page_title: InterCity 250
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: InterCity 250 / Legacy
context_page_description: The InterCity 250 was the name of a proposed rolling stock, track and signalling upgrade project on the West Coast Main Line by British Rail in the early 1990s. The InterCity 250 train would have consisted of a Class 93 electric locomotive, nine Mark 5 coaches and a Mark 5 Driving Van Trailer operating in a push-pull formation. The project was cancelled in July 1992.
context_section_description: Although InterCity 250 was cancelled, the improvements to the WCML were still required and were campaigned for by the West Coast Rail 250 pressure group. Following the privatisation of British Rail in 1994, the newly formed rail infrastructure company Railtrack drew up plans for track and signalling upgrades to allow for high-speed running, which it budgeted at £2 billion. The predicted journey times for upgraded speeds of 125 mph (201 km/h) and 140 mph (225 km/h) over the existing 110 mph (177 km/h) maximum linespeed were based upon the calculated InterCity 250 performance over the WCML supplied by British Rail (Derby).
  The first phase of the upgrade, between London Euston and Manchester was completed in 2004; however, work at several sites including Rugby and Milton Keynes stations, the Trent Valley and the remainder of the route to Glasgow continued until December 2008. Virgin Trains ordered 53 Class 390 Pendolino electric multiple units. These are seen as the successor to the original APT concept, in that they utilise tilting technology to successfully negotiate the route of the WCML at high speed. Though infrastructure limitations presently limit them to 125 mph (201 km/h), the trains are capable of speeds up to 140 mph (225 km/h).
  A full-size mock-up of the front end and cab of a class 93 power car was made and displayed at the Eurailspeed 92 exhibition in Brussels. It is now at the Midland Railway Centre.
caption: The modernised West Coast Main Line now uses ‘Pendolino’ stock
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