Longest non stop run in the UK? (and Europe if anyone knows)

[RailAleFan]

NORTHERN RAIL
Oxenholme Lake District to Preston (Lancs) (37.91 miles)

What is this service please and why doesn't it call at Lancaster?

Runs 9th July 2016 until 10 December 2016 on Saturdays;

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/OXN/PRE/090716/0945/dep

(09:58 departure 1N26)

 

[Iskra]

Runs 9th July 2016 until 10 December 2016 on Saturdays;

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/timesandfares/OXN/PRE/090716/0945/dep

(09:58 departure 1N26)

I never knew about that one. What a ridiculous service.

 

[W-on-Sea]

According to The Man At Seat 61 the 00:35 Trans Siberian runs non stop from Moscow to Perm which is 1,397 km and takes a very leisurely 26 and 3/4 hours over it.

Thats just 52 km/h or 30 odd mph in old money. I can't believe they don't stop somewhere, perhaps many times, for it to be that slow, but that is what the website says.

http://www.seat61.com/Trans-Siberian.htm#.VxuoBPkrLIU

I've just looked this train up on one of the Russian train-ticket booking sites

https://rzd.poezda.net/nalichie-mest/Moskva/Perm_2/?SearchForm[dateTo]=04.05.2016


There are LOTS of stops inbetween Moscow and Perm during that 26+ hours - 22 others, in fact, quite a few of them at small and obscure places.

 

[Peter749]

In complete contrast to the Beijing- Shanghai time of less than 5 hours for over 1,000km, mentioned earlier, in 1963 I went on a train from Calais to Chiasso (on the southern Swiss border) that was non-stop to Lugano. It took about 20 hours to cover the over 1,000km journey.

In the late 1950s/early 1960s, before package tours to southern Europe started to use planes, tourists travelled to their resorts mainly by coach but some went by train. These trains were chartered throughout the summers by an organisation called CTAC who acted on behalf of various tour operators. The package holiday I went on to Italy involved trains & boat between London Victoria and Chiasso. The route from Calais was via Lille yard (where the steam loco was changed for an electric), Metz, Basle (Immigration & Customs checks) and the St Gotthard. Return was by the same route to Basle but then via Nancy, Amiens (change from electric to steam) to Boulogne Maritime. Again there was no passenger stop between Lugano & the French channel port. The journeys through northern France were overnight in each direction and passengers were provided with couchettes.

Although there was no Passenger stops you could not consider one of those trains a non stop journey.

Peter

 

[backontrack]

There are a number of stations, the principle one being Alnmouth, between Chathill & Morpeth.

I'd wager the 30 miles between Settle and Kirkby Stephen, followed by the 24ish miles between Derby & Chesterfield

Oops - meant Chathill-Alnmouth!

Settle to Kirkby Stephen probably wins, hadn't considered that one.

 

[Mag_seven]

I never knew about that one. What a ridiculous service.

The 14.00 and 16.00 VT services ex Glasgow call at Oxenholme but not Lancaster. Don't see what the issue is.

 

[Iskra]

The 14.00 and 16.00 VT services ex Glasgow call at Oxenholme but not Lancaster. Don't see what the issue is.

Yes, there have always been intercity trains that have omitted Lancaster as a calling point, I'm not disputing the logic in that.

Yet, all other TPE and NT services call there, so why doesn't this one? Especially since Northern run the stopping services in this part of the world, it just seems pointlessly confusing to the passenger. Why also deny Windemere a direct train to Lancaster of which there are few even though it's a fairly normal journey opportunity, especially when the train is passing through Lancaster anyway. And most bizarrely of all the train in question takes longer to do Oxenholme-Preston than all the trains that do make the call at Lancaster.

 

[Comstock]

I've added a distinct toc sort option to save having to go through them...
(snip)

A very comprehensive answer indeed, thank you

 

[najaB]

And most bizarrely of all the train in question takes longer to do Oxenholme-Preston than all the trains that do make the call at Lancaster.

Isn't that just because it's timed for 75mph maximum speed v 100/125mph?

 

[30907]

I never knew about that one. What a ridiculous service.

Booked to return at 1044 ex PRE also not calling Lancs so makes perfect sense.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

SOUTHERN
East Croydon to Brighton (East Sussex) (37.84 miles)

Does anything still do this now that the fasts are Victoria - Gatwick - Brighton?

 

[Ianno87]

I've added a distinct toc sort option to save having to go through them...

http://www.railalefan.co.uk/rail/nonstop/?toc=ZZ

ATOC feed, public timing, distances as the crow flies...

