HST
Breadcrumb navigation
East Coast
East Coast operate a fleet of HSTs along the ECML from London to Edinburgh and Aberdeen or Inverness.

Natex HST ยป 43238 leads 43300 in new East Coast livery at West Ferry on 11th December 2007 Photo by MacTughunter
National Express interim white stripe livery (GN)
| P/C: 43111 | P/C: 43367 | |||||||||
National Express Silver / White livery (NX)
| TS: 42192 | TS: 42193 | TRFB: 40711 | ||||||||
| TF: 41100 | P/C: 43238 | P/C: 43300 | ||||||||
East Coast HST Power car fleet
Original no. | New no. | Livery | Engine | Name | Admitted | Released | In service | |||
43006 | 43206 | NX | MTU | Kingdom of Fife | 24th October 2007 | 9th January 2008 | 11th January 2008 | |||
43008 | 43208 | NX | MTU | 17th July 2007 | 1st October 2007 | 20th October 2007 | ||||
43038 | 43238 | NX | MTU | 28th June 2007 | 29th August 2007 | 1st October 2007 | ||||
43039 | 43239 | NX | MTU | 17th April 2008 | 26th June 2008 | 27th June 2008 | ||||
43051 | 43251 | NX | MTU | 4th December 2008 | 18th March 2009 | 19th March 2009 | ||||
43057 | 43257 | NX | MTU | 13th August 2008 | 10th December 2008 | 10th December 2008 | ||||
43077 | 43277 | NX | MTU | 26th June 2008 | 14th October 2008 | 14th October 2008 | ||||
43090 | 43290 | NX | MTU | mtu facination of power | 23rd March 2006 | 15th December 2006 | 27th December 2006 | |||
43095 | 43295 | NX | MTU | 14th October 2008 | 17th December 2008 | 17th December 2008 | ||||
43096 | 43296 | NX | MTU | Stirling Castle | 15th May 2007 | 17th July 2007 | 21st July 2007 | |||
43099 | 43299 | NX | MTU | 9th April 2008 | 26th June 2008 | 27th June 2008 | ||||
43100 | 43300 | NX | MTU | Craigentinny | 23rd March 2006 | 1st December 2006 | 7th December 2006 | |||
43102 | 43302 | NX | MTU | 9th January 2008 | 11th April 2008 | 12th April 2008 | ||||
43105 | 43305 | NX | MTU | 11th June 2008 | 13th August 2008 | 15th August 2008 | ||||
43106 | 43306 | NX | MTU | 9th January 2007 | 12th March 2007* | 3rd May 2007 | ||||
43107 | 43307 | NX | MTU | 10th March 2008 | 9th June 2008 | 9th June 2008 | ||||
43108 | 43308 | NX | MTU | 7th November 2008 | 12th February 2009 | 12th February 2009 | ||||
43109 | 43309 | NX | MTU | 24th April 2007 | 28th June 2007 | 3rd July 2007 | ||||
43110 | 43310 | NX | MTU | 4th December 2008 | 18th March 2009 | 19th March 2009 | ||||
43111 | 43311 | NX | MTU | 26th June 2008 | 3rd September 2008 | 3rd September 2008 | ||||
43112 | 43312 | NX | MTU | 9th January 2008 | 18th March 2008 | 19th March 2008 | ||||
43113 | 43313 | NX | MTU | The Highlands | 1st October 2007 | 30th November 2007 | 6th December 2007 | |||
43114 | 43314 | NX | MTU | 30th November 2006 | 16th February 2007 | 21st February 2007 | ||||
43115 | 43315 | NX | MTU | 30th November 2007 | 6th February 2008 | 14th February 2008 | ||||
43116 | 43316 | NX | MTU | 29th August 2007 | 30th October 2007 | 31st October 2007 | ||||
43117 | 43317 | NX | MTU | 6th February 2008 | 17th April 2008 | 17th April 2008 | ||||
43118 | 43318 | NX | MTU | City of Kingston upon Hull | 12th March 2007 | 15th May 2007 | 30th May 2007 | |||
43119 | 43319 | NX | MTU | 28th August 2008 | 7th November 2008 | 7th November 2008 | ||||
43120 | 43320 | NX | MTU | 23rd October 2006 | 9th January 2007 | 11th January 2007 | ||||
43167 | 43367 | NX | MTU | DELTIC 50 1955 - 2005 | 15th February 2007 | 24th April 2007 | 2nd May 2007 | |||
Notes:
- Liveries: GR: GNER dark blue with red stripe. GN: GNER dark blue with white stripe (National Express branding). NX: National Express livery Silver-Grey and White. _EC_: East Coast branding on NX livery.
- $ Bodyside advert: 43367 Online booking.
- Most of the named power cars have vinyl lettering on the bodyside at waist level, originally gold on dark blue (43006/095/296/110 featured smaller size gold lettering), but now black on the white stripe.
