I notice we hear a lot more about the Inverness services than the Aberdeen ones on this thread, despite Aberdeen being the larger destination. Is that just to do with the location of regular posters? Does Aberdeen have a dearth of railway enthusiasts...?
I am a regular traveller through Aberdeen every week or two, and there's pretty much little news on the HSTs up that way other than any service I've had over the past 2 months that is booked a HST has actually been a HST - a significant improvement from December to April when I would sight the screen outside the station at Union Square and see that at a glance most of the services had additional notes underneath it which, upon nearing the station, bared "Apologies, train has fewer carriages. This train has 2 carriages". In other words, wherever you could see an additional note under each service listed, you just knew.
Nowadays it is evidently becoming a rarity, although I am beginning to question, as you may have seen a few pages back, the suitability of 4-car HSTs on this route. A high density GWR 4-car is enough for everyone to have a seat with the odd free here and there but nothing more. 3 out of the 5 refurbs I've had travelling to and from Aberdeen over the past month have been full and standing, usually from Perth or Dundee when heading south, and quieting up at both when heading north.
From a passenger point of view any of the HSTs is a significant improvement when a seat is available, but from a staff point of viewv (particularly gaurds), most I've spoken to can't wait to see the back of the 'classics' because the additional workload at stations is knackering them!