High-speed trains shunted aside at cost of millions

First Great Western, the train operating company owned by First Group, is to ditch its new high-speed trains in favour of 30-year-old Intercity 125s.

The company's Adelante trains, which run between London Paddington and the West Country, have proved to be so unreliable that they are to be replaced at a cost of tens of millions of pounds by 125s, used on UK railways since the 1970s.

A spokesman for First Great Western said: "The refurbished trains will carry 515 passengers compared with the Adelantes' 280, so more seats will be available. And they will be far more reliable."

In 1973, an Intercity train, known as an HST, set a world-record train speed of 143.2mph. More than 30 years on and trains in the UK have yet to approach that speed on a scheduled route. The locomotives were originally envisaged as a stop-gap while British Rail developed tilting trains. These were finally introduced only a few years ago by Virgin Rail on its Cross Country franchise.