Classic HST Fleet Transformed for £1.4bn Digital Railway Future

Britain’s iconic High Speed Trains are being rapidly upgraded for the digital railway era, with engineers significantly reducing the time needed to install in-cab signalling technology on the ageing fleet.

The latest milestone in the programme has seen the third Class 43 power car fitted with ETCS (European Train Control System) equipment returned to operator RailAdventure UK just eight weeks after entering the former Brush locomotive works in Loughborough. A fourth vehicle is also expected to be completed within the same timeframe.

The work forms part of the £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme, which aims to replace traditional lineside signalling with digital in-cab systems designed to improve reliability, efficiency and safety across the railway network.

The current batch of upgraded Class 43 power cars belongs to RailAdventure UK and is used for freight duties, rolling stock transfers and charter services. Teams involved in the programme say lessons learned from the first installations helped dramatically speed up work on later vehicles, helping establish what is now the fastest retrofit turnaround delivered so far under the programme.

The next phase of work will focus on four more Class 43 power cars owned by Locomotive Services Limited, which are used on private rail tours and charter operations. The first vehicle has already arrived at the Loughborough facility.

Ben Mason, charter and heritage lead for the East Coast Digital Programme, said:

"ECDP is all about learning by doing. We’ve had to re-learn how we retrofit older generation trains, and create a more streamlined and efficient assurance process. Hitachi and their fitment teams have really turned it around. We’re now in a strong place to quickly deliver the remaining 12 Class 43 units, using an efficient productionised process and avoiding unnecessary duplication. The significant progress we’ve made is all down to teamwork and collaboration."

Paul Maynard, vice president of integrated communications supervision at Hitachi Rail, said:

“The pace of progress on the Class 43 programme has been a real turnaround and reflects the strength of collaboration across the project between Network Rail, the vehicle owners and operators, and the wider delivery teams. Alongside the wider programme progress, huge credit goes to the installation and test teams on the ground, whose hard work, adaptability and attention to detail have been instrumental in making this productionised retrofit approach a success. The way teams have worked together to solve challenges in real time and maintain momentum has been key to getting us where we are today.”

Kevin Walker, managing director of RailAdventure UK, said:

“RailAdventure are pleased and proud of the progress made with the ETCS fitment on our first two pairs of Class 43s. We are looking forward to taking them out on the network for testing and shakedowns. This will put us in a good place to support the ECDP project with systems testing on the East Coast Main Line south later in the year.”

Image: Network Rail