InterCity (Great Britain)
| InterCity | |
|---|---|
| Owner / user | British Rail |
| Introductory year | 1950 |
| Products | High speed travel |
| Markets | traffic |
InterCity (previously Inter-City ) was the brand name of British Rail's long-distance express service .
In 1986 the British Railways Board divided its activities into a number of sectors (sectorization). The sector responsible for the long-distance express trains took over the Intercity brand, although many routes that were previously operated as InterCity connections were distributed to other sectors (e.g. London to Kings Lynn were transferred to the local traffic area network southeast).
Origin of the brand name
British Rail first used Inter-City in 1950 for a connection from London to Wolverhampton. This was part of the company's plan to rename all train connections.
The name was first applied to the West Midlands Business Express, which provided daily connections to London. West Midland residents believe that the success of this train service led to the introduction of the name on all British Rail long distance express services in 1966.
division
InterCity was split into the following regional department:
- East Coast: Serves the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross via north-east England and Yorkshire to east Scotland.
- West Coast: Offers the West Coast Main Line from London Euston via West Midlands and North Wales, to North West England and South Scotland.
- Midland: Offers the Midland Main Line from London St. Pancras via East Midlands to South Yorkshire .
- Great Western: Offers the Great Western Main Line from London Paddington via West Country to South Wales .
- Great Eastern: Provides the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street via East Anglia to Essex .
- Cross-Country: Offers various connections between major cities, mostly outside of Greater London.
- Gatwick Express: Shuttle service between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport .
Trains
There are high-speed trains used under the name "InterCity 125", and the InterCity 225s on the East Coast route. The "125" refers to the maximum speed in mph (equivalent to 201 km / h), while the "225 " refers to the maximum speed in km / h (equivalent to 140 mph), since the InterCity 225 also has a speed of 201 km / h could reach. InterCity 250 was the name of the train that has been used on the West Coast Main Line since modernization in the 1990s . For a while, the introduction of an InterCity 175 on the West Coast Main Line was discussed, but this idea was rejected. All InterCity connections were served by a dining car. In the 1990s, British Rail operated more 100 mph connections than any other country.
vehicles
The InterCity 125 HST was first used in 1976 on the Great Western Main Line from London to Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea. This had two first-class, one dining and four second-class cars and a locomotive at each end. In 1977 this constellation was also used on the Great Eastern Main Line. These gradually replaced the BR class 55 " Deltics ", which was last used in 1981. The InterCity 225 was built similarly, but had better electrics, which is why it was used on the Great Western Main Line and Cross-Country Main Line .
Routes
East Coast Main Line : London Kings Cross, Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark North Gate, Retford, Doncaster, Hull, Wakefield Westgate, Leeds, York, Northallerton Darlington, Durham, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Edinburgh, Glasgow Central, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen, Aviemore, Inverness.
West Coast Main Line : London Euston, Watford Junction, Milton Keynes Central (replaced Bletchley in 1982), Rugby, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Telford Central, Wellington, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe , Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Stockport, Manchester Piccadilly, Runcorn, Liverpool Lime Street, Chester, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno Junction, Penmaenmawr, Llandudno, Bangor, Holyhead (ferries to Dublin ) Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme: The Lake District, Lockerbie, Carstairs, Carlisle, Motherwell, Glasgow Central, Ayr, Stranraer Harbor (ferries to Belfast).
Great Western Main Line : London Paddington, Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Bath Spa, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Weston-super-Mare, Newport, Cardiff Central, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway, Neath, Swansea, Llanelli, Carmarthen, Whitland, Tenby, Pembroke Dock, Haverfordwest, Milford Haven, Fishguard Harbor (ferries to Rosslare), Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St. David's, Newton Abbot, Paignton, Totnes, Plymouth, Bodmin Parkway, Par, Newquay, St. Austell, Truro, Penzance.
Midland Main Line : London St. Pancras, Luton, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Scarborough.
Cross Country Route : Penzance, Truro, St. Austell, Plymouth, Totnes, Paignton, Torquay, Newton Abbot, Exeter St. David's, Taunton, Bristol Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway, Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot Parkway, Bridgend, Cardiff Central, Newport, London Paddington, Poole, Bournemouth, Southampton, Ramsgate, Margate, Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Reading, Oxford, Gloucester, Cheltenham Spa, Coventry, Birmingham International, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Crewe, Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Stockport, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Bolton, Hartford, Runcorn, Liverpool Lime Street, St Helens Central Preston, Blackpool North, Lancaster, Oxenholme: Lake District, Penrith, Carlisle, Motherwell, Glasgow Central, Derby, Sheffield, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Arbroath, Aberdeen.
Great Eastern Main Line : London Liverpool Street, Chelmsford, Colchester, Manningtree, Harwich International (ferries to Hook of Holland), Ipswich, Stowmarket, Diss, Norwich.
Gatwick Express : London Victoria, Gatwick Airport.
Painting
British Rail introduced a corporate livery in 1965. The base paint is blue and the windows are framed in gray. The fronts of locomotives and multiple units have been painted yellow to improve visibility, and this has often been incorporated on the side in various quantities. In the following year, this was also carried over to the InterCity trains. Here, to the left of the doors, the InterCity logo was applied to the blue paint. In 1976, the locomotives were also painted blue-gray, with yellow elements remaining here.
A new logo was introduced on May 1, 1987 as part of Intercity's 21st anniversary celebration. The colors were unchanged (although locomotives were less yellow than before), but locomotives, wagons, and advertisements had a new logo.
privatization
After the privatization of British Rail, intercity trains were divided into several franchises. The Caledonian Sleeper Service was transferred to ScotRail and has been served by Serco since 2015 . The first plans for the railway companies were to work together to continue to have a consistent intercity network, but this failed because of differences of opinion. In the 1990s the name InterCity was abolished. In 2013, the then shadow traffic minister, Maria Eagle, suggested reintroducing the InterCity brand.
See also
swell
- ^ The British Railways era. Virgin Trains , p. 24 , archived from the original on October 16, 2006 ; Retrieved April 6, 2009 .
- ↑ Brian Haresnape: British Rail 1948-1978: a journey by design . Ian Allan, Shepperton 1979, ISBN 0-7110-0982-1 , pp. 119-121.
- ↑ Keith Parkin: British Railways Mark 1 Coaches . Pendragon Books, Truro 1991, ISBN 0-906899-49-4 , pp. 68-69.
- ↑ Inter-City 125 Into Service . In: Ian Allan (Ed.): Modern Railways . 33, No. 337, October 1976, ISSN 0026-8356 .
- ↑ The InterCity relaunch in Modern Railways June 1987 page = 285 ISSN 0026-8356
- ↑ Wintour, Patrick: Labor to call for state rail company to be allowed to bid for east coast mainline . In: The Guardian , September 19, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.