- Power cars 43290, 43300 and 43367 have cast nameplates towards the non-cab end.
- The Admitted date is when the Power car arrived at Brush Loughborough for MTU fitment, the Released date is when it departed from Brush for tests and the In Service date is when it entered service.
- Current procedure for the MTU fitment is when a power car is released back to NXEC another one enters the works for the MTU engine to be fitted.
- MTU power car 43306 was released on 12th March 2007 from Brush Loughborough and returned to Neville Hill for testing, during testing several faults were found with the power car and it returned to Brush Loughborugh for repairs it was re released on 20th April 2007
East Coast HST Formations
| Set | Livery | B (TGS) | C (TS) | D (TS) | E (TS) | F (TS-D) | G TS | J (TRFB) | L (TF) | M (TF) |
| EC51 | GR | 44094 | 42154 | 42150 | 42146 | 42091 | 42215 | 40748 | 41150 | 41120 |
| EC52 | NX | 44019 | 42059 | 42058 | 42057 | 42189 | 42323 | 40735 | 41040 | 41039 |
| EC53 | NX | 44045 | 42354 | 42064 | 42063 | 42127 | 42340 | 40737 | 41044 | 41190 |
| EC54 | GR | 44056 | 42219 | 42172 | 42171 | 42161 | 42104 | 40706 | 41088 | 41087 |
| EC55 | NX | 44058 | 42106 | 42181 | 42180 | 42188 | 42179 | 40704 | 41092 | 41091 |
| EC56 | NX | 44098 | 42244 | 42243 | 42242 | 42363 | 40720 | 41118 | 41170 | |
| EC57 | GR | 44080 | 42190 | 42186 | 42182 | 42128 | 42226 | 40740 | 41152 | 41151 |
| EC58 | NX | 44061 | 42193 | 42192 | 42191 | 42238 | 42158 | 40750 | 41098 | 41097 |
| EC59 | NX | 44063 | 42199 | 42198 | 42240 | 42239 | 42235 | 40705 | 41100 | 41099 |
| EC60 | GR | 44031 | 42355 | 42134 | 42357 | 42116 | 42122 | 40742 | 41164 | 41066 |
| EC61 | NX | 44057 | 42110 | 42109 | 42160 | 42159 | 42117 | 40805 | 41165 | 41115 |
| EC62 | NX | 44075 | 42307 | 42237 | 42330 | 42306 | 42326 | 40804 | 41185 | 41095 |
| EC63 | NX | 44050 | 42322 | 42130 | 42228 | 42286 | 42163 | 40708 | 41159 | 41083 |
| Spares | 44077 | 42065 | 40702 | 41090 | ||||||
| 42241 | 40811 | |||||||||
| 40711 |
Notes:
- The coaches are undergoing a refurbishment programme to make the interiors the same standard the refurbished Mk4s. The first set, EC61, was released in March 2007. The programme is due to be completed in November 2009.
- The sets in red are the refubished Mallard sets
- The 10th set to be refurbished to Mallard standard is set EC54 it is in Wabtec for refurbishment.
- Formations may change due to daily requirements and maintenance schedules
Arriva CrossCountry

43166 leads the ECS for a southbound Crosscountry service into Edinburgh Photo by Bruce Kitchener

43285 sits in full sun during the stop at Edinburgh whilst working 9S53 0640 Plymouth to Aberdeen on the 8th of September 2008 Photo by brucekitchener
Arriva Crosscountry HST Power car fleet
Original No. | New No. | Engine | Livery | Admitted | Released | In Service | ||||
43007 | 43207 | MTU | Crosscountry Two tone Silver / Plum | 13th August 2008 | 10th December 2008 | 10th December 2008 | ||||
43085 | 43285 | MTU | Crosscountry Two tone silver / Plum | 14th November 2007 | 13th August 2008 | 15th August 2008 | ||||
43101 | 43301 | MTU | Crosscountry Two Tone silver / Plum | 16th July 2008 | 16th July 2008 | |||||
43103 | 43303 | MTU | Crosscountry Two tone silver / Plum | 9th July 2007 | 30th July 2008 | 31st July 2008 | ||||
43104 | 43304 | MTU | Crosscountry Two Tone silver / Plum | September 2008 | 12th December 2008 | 12th December 2008 | ||||
43121 | 43321 | MTU | Crosscountry Two tone silver / Plum | 25th January 2008 | 10th September 2008 | 14th September 2008 | ||||
43157 | 43357 | MTU | Crosscountry Two tone silver / Plum | February 2008 | 26th September 2008 | 27th September 2008 | ||||
43166 | 43366 | MTU | Crosscountry Two Tone silver / Plum | September 2008 | 23rd January 2009 | 23rd January 2009 | ||||
43178 | 43378 | MTU | Crosscountry Two tone silver / Plum | 30th July 2008 | 26th November 2008 | 26th November 2008 | ||||
43184 | 43384 | MTU | Crosscountry Two tone silver / Plum | 16th July 2008 | 7th November 2008 | 7th November 2008 | ||||
Arriva Crosscountry HST operated services
| Headcode | Dep | Origin | Destination | Arr | Remarks | |||||
