InterCity (British Rail)

InterCity

A High Speed Train in InterCity livery at Birmingham New Street, 1987
Overview
Main Region	All
Other Region	All
Fleet	180
Stations called at	190
Parent company	British Rail
Dates of operation	1966–1994
Successors	Great North Eastern Railway Midland Mainline Great Western Trains Anglia Railways Virgin Trains Virgin CrossCountry

InterCity (or, in its earliest days, the hyphenated Inter-City) was a brand name introduced by British Rail in 1966 for its long-haul express passenger services.^[a]

In 1982, the British Railways Board divided its operations into a number of sectors, through sectorisation; that responsible for long-distance express trains assumed the brand-name InterCity, although many routes that were previously operated as InterCity services were assigned to other sectors; e.g. London King's Cross to King's Lynn services were transferred to the Network SouthEast sector instead.

The brand was discontinued after the privatisation of British Rail in 1997, although it now used by Locomotive Services for its heritage railtour fleet.

Branding

Sector

With sectorisation of British Rail in 1982, most long-haul services became consolidated in the InterCity division, which retained the brand. The division became profitable and one of Britain's top 150 companies, providing city centre to city centre travel across Great Britain from Aberdeen and Inverness in the north of Scotland to Poole and Penzance in the south of England.^[3]

Operations

InterCity operated High Speed Trains (HST) under the brand name InterCity 125, as well as InterCity 225s for the electric high-speed trains operated on the East Coast route. The 125 referred to the trains' top speed in miles per hour (mph), equivalent to 201 km/h, whereas 225 referred to the intended top speed in km/h (equivalent to 140 mph); for signalling reasons, their actual speed limit was the same 125 mph.^[5]

InterCity 250 was the name given by InterCity to the proposed upgrade of the West Coast Main Line in the early 1990s. The existing trains operating on the West Coast were intended to be marketed under the brand InterCity 175, again referring to those trains' top operating speed of 110 miles (180 km) per hour, although this idea was subsequently dropped.

All InterCity day services ran with a buffet car and the majority ran at speeds of 100 mph or above. If expresses on other sectors were included, there was a period in the early 1990s when British Rail operated more 100 mph services per day than any other country. Special discounted fares, including the Super Advance and the APEX, were available if booked in advance.

Rolling stock

HST services were first introduced in 1976 on the Great Western Main Line between London Paddington, Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff Central and Swansea. Formations consisted of two first-class Mark 3 carriages, a restaurant buffet and four standard-class, with a Class 43 power car at each end.

Rolling stock used in each sub-sector was as follows:

• East Coast – InterCity 125 HST services started in 1977: Typically two first-class, a restaurant kitchen, buffet standard and four standard-class Mark 3 carriages, with a Class 43 power car at each end. These progressively replaced Class 55 Deltics, which were withdrawn in 1981. Later, as catering needs changed, the restaurant kitchen was replaced by a fifth standard-class coach. InterCity 225 sets comprised a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer (DVT) operating in push-pull mode; these were introduced in 1990, with electrification completed in 1991. This saw most of the HSTs transferred to the Great Western, Midland and Cross-Country routes, but some remained for the runs to/from Aberdeen, Inverness and Hull.

• West Coast – London Euston to Wolverhampton used Class 86 electric locomotives hauling Mark 2 carriages and operated up to 100 mph. One daily round trip extended to Aberystwyth as the Cambrian Coast Express until 1991, using Class 37 diesel locomotives over the unelectrified part of the route. Euston to Glasgow services used Classes 86, 87 and 90 electric locomotives hauling Mark 3 coaches, operated at up to 110 mph. Euston to Holyhead services used Class 47-hauled Mark 2s or HSTs. From 1988, West Coast trains operated in push-pull mode with a DVT at the London end of the train. Before DVTs were introduced, larger fleets of Classes 81–87 were used to haul the trains conventionally. Class 50s operated in pairs north of Preston until electrification was completed in 1974.

• Midland – Classes 45, 46 and 47 locomotives hauling Mark 1 and Mark 2 carriages. HSTs replaced the locomotive-hauled trains in the 1980s.

• Great Western – InterCity 125s from new, which replaced Class 50s, which in turn, replaced Class 52s. Other services were also operated by Mark 2 carriages hauled by Class 47s and 50s; later these were transferred to Network SouthEast and replaced by Class 165 diesel multiple units.

• Great Eastern – Class 47 diesel locomotives hauled Mark 1 and Mark 2 carriages before electrification of the route beyond Colchester was completed in the mid-80s. Class 86 electric locomotives were introduced to haul trains from London Liverpool Street to Ipswich from May 1985,^[b] with through electric trains reaching Norwich by 1987. Mark 2 Driving Brake Standard Opens were cascaded from Scotland in the early 1990s, so that trains could operate in push-pull mode. Some routes transferred to Network SouthEast, leaving Norwich and the London-Harwich Parkeston Quay boat trains with InterCity.

• Cross Country – Some routes were operated by InterCity 125s, but with only one first-class carriage and standard-class seats in the buffet car replaced the restaurant. Other routes saw Mark 2 carriages hauled by Class 47 diesel locomotives. Services operating north of Birmingham on the West Coast Main Line switched to electric traction using Class 86 and 90 locomotives; DVTs were not used.

