The final ever Virgin West Coast HST working - 1955 London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly - departs Stafford on Saturday 22nd May 2004 worked by power cars 43092 and 43097, bringing down the curtain of over a decade of HST operation on this route.
This set transferred to Virgin Cross Country for the remainder of the summer before withdrawal. It was then purchased by First Group and refurbished, with the power cars being re-engineered with MTU power units, and now operate on First Great Western.