The Scottish Government is to replace its High Speed Train fleet, which is used on the intercity routes between Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness.

The fleet of InterCity 125s, consisting of 26 four- or five-car sets, was cascaded to Scotland from Great Western Railway in 2018 and branded ‘Inter7city’.

The Mk3 coaches were refurbished and fitted with plug doors, although some entered service at first with their original hinged doors. One set was lost in the fatal derailment at Carmont in August 2020.

Transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said: ‘Resilient, reliable ScotRail services are key to encouraging more people to choose to travel by train rather than car, to cutting our transport emissions and to helping to move people around Scotland for work, leisure and learning. That is why we must build on our investment in Scotland’s railway infrastructure by investing in the services and trains which connect our key cities.

‘Over four million passenger journeys were made on intercity trains in the last year. We want to maintain and where possible increase that number. We want to replace the current fleet with trains which provide more comfort and accessibility for passengers.

‘This planned investment will ensure the reliability of our intercity routes for the long-term, will reduce emissions and support our efforts to decarbonise Scotland’s railways.’

The procurement will be led by ScotRail on behalf of Transport Scotland.

Further details will be provided when the contract notice is published ‘in the coming weeks’.