via Oakham and Melton Mowbray was usually only used by HST's on diversions. on 23rd April 2021 43309 and 43372 are captured crossing Harringworth Viaduct on the route learner.

One of the celebrities of the new Midland fleet, 43238 passes New Mill End (south of Luton) working 1C15 the 05:19 Leeds - St Pancras on 30th March 2021. The locomotive wore the striking livery variation of plain red in its latter LNER days after being de-branded of a special livery promoting the National Railway Museum and became particularly popular with enthusiasts in this guise, lasting until just a few weeks before end of MML HST operation. 

While on the face of it there were very few HST worked trains left, and enthusiasts longed for the very recent days of hourly services all day, there was still scope to have a good day out chasing the sets- particularly with the addition of the 5M17 route learner. This was one of the few benefits Covid had brought- rather than a whole group of drivers occasionally cramming into the cab of a Meridian to cover the route between Kettering and Leicester via Oakham and Melton Mowbray now each driver required their own private cab space. The solution was to run the route learner almost daily and with HST stock which, due to its non-compliance, was kept away from passenger service wherever it could be.

A shot I had been longing to try (for I can get almost as enthused by power stations as I can by trains!), 43274 in its unique East Midlands Railway purple livery leads 1B69 at Ratcliffe-upon-Soar. The background is dominated by Ratcliffe Power Station, itself also soon to be made redundant with electricity generation from coal to cease here no later than 2025. Taken with the use of a pole on 23rd April 2021.

Semaphores and crossing boxes are not common on the Midland Mainline these days, however 43309 and 43272 encounter just such infrastructure at Ashwell on the returning 5M17 route learner via Melton Mowbray and Oakham on 23rd April 2021.

With the UK locked down for so long over the winter, as restrictions began to ease the Midland HST's became the obvious target for the cameras, attracting a great number of photographers for 'just another HST'. East Midlands Railway added their own catalyst to the cameras - world record holding power car 43302 was re-painted into Intercity Swallow colours by the team at Neville Hill, re-united with its old identity; 43102, and named 'The Journey Shrinker' to commemorate its record breaking run of 148.5 mph achieved on 1st November 1987. The record for diesel traction still stands to this day.

43102 'The Journey Shrinker' resplendent in Intercity Swallow livery is at the helm of 1B23 as it passes Great Bowden on the 30th March 2021.

43102 later the same day on the rear of 1D66 19:04 St Pancras - Leeds in fading light at Radwell (north of Bedford).

Not content with the fame of 43102, EMR outshopped one last surprise from Neville Hill. With just weeks of HST operation remaining 43274 was turned out in the new purple livery of East Midland Railway, providing one final subject for the cameras. 

Saturday turn, 1C61 the 14:31 Leeds - St Pancras with 43274 at the helm crossing the Great Ouse at Radwell (north of Bedford) four days after its unveiling in the Purple EMR livery. Taken with the use of a pole on 18th April 2021.

Another early start on 23rd April 2021 to catch 43274 heading south with 1C15 near Braybrook (Market Harborough). Taken with a pole and a helping of luck that the camera fired at the right moment!

The protracted Midland Mainline HST farewell must have been one of the most photographed railway events yet. The combination of the special liveries, some surprisingly good spring weather in the UK, classic trains and a nation finally being able to stretch its wings after lockdown (not to mention the excellent 'UK HST Enthusiasts Group' Facebook page with it's invaluable information) provided the perfect conditions for photographers up and down the country to get in their cars and head for the Midland. Throughout the spring I enjoyed a number of days out both alone and with friends racing against the clock (and traffic at times) to record the last of the classic HST's on the route. 

A previous car chase sees 43089 at Barrow-on-Soar 13th September 2019 shortly after removal of its EMT branding following the change in franchise. 43089 is now in the custody of the '125 group' for preservation together with 43044, 43048 and 43159.

The first of the afternoon trains,1D43 the 14:34 from St Pancras to Nottingham is led by 43272 at Kilby Bridge to the south of Leicester on 23rd April 2021. This pairing of power cars with 43309 on the rear was to be the second set working alongside 43102/43274 on the final day a few weeks later.

The end ultimately had to come and with Covid restrictions still not entirely lifted the final day on 15th May 2021 arrived without much fanfare. The final trains were limited to the first 200 ticket holders due to social distancing requirements and at 20:02 43102 'The Journey Shrinker' led 1F70 from St Pancras to Leeds for the final time, complete with a headboard marking 'The Last HST from London'. Upon arrival at Leeds to a crowd of enthusiasts the final slam-doors were closed and the HST departed for Neville Hill ending another chapter in railway history. 

Refurbished, PRM compliant HST's (complete with automatic doors) remain operational with Cross Country and in short formations with GWR and Scotrail. The latter of these are likely to remain in traffic until around 2030.

The end - 1F70 the 20:02 St Pancras - Leeds has arrived at its destination on the 15th May 2021, becoming the last HST from London and the final regular passenger service (excluding the Night Riviera Sleeper) to use slam door stock in the UK.