HSTs in Mexico - news and progress updates

[Alfonso]

Saw this on Facebook of the second bath of Mexican HST stock arriving late last month. Unloading was at least partly at night and they have been sent off for repair and repaint so seem to have slipped away from most cameras so far.

Grupo de Coatza Noticias | Llegan más trenes vieeeejos para el Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec | Facebook

Llegan más trenes vieeeejos para el Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec #CoatzaNoticias Desde Venezuela, atracó en el Puerto de Coatzacoalcos un barco carguero con trenes viejos para ampliar la...

www.facebook.com

So that's another 6 class 43s, 20 trailers and 3 restaurant cars.

 

[43096]

So that's another 6 class 43s, 20 trailers and 3 restaurant cars.

It should be 7 power cars, 16 trailers and 2 buffet cars.

 

[Alfonso]

It should be 7 power cars, 16 trailers and 2 buffet cars.

Just translating what the article says, no idea if accurate!

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Translation of the Facebook post (thanks to Mr Google, one of his best services yet!)

More old trains arrive for the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway

#CoatzaNews

From Venezuela, a cargo ship with old trains docked at the Port of Coatzacoalcos to expand the fleet of trains of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railway that provide rail transportation between Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz.

Using the cargo ship Louise Auerbach - coming from the Guanta Port of the Venezuelan country governed by the dictator Nicolás Maduro - 3 sets of British fast trains called Intercity 125 were unloaded, which are already considered obsolete since they were built in the late 1970s

In the last 10 years, most railway companies and industries have already scrapped the Intercity 125 fast trains and replaced them with more modern units.

In the port area of Coatzacoalcos, these 3 sets of Intercity 125 were unloaded for the Interoceanic Train, which includes the delivery of 20 wagons, 6 machines and 3 restaurant cars, which will now be managed by the Secretary of the Navy of the Government of the Mexican Republic.

The British InterCity 125 express trains, also known as high-speed trains or HSTs, are part of a line of passenger diesel-powered high-speed trains built by British Rail Engineering Limited between 1975 and 1982.

Each set consists of two Class 43 motor cars, one at each end, and a row of Mark 3 cars. Their name is due to their maximum operational speed capacity of 125 miles per hour, that is, they reach up to 201 kilometers per hour and will now provide service to the Coatzacoalcos-#SalinaCruz route.

In total, more than 1,178 tons of steel were unloaded from these Intercity 125 trains and wagons, which are already considered obsolete by the railway industry.

The shipment came from Venezuela, aboard the Liberian-flagged Louise Auerbach, a ship built in 2007. The express trains were unloaded last Saturday, March 30 of this year and will be assigned to SEMAR for repair and beautification.

With information from JORGE CÁCERES

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

43007 and 43320 are now in service in Mexico, still in the liveries they had before export.

43007 is in original InterCity blue-grey livery, added for CrossCountry's farewell tour last year. 43320 is in Virgin Trains livery. I wonder if the FIT management are hoping to attract railfans.

Video by a Mexican rail vlogger, with English subtitles.

Google translation of the video description:

The first heritage locomotive has already circulated in the Interoceanic Corridor through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

The first heritage machine has already passed in the interoceanic corridor and no one noticed.

Last weekend the usual HST locomotives went into maintenance and were replaced by 43320 and 43007 with the original Intercity 125 layout, and no one noticed that they were too well preserved to be almost 50 years old.

Last year (2023), before arriving in Mexico for the interoceanic corridor passenger train, after almost half a century of service, the HST trains were retired in England. And to say goodbye to them as heroes, a farewell tour was organized for these trains that were once the fastest in the world and are still the fastest diesels on the face of the earth.

For its farewell tour CrossCountry repainted two of its locomotives. At one end, 43008 carries the paint scheme adopted for the Intercity 225, which sought to be the successor to the HST, and 43007 with the Intercity 125 scheme as when it began operating.
Although the locomotives made their last trip in September 2023, they were painted since July and by whims of fate, 43007, which is one of the first built, is one of the locomotives that has just arrived to reinforce the interoceanic fleet and quickly found the opportunity to race again just by adding some Interoceanic decals.

Few people saw this, the first service of these locomotives, I imagine that the passengers of that day did not imagine being part of something historic like this.

 

[yorksrob]

What a wonderful introduction !

 

[aem7ac]

Looks as if they’re going to keep the 43007 in the original InterCity 125 livery, as the “INTEROCEANICO” sub-lettering added seems to be specifically designed for that livery…

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

43320 also has FIT logos. You can see one if you pause the video at 3:06.

 

[StephenHunter]

Looks as if they’re going to keep the 43007 in the original InterCity 125 livery, as the “INTEROCEANICO” sub-lettering added seems to be specifically designed for that livery…

Well, they've slapped it on top of the yellow.

Sir Kenneth Grange and the rest of the HST team must be rather bemused at how the HST story is ending.

 

[AdamWW]

Well, they've slapped it on top of the yellow.

Sir Kenneth Grange and the rest of the HST team must be rather bemused at how the HST story is ending.

Particular if you include the odd goings-on in Nigeria.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Seeing a video of 43007 in Mexico, seven months to tbe day since I saw it on Cross Country's Leeds-Swanage "finale", seems very incongruous.

 

[43096]

Sir Kenneth Grange and the rest of the HST team must be rather bemused at how the HST story is ending.

Sir Kenneth is not at all bemused about what is going on. As Honorary President of 125 Group he gets a copy of the 125 Group magazine, which has plenty of details of the exports.

 

[StephenHunter]

Sir Kenneth is not at all bemused about what is going on. As Honorary President of 125 Group he gets a copy of the 125 Group magazine, which has plenty of details of the exports.

Maybe I used the wrong adjective, but when the HST project started, who would have thought the APT would be a static display in Crewe and the HST running in Mexico?

 

[Sun Chariot]

when the HST project started, who would have thought the APT would be a static display in Crewe and the HST running in Mexico?

Absolutely. HS(D)T: not bad for an "interim" solution, pending (envisaged at the time) a wide electrification programme and an APT squadron service.

And the Mexican HST has tilting capability - necking a bottle of tequila before travelling.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Maybe I used the wrong adjective, but when the HST project started, who would have thought the APT would be a static display in Crewe and the HST running in Mexico?

A great example of keeping it simple using proven technology something that todays train builders would do well to heed.

 

[StephenHunter]

And the Mexican HST has tilting capability - necking a bottle of tequila before travelling.

That's true of any train.

 

[Sun Chariot]

That's true of any train.

I try not to make a habit of it on the morning commute here, though...

 

[AdamWW]

Maybe I used the wrong adjective, but when the HST project started, who would have thought the APT would be a static display in Crewe and the HST running in Mexico?

Well I knew what you meant. And indeed this really isn't how one might have expected things to turn out.

 

[150249]

Does anyone have an up to date list of which powercars have been renumbered and what they've been renumbered to?