IEP Is Go! (Or: Look! Shiny New Trains!)

Yes, I know, two railway articles in two days. I'll be getting a reputation as the thinking person's Christian Wolmar or something...

The government yesterday finally got around to giving the go-ahead to what was formerly known as HST2 (not to be confused with yesterday's HS2).

The new Intercity Express trains are to be built by a consortium headed by Hitachi, and will replace the current HST fleet run by Great Western. They'll also replace the HSTs that East Coast have, but there's no word on whether they will also replace the CrossCountry HSTs.

But what's this tucked away in Philip Hammond's statement?

This proposal retained the more modern electric Intercity 225s on the East Coast Main Line

So East Coast aren't going to get a whole new fleet, just a smattering of trains to replace the handful of HSTs they have. Which seems a bit of a lost opportunity for economies of scale. Similarly, replacing all of CrossCountry's HSTs AND Voyagers would produce some much-needed standardisation for the intercity fleet across the UK.

I guess we'll have to wait and see just how many companies jump on board for the IEPs, but it'll be a fond farewell to the old warhorse HSTs. They're brilliant trains but they're 40 years old and showing their age.