The last High Speed Trains ran in England on Saturday, when GWR operated four-car ‘Castle Class’ sets in Cornwall between Plymouth and Penzance. The career of the HSTs has spanned almost half a century.

HSTs began running on British Rail’s Western Region in 1976, and British Transport Films marked the event with a celebratory production, ‘Overture One-Two-Five’, complete with specially commissioned music. The trains went on to revolutionise Intercity travel because they could run at up to 125mph(200km/h) in normal service.

After their Western launch they were used on other routes which included CrossCountry as well as the West Coast, Midland and East Coast Main Lines. More recently they have also been run by ScotRail and open access operator Grand Central.

GWR has now said goodbye to the remaining trains, which were about half the length of an original HST, and have been running between Cardiff Central and Penzance. They have been replaced mainly by Class 175 sets cascaded from Wales which entered service with First North Western at the start of this century.

To cope with the demand for a final trip on Saturday, GWR ran an additional return service between Plymouth and Penzance, calling only at Par.

HSTs are still in use in Scotland, where a procurement process for replacement trains has started, and some are being preserved. Some have travelled abroad, and a few have been exported.

What do you think? Click here to let us know.