Fastest Train

[Essexman]

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, but what is the fastest train in Britain (excluding HS1/2)?

My guess is London - York (1hr 49 min), or London - Preston, but I'm sure some will know instantly.

 

[Rwhunited]

Both ECML and WCML are linespeeds of 125 mph, these are the fastest not including the HS1 at 140 mph

 

[junglejames]

What do you mean by fastest train? Fastest average speed between 2 stations? Fastest actual train?
The fastest average speed is probably one of the non stop London to Yorks.
The fastest train itself, excluding Eurostar, I think is still the class 91/ Mk4s. Dont think the pendys or 395s have gone faster yet.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Both ECML and WCML are linespeeds of 125 mph, these are the fastest not including the HS1 at 140 mph

GWML? 125mph.
HS1 is ok for 186mph.

 

[Essexman]

Sorry should have made it clear, fastest stop to stop average.

 

[junglejames]

Sorry should have made it clear, fastest stop to stop average.

Then one of the London to York non stops. Dont think the Preston non stops are quite as quick.

 

[calc7]

Is there still the NCL to KGX Flying Scotsman?

 

[Chafford1]

Euston - Stoke?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Individual run is one of the morning Hull Trains services between Stevenage and Grantham - 42 mins for 70 plus miles IIRC.

 

[Essexman]

I went on the 11.00 to Edinburgh on Tuesday - 1 hour 49 minutes to York - and wondered if this was the fastest (non HS1) train in Britain.

(incidentally, it was 6 minutes late leaving York but arrived in Edinburgh 8 minutes early)

 

[junglejames]

Is there still the NCL to KGX Flying Scotsman?

I expect thats a slower average speed because of the speed through York.
Edit- Yes it is, by about 1mph!!

 

[calc7]

Euston - Stoke?

Unlikely, it's 1h35m to Stoke and only 1h30 to Crewe.

 

[junglejames]

Having just worked it out, i was right, just. There is one York non stopper that does it in 1hr 48. Average speed of 104.7mph. The 1630 non stop to Preston hasd an average of 104.55mph!!

Edit. Scrap that. Matt is right with the HT service. 106.2mph. Over 77 miles in 44mins
Would never have guessed that one.

Edit- Not too long ago, you could do London to York in 1hr 42mins. Average speed of over 110mph.
Thats called progress!!!

 

[transmanche]

Is there still the NCL to KGX Flying Scotsman?

Yes, 1E01. Covers the 268.5 miles in 2hrs 36 mins (according to the WTT), which I make an average speed of 103.27 mph.

 

[Donny Dave]

Not a bad effort that considering it's 30mph through York, it's a slow approach to Newcastle, and there is some relatively tight and twisty sections between Darlington and Durham.

 

[tdg1986]

Unlikely, it's 1h35m to Stoke and only 1h30 to Crewe.

Ummmm, no.

From Stoke/Crewe to London it's 1h30 to Stoke and 1h35 to Crewe.

From London to Stoke/Crewe it's 1h24 to Stoke and 1h30 to Crewe.

Not that it changes which has the highest average speed though.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Is there still the NCL to KGX Flying Scotsman?

Yes, I was on it yesterday, ultimately arriving 10 mins late.
There are an increasing number of 'temporary' speed restrictions on the ECML and the driver was of the opinion that whenever he makes up lost time, he hits another speed restriction.

 

[Geezertronic]

How does the BHM-EUS non stopper at 1hr 12m compare in distance and average speed?

 

[transmanche]

How does the BHM-EUS non stopper at 1hr 12m compare in distance and average speed?

115.25 miles. I make that 96.04mph.

