Next month, the last ever passenger service HST will leave Paddington, and you can be on board.
After over 40 years’ in operation on the Great Western network, the High Speed Train is being replaced with bullet-style Intercity Express Trains, and the very last regularly timetable service will be the 18:30 from Paddington to Taunton on Saturday 18 May.
The train is being extended to Exeter St Davids, and with demand to travel on board expected to be very high, the service will be entirely reservation only, and passengers will have to hold a valid seat reservation to be able to board.
Click here to book a ticket.
To book, do a search for trains from Paddington at 6:30pm. You must buy a ticket that lets you reserve seats (so you cant get a ticket to Reading and hop off as they wont offer reservations for that), otherwise you wont be allowed on, even if you have a ticket.
Those opting to travel to Paddington to record the event will be able to do so and special designated areas are being set aside for enthusiasts to be able to photograph and film safely.
In addition to the 18:30 service, the 18:03 departure to Plymouth, the 18:15 departure to Cheltenham Spa and the 18:22 departure to Hereford are also due to be formed of High Speed Trains, subject to operational requirements, providing a unique, farewell line-up at Paddington.
An additional 18:32 Intercity Express Train is also being provided for those who do not wish to be on the last regularly timetabled High Speed Train.
The HST will make a return to Paddington for a special charity charter tour on 1 June which will be raising money for First Group’s chosen charity, Action for Children. Tickets for this special charter are available here.
Hope you manage to get the seat numbers right, as we have traveled up to Paddington from Plymouth every three weeks for the last three months, and the seat numbers we were given never existed bearing in this was first class also don’t forget water is needed in the toilet to flush it and wash hands in the sink, as this seemed to be non existent more than once.
This comment actually made my day. I hope to see IanVisits personally filling up the 125 bogs at Paddington! What a muppet…
They may be the last HST passenger services from Paddington, but the HST will still be in use on the Midland Main Line from St. Pancras.
Found myself on what I now know to be an Intercity Express the other week, Padd to Wales. was very impressed, not least with the brilliantly obvious system of showing if a seat is reserved (red light) or not (green), saving all that silly squinting at hard to read LCD screens. Even the new Eurostars don’t have that degree of clarity.
I was on one of the fist ones to York…when the brakes were applied there was an overpowering pong of fried liver !
Ah you see, that’s what I miss the most having moved from GWR to SWT/R territory.
The cost may be rather more affordable and the train stock clean and punctual (up to a point, Lord Copper. Hope it’s just SWR teething problems…) but you can’t beat a good lungful of HST brakedust with a dash of oil all served in a jus of diesel fumes! Thar’s summat about the heady whiff of the tank engines on yer actual 125 which I already sorely miss.