Great Western Railway (GWR) will retire its Castle Class trains following passenger service on Saturday 13 December.
The Class 43 locomotives and Mark 3 coaches have been in service on the Great Western network for almost 50 years. Originally introduced in 1976, they were the mainstay of Intercity services across the country.
Following the introduction of the Intercity Express Trains, these trains stopped operating long-distance GWR routes in May 2019 before being refurbished to support regional services between Cardiff and Penzance.
They will be replaced by GWR’s existing fleet, along with its 26 recommissioned Class 175 trains, which will be gradually rolled out throughout 2026.
To help manage expected interest from those wishing to mark the last journeys, an additional service will operate a round-trip between Plymouth and Penzance on the day.
The service will leave Plymouth at 15:16, calling only at Par, before returning from Penzance at 17:32, again calling only at Par, and arriving into Plymouth at 19:17.
Image credit: GWR