VIRGIN TRAINS EAST COAST
Newcastle to London Kings Cross (245.78 miles)

VIRGIN TRAINS
London Euston to Preston (Lancs) (188.40 miles)

GRAND CENTRAL RAILWAY
York to London Kings Cross (172.78 miles)

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY
Reading to Exeter St David's (122.74 miles)

HULL TRAINS
Grantham to London Kings Cross (97.69 miles)

CROSSCOUNTRY
Newcastle to Edinburgh (91.93 miles)

EAST MIDLANDS TRAINS
London St Pancras International to Leicester (87.12 miles)

FIRST TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS
Glasgow Central to Carlisle (84.98 miles)

CHILTERN RAILWAYS CO.
Leamington Spa to London Marylebone (78.91 miles)

ARRIVA TRAINS WALES
Shrewsbury to Newport (South Wales) (78.41 miles)

SOUTH WEST TRAINS
Clapham Junction to Salisbury (75.97 miles)

ABELLIO GREATER ANGLIA
Ipswich to London Liverpool Street (64.18 miles)

LONDON MIDLAND
Northampton to London Euston (59.17 miles)

GREAT NORTHERN
London Kings Cross to St Neots (48.75 miles)

SCOTRAIL
Glasgow Queen Street to Perth (48.27 miles)

SOUTHEASTERN
Stratford International to Ashford International (47.30 miles)

NORTHERN RAIL
Oxenholme Lake District to Preston (Lancs) (37.91 miles)

SOUTHERN
East Croydon to Brighton (East Sussex) (37.84 miles)

C2C
Chalkwell to West Ham (28.68 miles)

THAMESLINK
London St Pancras International to Luton Airport Parkway (26.20 miles)

GATWICK EXPRESS
London Victoria to Gatwick Airport (23.43 miles)

HEATHROW CONNECT
London Paddington to Ealing Broadway (5.42 miles)

TFL RAIL
Romford to Ilford (5.01 miles)

ISLAND LINE
Ryde St Johns Road to Brading (3.27 miles)

LONDON OVERGROUND
Seven Sisters to Edmonton Green (3.01 miles)

Great Northern's longest run is the 58 miles from King's Cross to Cambridge

What London Overground service runs non-stop Seven Sisters to Edmonton Green. The peak AGA Hertford East services do this, but wasn't aware that there were LO services too.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

FIRST TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS
Glasgow Central to Carlisle (84.98 miles)

ARRIVA TRAINS WALES
Shrewsbury to Newport (South Wales) (78.41 miles)

I wouldn't have thought that either of these journeys was 16-odd miles further by rail than the straight line distance - but it's true.
Glasgow-Carlisle is 102 rail miles, Shrewsbury-Newport is 94.
It's the dog-legs via Carstairs/Lamington and Ludlow/Hereford which add the distance.

 

[RailAleFan]

What London Overground service runs non-stop Seven Sisters to Edmonton Green. The peak AGA Hertford East services do this, but wasn't aware that there were LO services too.

06:27 (2D06) / 08:15 (2D00) Mon-Fri (London Liverpool St. to Cheshunt)

 

[sarahj]

On Southern I think one of our biggest non stops these days is the 442 Service from Eastbourne to London Bridge, which runs non stop Haywards Heath to East Croydon. Rush hour trains which miss out Gatwick normally stop at Three Bridges instead.

I've done the Newcastle to Kings X non stop few times in the past. Seen the fun and games as you go past York slowly and an old lady goes, 'but i want to get off, when is the nest stop'..errrr

 

[plastictaffy]

What about longest regular (say once a week or more?) non stop run by each TOC in the UK? I'm fairly sure it's been covered on here before but franchises change, timetables change and answers change.

The 1630 ex-Euston (1S82) stops only at Preston on it's way. Don't wanna get on that one for Milton Keynes Central by mistake. I bet they get a few that do though.

 

[Deepgreen]

On Southern I think one of our biggest non stops these days is the 442 Service from Eastbourne to London Bridge, which runs non stop Haywards Heath to East Croydon. Rush hour trains which miss out Gatwick normally stop at Three Bridges instead.

I've done the Newcastle to Kings X non stop few times in the past. Seen the fun and games as you go past York slowly and an old lady goes, 'but i want to get off, when is the nest stop'..errrr[/B]

Was that during the golden years when Southern ran from Brighton to Edinburgh with 377/2s?!

 

[sarahj]

Was that during the golden years when Southern ran from Brighton to Edinburgh with 377/2s?!

I was but a child. (It was an HST)

 

[fishquinn]

CHILTERN RAILWAYS CO.
Leamington Spa to London Marylebone (78.91 miles)

Leam to Marylebone is 88 miles, 77 chains.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

He literally said all distances quoted in that table were as the crow flies. You edited it out in order to correct him?

