LNER to repaint trains in 1990s livery and bring back InterCity design for East Coast Main Line services

LNER still leases 12 of the locomotives, which entered service on the East Coast Main Line in 1989, alongside a much larger number of newer Azuma sets.

As part of the redesign, they will get a new look that reflects the colour scheme they bore in the 1990s, before GNER won the franchise. The InterCity 225 logo associated with British Rail has also been revived.

Work on the first locomotive and coaches to carry the new livery has been completed at Wabtec’s Doncaster works as part of a scheduled essential maintenance programme. The fleet will receive a full repaint and rebrand during the coming months as the rolling stock is brought in for maintenance.

LNER engineering director John Doughty said: “The new livery is not only essential for the upkeep of the fleet but also brings it into the LNER family. It is the first time in many years that the fleet has been fully repainted. The livery was inspired in part by the popularity of the original InterCity 225 design, and we’ve kept the sharp lines and red and white stripes famously associated with the trains which have a place in the hearts of many people.”

The train was designed for a top speed of 140 miles per hour and broke the British railway speed record reaching 162 miles per hour on a test run in 1989.

The fleet is comprised of Class 91 electric locomotives and Mark 4 coaching stock. LNER has 12 locos and eight sets of coaches on lease which operate services between London King’s Cross, Leeds and York, all of which will be branded in the new livery in the coming months.