Scotland to replace HST fleet

The Scottish Government is moving forward with plans to buy new trains for the nation’s InterCity services.

Acting on behalf of Transport Scotland, ScotRail will lead the procurement of a replacement for the High Speed Train (HST) fleet that operates on InterCity routes between Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness.

The diesel-powered HSTs were built for British Rail between 1975 and 1982, and were launched under the name InterCity 125 because they could travel at 125mph.

Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop said: “Resilient, reliable ScotRail services are key to encouraging more people to choose to travel by train rather than car, to cutting our transport emissions and to helping to move people around Scotland for work, leisure and learning. That is why we must build on our investment in Scotland’s railway infrastructure by investing in the services and trains which connect our key cities.

“Over 4 million passenger journeys were made on InterCity trains in the last year. We want to maintain and where possible, increase that number choosing to go by train between Scotland’s cities.

“We want to replace the current Intercity fleet with trains which provide more comfort and accessibility for passengers on these routes.

“This planned investment will ensure the reliability of our Intercity routes for the long-term, will reduce emissions from Intercity services and will support our efforts to decarbonise Scotland’s railways.”

Transport Scotland said it would share further details when the contract notice is published in the coming weeks.