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Trivia: Longest distance traveled by a Passenger Train without stopping (Past and Present)

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eastwestdivide

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Are there any London to Brussels/Paris non-stop trains?
I know that there is non-stop Ebbsfleet to Paris - how far is that?
It's 492km London-Paris according to the Euro Rail Timetable, minus 35km for Ebbsfleet, and yes, there are London-Paris non-stop services.
It's only 373km London-Brussels, but all Brussels trains make at least one intermediate stop.
 
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OneOffDave

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When travelling from Moscow to Izhevsk, the first stop was in Kazan which is 793km from Moscow. Izhevsk was the next stop at 1120km from Moscow
 

nw1

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I have been on a Paris-Nice TGV which was first stop St Raphael (my destination), which is over 900 km and was (then) 5 hours.
This was in the days when the LGV route went as far as Valence, taking the classic line onwards and avoiding Marseille St Charles on the triangle in the suburbs.
The return journey was somewhat spoiled by an hour's wait at Toulon while the SNCF signallers held a "manifestation" over lunch!
There aren't any similar routeings today. Everything seems to stop and reverse at Marseille, although overall journey times are less with more LGV route available.

Is that definitely the case? Went to Nice and return in September 2012 when the LGV ran almost to Marseille and it passed through the Marseille suburbs both ways without going into the main station. Admittedly that was 2012 so not bang-up-to-date but it was in the post-LGV era.

Maybe this is a change related to the apparent withdrawal of the Nice-Bordeaux ICs (which existed then, about every 3-4 hours or so) as these would have previously presumably carried the Nice-Marseille traffic.

FWIW the trains I used were non stop Paris-Aix TGV and return, so impressive in themselves.
 
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theageofthetra

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Currently in Italy, there are hourly Milano Centrale-Roma Termini non-stop services, 568km according to the Euro Rail Timetable, = 353 miles.
Edit: Meanwhile in France, there is a 1615 Paris Gare de Lyon to Marseille, 750km = 466 miles (in 3h05 !)
Been on that 16.15.
 

Searle

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When travelling from Moscow to Izhevsk, the first stop was in Kazan which is 793km from Moscow. Izhevsk was the next stop at 1120km from Moscow

On a similar note, the siberian express from Moscow to Vladivostock does Moscow to Perm non stop, which is 1,397 km in 27 hours :)
 

AndrewE

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On a similar note, the siberian express from Moscow to Vladivostock does Moscow to Perm non stop, which is 1,397 km in 27 hours :)
Is it really non stop? There must be crew-changes - and probably long (unadvertised) waits at passing loops too, I would guess.
Unlike London - Edinburgh and Paris to Marseilles...
 

Dr Hoo

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Surely the prize must go to the Never Stop Railway at the Wembley Exhibition between April 1924 and October 1925. This operated over 1,000,000 car miles (claimed to be without breakdown) and, er, never stopped, whilst carrying 2,000,000 passengers.

Mind you, the route was only 1.5miles long. There were turn-round loops at the ends.:D
 

AndrewE

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Surely the prize must go to the Never Stop Railway at the Wembley Exhibition between April 1924 and October 1925. This operated over 1,000,000 car miles (claimed to be without breakdown) and, er, never stopped, whilst carrying 2,000,000 passengers.

Mind you, the route was only 1.5miles long. There were turn-round loops at the ends.:D
All that distance without even greasing the bearings once?
 

Dr Hoo

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^^^^^^
In the context of the original question, they never stopped *whilst carrying passengers* in 18 months.

One might add a comment about there being no drivers or 'guards' to worry about either but I don't want to be accused of starting yet another "Are Automatic Trains Feasible" or "Can We Safely Dispense With Guards" thread 93 years after the event.

I'll get my coat...
 

Sean Emmett

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O S Nock noted that in August 1948 the Flying Scotsman was diverted via Kelso and Galashiels due to washouts on the ECML between Berwick and Dunbar. In the southbound direction it meant tackling the 1:70 to Falahill summit.

Nock gave the distance from Kings Cross to Edinburgh as 408.6 miles compared with 392.7 miles on the usual route.

On 24 Aug 1948 60029 Woodcock succeeded in completing the run non-stop in the southbound direction "this remarkable feat was repeated on 16 occasions, 8 in each direction".
 

LiftFan

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I'll be optimistic and throw in London Blackfriars - City Thameslink.
 

southern442

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I'll be optimistic and throw in London Blackfriars - City Thameslink.
I'm afraid not; I was once stuck on a Thameslink train for at least 20 minutes between Blackfriars and City Thameslink because a train had broken down in the platform ahead.
 

Statto

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Currently the London Euston-Warrington Bank Quay non stop on the Euston-Glasgow via Trent Valley service, which is 181 miles 43 chains, & unlike most long distance non stop services which are up to 3 or 4 of trains a day, this is hourly service most of the day, so one of the most frequent non stop services.
 

xotGD

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Currently the London Euston-Warrington Bank Quay non stop on the Euston-Glasgow via Trent Valley service, which is 181 miles 43 chains, & unlike most long distance non stop services which are up to 3 or 4 of trains a day, this is hourly service most of the day, so one of the most frequent non stop services.
KX - York is also non-stop every hour each way. So is therefore much quicker than KX - Leeds, which isn't!
 

David H GWR

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Regarding UK 'steam days' - the only region to operate 'genuine' non stops was the LNER to Scotland - the LMS advertised 'time table' non stops 'but' made stops at Crewe/Carlisle for engine/crew change.

LMS from Carlisle was non stop to London Euston on certain trains coming from Glasgow after an engine change with the London crew who were 'double home' from the previous day working up to Carlisle.

Even the GWR (supposed) non stop trains stopped at Newton Abbott, but the timetable showed non stop to Plymouth.....all because the wording 'non stop' was the 'buzz word' of the 1950/60's for the different railway regions.
 

Mark62

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I remember the Saturdays only Devonian between Paignton and Leeds ran non stop between Torquay and Derby. They removed the weekday stops because they ran so many Saturday extras between Torbay and the north.
The Saturday Devonian had in the 70s had 12 coaches( the proper length for a long distance train) a restaurant car and usually a corridor first and the rest were Mark 2 stock always pulled by a peak. I vividly remember it pulling out of Torquay and struggling up the incline to torre on full power. It stormed out of Torquay to get as much power as possible for the climb. Today's drivers wouldn't know what to do. They've burning the lines and getting stuck halfway losing traction.
Some trains had 13 mark 1 coaches and a peak.
There were many trains on summer Saturday's from the south west that had long non stop journeys. Many missed out both Birmingham and Sheffield.
Today we have a no extras and what runs have five or four coach cattle cars. Those summer Saturday trains always rain packed and had compulsory reservations. They had to me removed in order to make the network more attractive to the private sector when it came to buying the franchises.
It's very said that they will never return in this new golden age of rail travel. Should I laugh or cry at that nonsense?
 

CMS

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Is that actually non-stop or does it stop for pathing and/or crew change purposes somewhere?

Indeed, it stops at Lille-Europe for a crew change and Albertville for a necessary reversal.
The night Ski train has a planned stop at Perrigny-lès-Dijon to swap over drivers but it is often removed or not respected due to overnight track possessions/diversions.
 
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