ALL of Great Western Railway’s ‘Castle Class’ High Speed Trains are due to be taken out of service by the end of the year, as a programme of withdrawals gathers pace.
Ten are due to remain in traffic (with a total of eight in service at any one time) until May, when the number will decrease to seven. The final three, which GWR intends to retain from September, are due to be removed from service in December. It will cover their duties by redeploying some of its existing Hitachi Intercity Express Trains (IETs) and diesel multiple units.
GWR says withdrawing the ‘Castle’ sets will reduce costs and carbon emissions. In a written briefing to staff, it states: “Whilst it was always unlikely the fleet would have stayed in traffic indefinitely, the plan detailed is more rapid than had originally been
