The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger carriage developed in response to growing competition from airlines and the car in the 1960s. A variant of the Mark 3 became the rolling stock for the High Speed Train (HST).
Originally conceived as locomotive-hauled coaching stock, the first coaches built were for the prototype HST in 1972. Production coaches entered service between 1975 and 1988, and multiple-unit designs based on the Mark 3 bodyshell continued to be built until the early 1990s. Most of the surviving fleet of the Mark 3 and its derivatives are still in revenue service on the British railway network in 2019.
Mark 3s remain in service as part of HSTs with CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and Abellio ScotRail much as they have since introduced. The introduction by Virgin Trains of Class 390 Pendolinos in the early 2000s resulted in the withdrawal of their locomotive hauled Mark 3s.
Many of the Mark 3s are scheduled to be withdrawn by 2020. Great Western Railway and London North Eastern Railway sets will be replaced by Class 800, 801, and 802 sets.
MODEL SPECIFICATION
CLASS MK3
LENGTH 303mm
DESIGNER BREL
PERIOD ERA 11 (2014 +)
FINISH Standard
AGE SUITABILITY 14+
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