Train speed record set between London and Bristol

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2019/09/30/train-speed-record-set-between-london-and-bristol/

by edward • 7 years ago

22 19 7 years ago

ianvisits.co.uk

ulfw• 7 years ago

Why is this posted here? This isn't speedy on a global scale

oysterfish• 7 years ago

Yeah right. I can't even see the MPH. With France just across the channel, it'll sound ridiculous no matter what.

spqr0a1• 7 years ago

Nor is it speedy on a local scale, the article even admits this route has been done faster in 1977.

reallydontask• 7 years ago

I guess that is one way of getting me to read the article :)

onion2k• 7 years ago

A British train actually arrived and wasn't late. This is huge news.

zenlot• 7 years ago

Made my day. Late by 15 minutes considered normal with British train system. Average is ~30mins and "apologies for slight delay" is >30mins. Considering that you're paying ~40GBP for peak return ticket to London Euston - that's bad. Especially when you have to stand during peak time or sit on a non-seatable seats, which were not renevew for >10 years.

melling• 7 years ago

I’m not sure why it’s posted.

However, efforts like this will make people take trains rather than drive. I wish this would happen in the United States.

If trains went 100 miles an hours on average instead of 50, a lot more people would take trains.

Heck, 75 miles an hour on average would be incredible.

beatgammit• 7 years ago

Can confirm, the commuter train here runs ~75 mph and is quite popular. Then again, it's competing with 70mph highway.

I have looked into taking Amtrak several times, but it takes 2-3x as long as driving, 5-10x as long as flying, is more expensive than both, and has far fewer destinations. It's a hard sell for anything other than taking a train for the experience or short distances. Trains should be cheaper than airplanes and faster than cars, but they're neither in the US...

cannonedhamster2• 7 years ago

Where are you getting these amazing 50MPH trains? Do they run on some new type of magic energy source? We're lucky when they break 30MPH here. It takes longer to take the train than to sit in bumper to bumper traffic.

ktzar• 7 years ago

Europe has had trains travelling at 200mph for three decades https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVE & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV Britain is just way behind, and it's gonna stay that way.

NeedMoreTea2• 7 years ago

Whyever would you think that? BR had a plan in the 70s, to be ready early 80s, to get a reasonably modern network. We had the East Coast main line that was historically the "record breaking" line, where for some stretches 125mph+ was possible. 4468 Mallard got the steam record on it in 1938 - 126mph! We had some extremely old bits of track too.

So, plan was APT - a 155mph tilting modern electric, and HST - a 125mph diesel for lines that needed uprating or electrification (most of them), only temporarily. Plans for a Channel tunnel were resurrected and agreed. The French SNCF was just getting on with building TGV, with enough funding to build a network fit for purpose.

Thatcher threatened APT with cancellation, so there was a far too early demo, that went infamously poorly. HSTs were rolled out. A year or two later APT was quietly ready for service. Thatcher sold everything to Fiat, complete with patents. That's not the end of that story.

HST is limited to 90 and 110mph across most of the network as it's not up to 125mph. Bits of East Coast can have it run as designed.

Many years later, UK train companies want to buy Pendelino, an Italian tilting train to modernise the network. Pendelino is the descendent of APT we sold off.

West Coast main line - one of Europe's busiest - finally finished upgrade, ready for 150mph Pendelino. Except to HST suitable speeds - 125mph in the 2010s! We now have 150mph capable trains limited to 125mph.

Yep, most definitely gonna stay that way.

aashcan• 7 years ago

Not speedy even if you go back ~ 90 years ;-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schienenzeppelin

benplumley• 7 years ago

It's not in the article for some reason, but the distance is 188km (following the rail line, not as the crow flies), giving an average speed of 157km/h or 97mph.

fnord77• 7 years ago

A new modern speed record has been set for a train running between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington of just 1 hour and 12 minutes

...

Before the safety restrictions came in to effect, the fastest train had managed to do the run in just over 68 minutes, which was done in 1977.

murphysbooks• 7 years ago

I know this was in England, but I always think of Bristol TN whenever I see "Bristol". So, I assumed everyone drowned.

Train speed record set between London and Bristol

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