30 Minutes of Sights & Sounds Intercity 225 (Class 91/Mk4 set)

30 Minutes of Sights & Sounds Intercity 225 (Class 91/Mk4 set)

Half an hour of sights and sounds of the iconic East Coast workhorses, the Intercity 225.

The Intercity 225 owes its existence to the failure of the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) and the East Coast Main Line Electrification Project of the 1980s.
The Class 91 was designed by GEC Transportation Projects and was to be able to perform a range of duties, operating Intercity services during the day and haul Sleeper coaches at night.
The original intention for the Locomotives was to operate on the West Coast Main Line and become the successor to the failed Advanced Passenger Train or APT.
It was latter decided to operate the Class 91s on the East Coast Main Line which has straighter faster track and at the time was being electrified.
The Class 91s were constructed by British Rail Engineering Limited at Crewe and were known as Electra's throughout their development. British Rail contracted Metro-Cammell to manufacture a fleet of passenger carriages to operate with the Locomotives. The result was the Mk4 coach, its design features a tapered body constructed from steel with sliding doors and bogies fitted with air dampered suspension. The tapered body allowed a tilting system to be fitted in future if needed. The original interior of the coaches was bright and spacious giving a modern travelling environment with aircraft style seating and a neutral colour scheme. Metro-Cammell also constructed a fleet of driving trailer vehicles know as DVTs, these resemble the Class 91 Locomotives but are un-powered and allow the Locomotive to be operated from the opposite end of the train. The name Intercity 225 was given to the fleet after their top design speed of 225kph or 140mph. The Intercity 225 never fulfilled its full potential and is restricted to 125mph due to a lack of in-cab signalling.

The first Class 91s entered service in 1988 and operated with Intercity 125 HST sets. This was because the Mk4s were not ready for service and the Locomotives needed to be tested.

The first full Intercity 225 service from London to Edinburgh took place in March 1989.
A total of '31' Class 91s were constructed along with '314' mk4 coaches and '32' DVTs.

On 17th September 1989, 91010 achieved 162mph at Stoke Bank near Peterborough whilst on a speed run. It became the fastest Electric Locomotive to operate on Britain's railways.

Following privatisation of British Rail, in 1996, the Intercity 225 fleet passed to Great North Eastern Railway or GNER. The trains were repainted from the iconic Intercity livery to deep blue and orange.
In the early 2000s, ADtranz rebuilt the Class 91s control systems to improve reliability, this saw them renumbered from 91/0s to 91/1s. At the same time GNER started to refurbish the Mk4s fitting them with new seats and LED lighting.
In December 2007, GNER lost the East Coast franchise to National Express. However in 2009, National Express was stripped of operations after not meeting its contract agreements and became one of the shortest living train operators.
The government took over operations and branded services as East Coast. Over time the Intercity 225 fleet was painted in light grey, a design chosen to be neutral for a future operator.
East Coast also painted and named some Class 91s to commemorate events and people. 91101 was named Flying Scotsman after the famous service once operated by the LNER.
91110 was painted and named after the Battle of Britain and 91111 was painted in memory of the fallen soldiers during both World Wars and named 'For The Fallen'.

In 2015, the East Coast Main Line franchise was won by Virgin Group and Stagecoach. The new operator, Virgin Trains East Coast, applied a new white and red livery to the Intercity 225 fleet.

Virgin Trains promised to replace the Intercity 225 fleet with new Hitachi Class 800/801s branded as the Azuma, however by the time the new fleet began being constructed, Virgin was stripped of the franchise and the East Coast Main Line was once again brought under government control.

The current operator of the Intercity 225 fleet is London North Eastern Railway or LNER.
In November 2018, to mark the beginning of the withdrawal of the Intercity 225 fleet, LNER painted 91119 into its original Intercity livery.
The first Class 91 to be withdrawn was 91108 which operated its final journey on 22nd of July 2019. Of the '31' Locomotives built only '10' are still in service with LNER.
In 2022, LNER repainted its remaining Intercity 225 sets in a revised version of the Intercity livery, substituting grey for a shade of oxblood red.
As of 2022, the remaining sets only operate between London King's Cross, Leeds and York.

LNER plans to withdraw the remainder of the Intercity 225 fleet by 2027 when a fleet of '10' Tri-Mode Multiple Units are built by the Spanish train manufacturer CAF.

Filmed: August 2024
Journey: York - Doncaster

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