Blue Pullman HST passes through Hinckley station

Mason Moore | Hinckley Reporter | 14 December 2020

JUST TWO NIGHTS AGO (12 December), an impressive High Speed Train replica of the iconic Blue Pullman passed through Hinckley railway station.

***Photographed: The Blue Pullman (Originally taken by Ady Baker for Hinckley District Past and Present) (Supplied to The Hinckley Free Press with permission)***

As first reported on railway news website, Rail Advent, The High Speed Train (“HST”) passed through for its first-ever tour which took place last weekend.

The Pullman first passed through the town’s railway station a grand total of three times last Saturday.

It first came over to the Station from Nuneaton’s railway station rather early on in the morning at 7.20am, marking the first of its three journeys of the day.

It later passed through again for a second time at 3.30pm in the afternoon, where railway spotters were able to have a glance of the Pullman before it turned dark for the night.

It made its final journey on Hinckley’s railway lines just after 10pm on Saturday night.

This was an interesting sight for trainspotters as the original Pullman trains which ran back in the ’60s and ’70s had never originally ran through Hinckley.

Ady Baker managed to stop by and take the following photograph of the HST which they snapped with their camera – we have been given permission to show this photo with thanks to the Hinckley District Past and Present Group.

***(Ady Baker for Hinckley District Past and Present) (Supplied to The Hinckley Free Press with permission)***

Paul Gardner, a Hinckley historian and Founder of the Hinckley District Past and Present Group, said: “It was great to see such a sight as the original Pullman [trains] did not run through Hinckley originally.

“Even though this was an HST made to look like the original train it was still superb to see.”

The tour was first set to go ahead back in November for its launch, but as Rail Magazine reported in early November, this didn’t happen on its originally-scheduled date due to the national English lockdown.

The original Blue Pullman trains were created to replace the steam locomotive trains and they were first constructed 60 years ago in 1960. The Pullman trains were used by railway giant and operator, British Rail, and were in service for a total of 13 years, starting from 1960 until 1973.