GREAT Western Railway has confirmed it will retain five of the ‘Castle Class’ High Speed Train sets it owns for an extra year to December 2024, writes Graeme Pickering. They will be used to cover four diagrams plus one set spare.
The operator set out a programme last autumn for the gradual rundown of the 2+4 formation trains, which would have seen the fleet reduced to three from September and completely removed from service in December, with their duties being taken over by Hitachi Class 800/802 Intercity Express Trains and DMUs already allocated to the franchise.