• Gatwick Express – This service used originally dedicated Class 423 electric multiple units, as part of the Southern Region. Prior to being transferred to InterCity, the service ran from London Victoria, calling at Clapham Junction, East Croydon (sometimes via Redhill), Gatwick Airport, Haywards Heath to Brighton. The service was transferred to InterCity in 1984, with Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives hauling Mark 2 coaches and a modified Class 414 driving motor carriage, in push-pull mode; the service then only served London Victoria and Gatwick Airport.

• Sleepers – Originally consisted of Mark 2 or Mark 3 seating coaches with Mark 1 sleeper cars. Mark 3 sleeper cars replaced the Mark 1s in the early 1980s; DVTs were not used. The Night Riviera service (Paddington-Penzance) was hauled by Class 47s, while the Euston-Scotland sleepers were usually hauled by Class 86, 87 or 90 electric locomotives as far as Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central. The sections north of Edinburgh were hauled by Class 37 or 47 diesel locomotives to/from Aberdeen and Inverness, while the section to/from Fort William was hauled by Class 37s. The London Euston to Stranraer Harbour service worked on the same basis with a change from electric to diesel at Carlisle. The service to Holyhead saw locomotive changes at Crewe.

Fleet details

Class	Image	Number	Power	Carriages	Notes
Class 08			Diesel Shunter	N/A
Class 09		38
Class 31			Diesel Locomotive		Used on Summer Saturday specials
Class 37		308			Used on Scottish sleepers in pairs with generators van. Used on Cambrian Line.
Class 43		197	High Speed Train	Around 8 as part of InterCity 125 sets
Class 47		512	Diesel Locomotive	N/A
Class 50		50			Never carried InterCity livery in service, but now carried by 50031
Class 73		12	Electro Diesel Locomotive		Used on Gatwick Express services
Class 82		8	AC Electric Locomotive
Class 83		13	AC Electric Locomotive
Class 86		100
Class 87		36
Class 89		1
Class 90		15
Class 91		31				9 as part of an InterCity 225 set
Class 99		15	Ship			N/A
Class 370		3	AC Electric Multiple Unit	14		Part of the APT project
Class 423		0	DC Electric Multiple Unit	4
Class 488		29	Coach	3 + 1 Class 73	Used on Gatwick Express
Class 489		10	GLV	1
Mark 1 Coach			Coach
Mark 2 Coach
Mark 3 Coach		848
Mark 4 Coach		314
Mark 3 DVT		52	Driving Van Trailer
Mark 4 DVT		32

Train formation

Formations of HST and push–pull train sets would always place the driving van at the London end of the train, then two or three first-class carriages, restaurant and buffet car, and five standard-class carriages; the locomotive would always be at the country end of the train. The only exception was the London to Norwich route; as Crown Point TMD lies to the south of Norwich station, the locomotives worked from the London end as this facilitated easier locomotive changing at its home depot, if necessary. Operating trains in push-pull mode eliminated the requirement to attach locomotives at terminus stations, in order to turn the trains around; this also saved maintenance costs and reduced the number of locomotives and carriages needed to operate services.

Main destinations

Liveries

Privatisation

During the privatisation of British Rail, InterCity's services were divided up into several franchises. Initial plans were for the train operating companies to co-operate to continue providing a consistent InterCity network, but disagreements meant this did not occur.

Great Western Trains registered the term as a British trademark and applied it to its HSTs, but the term fell into disuse before Great Western was bought by FirstGroup in 1998. Occasional services were run using Inter-City branded coaches, usually where additional rolling stock has been hired, but the term is not in official use by train operators.

The planned upgrade to many of Britain's former InterCity lines has been termed Intercity Express Programme. The new operators replaced the InterCity branding and liveries with their own. One set of Mark 2 carriages remained in InterCity livery until it was withdrawn by National Express East Anglia in 2005. Several locomotives and carriages have subsequently been repainted into InterCity livery. Virgin CrossCountry repainted 47826 into InterCity livery in December 2001.^[15]

Some stations on the West Coast Main Line still retain Swallow motifs in 2017. Abellio ScotRail announced that it is to revive the InterCity name on new services operated by refurbished High Speed Train sets, linking the seven cities in Scotland, from mid-2018.^[16]

InterCity railtours

The train operating company Locomotive Services Limited purchased the InterCity name for use of its numerous programmes of electric-worked or occasional diesel railtours.^[19]

An InterCity-liveried set of first-class Mark 3 coaches, including a matching DVT, is hauled regularly by several electric locomotives representing Classes 86, 87, 89 and 90. Most diesel-hauled trains use locomotives which are not painted in InterCity livery.

See also

• Network SouthEast
• Regional Railways
• Inter-city rail in the United Kingdom.

Notes

References

Further reading

• Green, Chris; Vincent, Mike (2013). The InterCity Story: 1964–2012. OPC. ISBN 978-0-86093-652-7. OCLC 822959429.
• Perren, Brian (6–19 April 1989). "InterCity 1989–90". RAIL. No. 93. EMAP National Publications. pp. 26–35. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.

External links

Media related to InterCity (British Rail) at Wikimedia Commons