InterCity 125 HST designer, Sir Kenneth Grange dies

The designer of the iconic InterCity 125 HST, Sir Kenneth Grange has passed away aged 95.

Sir Grange was an already well-established industrial designer when he founded the design consultancy Pentagram in the early 1970’s. British Rail tasked him with producing a livery for its new High Speed Train prototype which it was developing. However, Grange was unhappy with the shape and external design of the prototype as it was, so decided to fundamentally change the shape and styling of the power car.

The result was the sleek, aerodynamic design adorned in its striking livery that entered service in 1976 and became synonymous with high-speed travel in the UK. The design has remained as popular as ever and can be seen across mainline and heritage railways to this day.

He was knighted for his services to design in 2013 and became honorary president of the 125 Group, which helps preserve the legacy of the InterCity 125’s.

Responding to the news, the group commented in a statement: “Sir Kenneth became a key designer for many iconic household items – but will be best remembered by us for the amazing transition he made to the front-end design styling and livery of the InterCity 125.

Following the Group's involvement with the restoration of the Prototype Power Car, Sir Kenneth became a good friend of the Group, an advocate of our aims and has been our Honorary President for the last ten years – visiting us at events on numerous occasions.”

LNER, which waved goodbye to its 125 fleet in 2019 paid tribute to the designer.

David Horne, Managing Director at LNER, said: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Sir Kenneth Grange, designer of icons. Sir Kenneth created the InterCity 125 which transformed the fortunes of long-distance rail travel in Britain.

We were honoured to welcome Sir Kenneth to London King’s Cross Station in 2019 to say farewell to the iconic fleet, which is quite simply a design classic. His legacy will live on through his numerous everyday designs from Anglepoise lamps to the TX1 London taxi.”