Editing Advanced Passenger Train (section)

===Queasy rider===
While the commissioning team continued to report, and solve, problems in the APT design, BR management was under increasing pressure from the press. By the early 1980s the project had been running for over a decade and the trains were still not in service. ''[[Private Eye (magazine)|Private Eye]]'' lampooned it with a timetable proclaiming "The APT arriving at Platform 4 is fifteen years late".<ref name=laughing/><ref>{{Cite web |orig-date=1981-12-18 |title=Private Eye cover of issue 522 (18 December 1981) |url=https://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers/cover-522 |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=Private Eye}}</ref> Press pressure led to political pressure which led to management pressure, and the APT team was told to put the train into operation in spite of its ongoing problems.

On 7 December 1981 the press was invited aboard APT for its first official run from Glasgow to London, during which it set a schedule record at 4 hours 15 minutes. However, press reports focused on a distinct sickening sensation from the tilt system, and nicknamed APT the "queasy rider". They also reported that the stewardess, Marie Docherty, suggested the solution was to "just stand with your feet apart." A BR engineer suggested that the reporters were simply too drunk on BR's free alcohol.<ref name=laughing /> On its return trip from London the next day, one of the coaches became stuck in a rotated position when the tilt system failed, and this was heavily reported in the press.<ref name = BBCcoverarticle/> Two days later, the temperature dipped and the water in the hydrokinetic brakes froze, forcing the train to end service in [[Crewe]].<ref>{{cite news|title=APT - The lean machine|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1695589.stm|access-date=27 April 2018|work=BBC News|date=7 December 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202041403/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1695589.stm|archive-date=2 December 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>

APT became the focus of a storm of negative press reporting. When it emerged that only two of the three APT-Ps were in operation and the third would be out of service for overhaul and maintenance, the press dubbed it the "Accident Prone Train".<ref name=laughing/> BR also ran a second train 15 minutes behind it in case it failed, and since the train was mixed among existing traffic, its speed was limited to 125&nbsp;mph instead of its full speed.<ref name=laughing/>

BR, desperate for some good publicity, hired former [[Blue Peter]] presenter [[Peter Purves]] to make the journey from Glasgow. On arrival at [[Euston railway station|Euston]], Purves said that he had had an "excellent breakfast in the most delightful surroundings", and when asked about the train, said "it's smooth, it's quiet, and an altogether delightful experience." However, as he said this, a slight shudder was visible, and the sound of rattling dishes could be heard.<ref name=laughing>{{cite journal |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35061511 |title=APT tilting train: The laughing stock that changed the world |first=Justin |last=Parkinson |journal=BBC News Magazine |date=18 December 2015 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425023722/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35061511 |archive-date=25 April 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>