High-speed rail
United Kingdom, Italy and Germany
#### United Kingdom, Italy and Germany

[thumb\|An [ETR 500](/wiki/ETR_500 "ETR 500") train running on the [Florence–Rome high\-speed line](/wiki/Florence%E2%80%93Rome_high-speed_railway "Florence–Rome high-speed railway") near [Arezzo](/wiki/Arezzo "Arezzo") in [Italy](/wiki/Italy "Italy"), the first high\-speed railway opened in Europe.](/wiki/File:Etr500.JPG "Etr500.JPG")

In 1976, [British Rail](/wiki/British_Rail "British Rail") introduced a high\-speed service able to reach  using the [InterCity 125](/wiki/InterCity_125 "InterCity 125") [diesel\-electric](/wiki/Diesel-electric "Diesel-electric") trainsets under the brand name of High Speed Train (HST). It was the fastest diesel\-powered train in regular service and it improved upon its  forerunners in speed and acceleration. As of 2019 it is still in regular service as the fastest diesel\-powered train. The train was as a reversible multi\-car set having driving power\-cars at both ends and a fixed formation of passenger cars between them. Journey times were reduced by an hour for example on the [East Coast Main Line](/wiki/East_Coast_Main_Line "East Coast Main Line"), and passenger numbers increased. As of 2019 many of these trains are still in service, private operators have often preferred to rebuild the units with new engines rather than replace them. Prior to COVID\-19, ridership of the UK's High Speed Intercity Services had exceeded 40 million journeys per annum.

The next year, in 1977, Germany finally introduced a new service at , on the Munich–Augsburg line. That same year, Italy inaugurated the first European High\-Speed line, the *[Direttissima](/wiki/Florence%E2%80%93Rome_high-speed_railway "Florence–Rome high-speed railway")* between [Rome](/wiki/Rome "Rome") and [Florence](/wiki/Florence "Florence"), designed for , but used by [FS E444](/wiki/FS_Class_E444 "FS Class E444") hauled train at . In France this year also saw the abandonment for political reasons of the [Aérotrain](/wiki/A%C3%A9rotrain "Aérotrain") project, in favour of the [TGV](/wiki/TGV "TGV").


How do private operators prefer to rebuild or replace InterCity 125 units?