| Northbound HST operated services | ||||||||||
| 1S51 | 1223 | Plymouth | Glasgow Central | 2235 | Mon to Fri | |||||
| 1S55 | 1323 | Plymouth | Edinburgh | 2222 | Monday only | |||||
| Southbound HST operated services | ||||||||||
| 1V50 | 0608 | Edinburgh | Plymouth | 1452 | Mon to Fri | |||||
| 1V54 | 0632 | Dundee | Plymouth | 1652 | Friday only | |||||
Arriva Crosscountry HST Formations:
| Set | A (TF) | B (TCC) | C (TS) | D (TS) | E (TS) | F (TS) | G (TS-D) | H (TGS) | ||
| XC01 | 41193 | 45001 | 42368 | 42369 | 42370 | 42367 | 42366 | 44021 | ||
| XC02 | 41194 | 45002 | 42372 | 42373 | 42374 | 42375 | 42371 | 44072 | ||
| XC03 | 41195 | 45003 | 42290 | 42234 | 42378 | 42377 | 42376 | 44052 | ||
| XC04 | 41026 | 45004 | 42038 | 42097 | 42037 | 42036 | 42380 | 44012 | ||
| XC05 | 41035 | 45005 | 42051 | 42342 | 42053 | 42052 | 42379 | 44017 | ||
Notes:
- Sets in Blue are under refurbishment at Wabtec Doncaster
- Sets in Green are formed of Ex Midland Mainline coaches
Arriva CrossCountry are taking on five HST sets to provide additional capacity to support their fleet of Voyagers and Super Voyagers.
Network Rail

43062 on the rear of the NMT at Carlisle Photo by Bruce Kitchener
Network Rail have a modified HST set called the New Measurement Train (NMT), which was introduced in June 2003. It is operated on their behalf by Serco and runs on the East Coast and West Coast Main Lines.
If the NMT is unavailable, a substitute test train powered by top and tail DRS Class 37s or EWS Class 67s may run in its place.
Network Rail NMT Power Cars
| Number | Engine | Livery | Name | Notes | ||||||
| 43013 | MTU | Network Rail Yellow | Buffer fitted, Nose Cameras. New light clusters from July 2007 | |||||||
| 43014 | MTU | Network Rail Yellow | Buffer fitted, Nose Cameras. New light clusters from October 2007 | |||||||
| 43062 | MTU | Network Rail Yellow | John Armitt | Nose Cameras | ||||||
43013/014/062 were the original members of this fleet in 2003. Other NMT power cars have been:
- 43067 (buffer-fitted) April 2005 - December 2005;
- 43154 February 2004 - November 2005
- 43196 November 2005 - December 2006
- 43089 September 2007 - September 2008 (See Project Hyabusa below)
Network Rail NMT Coaching stock
| Old BR no. | New NR no. | Use | Former Uses | Notes | ||||||
| 11000 | 975814 | NMT High Speed Track Recording coach | Test Car 10 | |||||||
| 40000 | 975984 | NMT Generator Coach | Lab 15 "Argus" | |||||||
| 40501 | 977984 | NMT Generator Coach | ||||||||
| 44053 | 977993 | NMT High Speed Recording Coach with Pantograph | replaces 999550 | |||||||
| 44087 | 977994 | NMT High Speed Recording Coach | replaces 977974 | |||||||
| 40619 | 977995 | NMT High Speed Track Recording Generator Coach | ||||||||
| 44062 | 977996 | NMT Train Battery car | ||||||||
Project Hayabusa
Project Hayabusa which is Japanese for Project Falcon, is a partnership between Hitachi and Network Rail to test a battery powered HST power car to see if it could help HST emissions. It would be known as a Battery assisted diesel locomotive after conversion. The power car chosen for this refurb was 43089. The Power car was originally meant to be fitted with an MTU engine but due to demand has kept it's Paxman Valenta. To cut down on weight the rechargable Lithium Ion batteries were put in the TGS coach 977996.
After testing on the preserved Great Central Railway in the Summer of 2007, 43089 began use on the NMT, and was first noted in Scotland on 13 November 2007.
Project Hayabusa was abandoned in September 2008, the locomotive 43089 was returned to Porterbrook, it now has a new life with East Midlands Trains
How it works:
The 48 Lithium ion rechargable batteries supply the power for moving the train off the mark once a decent speed has been achieved the train diesel engine in this case the Paxman Valenta kicks in to get the train up to linespeed or testing speed. The batteries are then recharged as the train brakes for a station stop or signal check meaning the batteries will always have sufficient power for starting the train away from a station or signal check. The diesel engine can still work if the batteries have been drained of power and have insufficient power to move the train.