A High Speed Train which has been newly renovated in Devon is set to be re-instated back into service soon.

The former high speed train is to be named Safety Task Force by Nick Millington MBE of Network Rail. Nick Millington, who lives in Exmouth, is Network Rail’s Wales and Borders interim route director and was awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours List for services to the railway, charity and the NHS.

Following some minor engine repairs, the power car will return to service as one of several HST power cars that makes up their fleet of vehicles for use on Network Rail’s test trains, carrying out inspections of track across Britain.

South Devon Railway Engineering (SDRE), the contract engineering arm of the South Devon Railway at Buckfastleigh, has just completed the major repair and repaint of a former high speed train (HST) power car for Colas Rail UK (CRUK), the leading provider of railway infrastructure services.

This is the first such contract on an HST carried out by SDRE and comprised bodywork repairs, underframe attention, electrical cubicle component repairs, mechanical and electrical cab equipment repairs and concluding in a full repaint into Colas Rail UK colours.

SDRE’S manager, Rob Evans, who oversaw the work, said: “This was a tremendous project to work on and we were delighted to have won this business from Colas Rail UK. It has been a great achievement for South Devon Railway Engineering and all our great team of skilled engineers, as we continue to branch out into new areas of work, expanding the business’s commercial profile. We are looking forward to continuing extending our capabilities in the future.”

As well as carrying name plates, the power car, numbered 43277, will also carry a plate denoting its refurbishment by South Devon Railway Engineering and will re-enter service on the british railway soon.

The South Devon Railway Trust is an educational charity, registered number 800299, whose aims are to advance public education in the history and development of railway transportation systems in particular by the preservation, operation and exhibiting of railway vehicles systems and equipment and to foster and support railway preservation.