Sir Kenneth Grange, designer of the Intercity 125 train, has passed away aged 95.
Sir Kenneth was a household name for designing many items, including cameras for Kodak and food mixers for Kenwood, and founded the design consultancy Pentagram in the early 1970s. He is famed within the rail industry for designing the interior layout and nose cone exterior of Britain’s first high-speed train.
InterCity 125 trains ran for four decades along the East Coast Main Line. Some remain in service with Great Western Railway and ScotRail. In May 2019, LNER held an event to mark the retirement of the fleet from its route and Sir Kenneth Grange was a special guest.
David Horne, managing director at LNER, said “We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Sir Kenneth Grange, designer of icons. Sir Kenneth created the InterCity 125 which transformed the fortunes of long-distance rail travel in Britain.
We were honoured to welcome Sir Kenneth to London King’s Cross Station in 2019 to say farewell to the iconic fleet, which is quite simply a design classic. His legacy will live on through his numerous everyday designs from Anglepoise lamps to the TX1 London taxi.”
Sir Kenneth received his knighthood in 2014, for services to design.
He was honorary president of the 125 Group, which works to preserve the legacy of the InterCity 125s.
The group commented: “Sir Kenneth became a key designer for many iconic household items – but will be best remembered by us for the amazing transition he made to the front-end design styling and livery of the InterCity 125.
Following the Group’s involvement with the restoration of the Prototype Power Car, Sir Kenneth became a good friend of the Group, an advocate of our aims and has been our Honorary President for the last ten years – visiting us at events on numerous occasions.”
Image credit: Geof Sheppard