Compare that to Chiltern's fastest BMO-MYB: 112 miles in 1hr 30mins including two stops (Solihull and Warwick Parkway). I make that 74.67mph. I wonder what they could manage with a non-stop run.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

The 08:55 ex Moor Street usually does the Birmingham - London run the fastest because it doesnt hit as much traffic coming into Marylebone, but that train starts in Kidderminster so the overall average speed would be lower. The trip has been done in 87 minutes on several occasions on that service.
I would guess that a non stop run fully on greens from platform 1 at Moor Street could be done in less than 80 minutes with a decent 67 rake (67012 probably) but the 40 through Leamington Spa and 60 through High Wycombe are unavoidable bottlenecks. I'm not sure whether a down train would be able to do the trip more quickly than an up, you struggle to hit 100 on the down before Northolt Junction, whereas on the up you will get two or three more miles of 100mph running before the restrictions between Wembley Stadium and Neasden Junction.

 

[tony_mac]

Bidston to Upton has an average speed of 120mph (according to the public NR timetable).

A typical Upton to Biston journey has an average speed of approx 12mph!

That must be quite a hill

 

[D1009]

Hull Trains have stopped serving Stevenage on weekdays, but on Sundays when their 180s are working and the line isn't blocked, they have 4 trains doing Stevenage - Grantham in 43 minutes which is 110.11 mph by my calculation. VT do Milton Keynes - Coventry in 28 mins which is 109.85 mph so its pretty close ! Calculated using mile post mileages from the Quail maps and WTT times.

 

[Eagle]

Both ECML and WCML are linespeeds of 125 mph, these are the fastest not including the HS1 at 140 mph

GWML? 125mph.
HS1 is ok for 186mph.

Also Birmingham to Derby is in part good for 125.

 

[WCML]

Some of the VT services, particularly in the middle of the day, do the Stafford - Euston run in 1 hour 15 mins, at an average speed of 106.4mph

 

[All Line Rover]

Hull Trains have stopped serving Stevenage on weekdays, but on Sundays when their 180s are working and the line isn't blocked, they have 4 trains doing Stevenage - Grantham in 43 minutes which is 110.11 mph by my calculation. VT do Milton Keynes - Coventry in 28 mins which is 109.85 mph so its pretty close ! Calculated using mile post mileages from the Quail maps and WTT times.

If Milton Keynes to Coventry, at approximately 42 miles in 28 minutes, runs at 109.85mph, what about London to Crewe, at approximately 147 miles (well over triple the distance!) in 90 minutes!?

EDIT: 42 miles in 28 minutes is 90mph, not 109.85mph, so Milton Keynes to Coventry is nowhere near the fastest. London to Crewe - 147 miles in 90 minutes - is 98mph - not bad, but still not the fastest. (The 19 minute VT service between Rugby and Milton Keynes on weekday mornings doesn't beat this).

 

[Eagle]

If Milton Keynes to Coventry, at approximately 42 miles in 28 minutes, runs at 109.85mph, what about London to Crewe, at approximately 147 miles (well over triple the distance!) in 90 minutes!?

147 miles in 90 minutes is 98 miles per hour.

42 miles in 28 minutes is 90 mph though.

(No, I am not doing any more maths for you :P)

 

[All Line Rover]

147 miles in 90 minutes is 98 miles per hour.

42 miles in 28 minutes is 90 mph though.

(No, I am not doing any more maths for you :P)

I was only copying the information from post #21.

 

[Eagle]

I was only copying the information from post #21.

You didn't copy the mileage (by the way, I make it 44 miles from COV to MKC, which makes the average speed 94 mph).

 

[Lee_Again]

And for those that want to trawl the timetables and aren't sure of the maths...

...42 miles in 28 mins

Miles / (mins/60)

42 / (28/60)

= 90

Have fun looking.

 

[Eagle]

And for those that want to trawl the timetables and aren't sure of the maths...

...42 miles in 28 mins

Miles / (mins/60)

42 / (28/60)

= 90

Have fun looking.

I still make COV to MKC 44 miles and 14 chains. Coventry is at 93-79 from Euston via Weedon, Milton Keynes is at 49-65.

NRTT gives it as 44¼ miles.

 

[D6975]

Don't forget that published times and WTT times are often different - sometimes by as much as 2 minutes.
I can remember one instance at Inverness a few years ago when an Aberdeen service always left much later than its published time. The reason was simple, a minus connection for a catering trolley off an inbound Aberdeen but it always waited for the arrival of the trolley!