AFTER 42 years of deployment to the ‘CrossCountry’ network, the familiar sight of the HST is now a thing of the past, with the removal of the entire fleet from service, the end coming on September 26 after a farewell tour (see Headline News). This took Nos. 43006/007 from Leeds to Swanage and then on to Bournemouth, before the pair retraced their steps back to West Yorkshire.
With September 18 slated for the final day of regular operations, the first power cars to be stopped at Laira were Nos. 43239/285 and 43301 at the end of August, with No. 43357 being retired the following week. The next pair to be stood down were Nos. 43184 Laira Diesel Depot and 43304 on September 15, then Nos. 43321/378 after working their final train, the 1V44 06.09 Leeds to Plymouth on September 16.
Passengers at Birmingham New Street the following day (September 17) were able to enjoy the last run of Nos. 43303/366, pressed into action during a 5X43 Neville Hill to Laira ECS, to cover a 1Z52 additional to Plymouth. This left just Nos. 43007/008, which powered the 1E73 16.27 Plymouth-Leeds on September 18, while their last duty was a 5Z43 06.06 Neville Hill to Laira empty coaching stock move on September 27.
The cross-country HST story goes back to 1978 when British Rail had proposed the construction of 36 trainsets to take over these services, only 18 of which were approved, requiring the use of locomotive-hauled formations for many years to come. In the end, just 15 HSTs were allocated to what was then known as the North East/South West route, and these were formed