 

[chiltern trev]

The European Rail Timetable gives St Pancras-Paris Nord on Eurostar as 492km, with King's Cross-Newcastle at 432km.
The Eurostar route via LGV Nord goes the long way round via Lille, a more direct route (following the autoroutes) goes via Lens and is a good bit shorter.

Paris-Bordeaux is 570km, Paris-Marseille is 750km, both of which are run non-stop several times a day.
I once used a Paris-Nice TGV which was first stop Toulon (817km, 508 miles, avoiding Marseille).
That's about the same as London-Edinburgh-Stonehaven.
Today's similar trains call at Avignon, which breaks the long non-stop run.

In Spain, Madrid-Malaga on AVE is 513km, Madrid-Barcelona is 621km.
In Italy, Milan-Rome is 568km.
All run non-stop on high-speed lines.
The Germans tend to stop at major cities en route, so don't have the same long non-stop options.
PS Having said that, there are a couple of fast services between Frankfurt and Berlin which is 559km to the first stop at Berlin Spandau.
Anyway, we seem to come 5th or lower in the European non-stop league, but possibly top where the route is a classic one.
I'm not sure that is a record to write home about...

Sorry, just discovered Gothenburg-Stockholm is 455km and is run non-stop a couple of times a day; this is a classic line, and longer than Newcastle-King's Cross.

Have done Paris - Marseille non-stop - 3hrs 05 mins on a TGV bound for Nice and it was a double double-deck TGV - was travelling to Toulon at the time. I have a timetable for TGV Paris-Nice for 14 Dec 2014 to 04 Aug 2015 which shows several nonstop Paris-Toulon

 

[Geep]

AFAIK - NO - the best was London-Preston- Glasgow IIRC.

There was one scheduled non-stop London - Glasgow train, and you have to go back a very long time, AND it was steam-hauled!

The LMS ran it in April 1928, using a Royal Scot loco, appropriate enough for the 'Royal Scot' train. The occasion was to get a bit of publicity on the day before the LNER KX - Edinburgh non-stop was first introduced. Not only that, but the Edinburgh portion of the 'Royal Scot' also ran non-stop that day - behind a Midland Compound! Mileages: 401.4 to Glasgow, 399.7 to Edinburgh, that AFAIK still stand today as the longest runs, longer of course than the East Coast. An amusing one-in-the-eye for the LNER!

Before that, the longest was Euston - Carlisle, 299.2 miles.

 

[krus_aragon]

There was one scheduled non-stop London - Glasgow train, and you have to go back a very long time, AND it was steam-hauled!

The LMS ran it in April 1928, using a Royal Scot loco, appropriate enough for the 'Royal Scot' train. The occasion was to get a bit of publicity on the day before the LNER KX - Edinburgh non-stop was first introduced. Not only that, but the Edinburgh portion of the 'Royal Scot' also ran non-stop that day - behind a Midland Compound! Mileages: 401.4 to Glasgow, 399.7 to Edinburgh, that AFAIK still stand today as the longest runs, longer of course than the East Coast. An amusing one-in-the-eye for the LNER!

Before that, the longest was Euston - Carlisle, 299.2 miles.

A very interesting snippet, thank you for sharing it.

 

[70014IronDuke]

There was one scheduled non-stop London - Glasgow train, and you have to go back a very long time, AND it was steam-hauled!

The LMS ran it in April 1928, using a Royal Scot loco, appropriate enough for the 'Royal Scot' train. The occasion was to get a bit of publicity on the day before the LNER KX - Edinburgh non-stop was first introduced. Not only that, but the Edinburgh portion of the 'Royal Scot' also ran non-stop that day - behind a Midland Compound! Mileages: 401.4 to Glasgow, 399.7 to Edinburgh, that AFAIK still stand today as the longest runs, longer of course than the East Coast. An amusing one-in-the-eye for the LNER!

Before that, the longest was Euston - Carlisle, 299.2 miles.

I'd forgotten it was Scot hauled, but it is a bit of a stretch to say it was a 'scheduled' service, isn't it?
Didn't 6201 do a similar run, or was that a non-service train?

I wonder what the steaming/firebox was like when the compound finally arrived in Edinburgh? (At Princes' Street, I assume?) Driving and firing any steam-hauled train for 400 miles must take some doing, especially with a 4-4-0.

 

[Esker-pades]

I've done Paris to Nimes non stop. 486.5 miles - in 3 hours.

What would Lille to Nimes be? Because I've done that.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The Eurostar "Ski train" (running non-stop from Moutiers Salains Brides les Bains to London St Pancras) must be rather long.

 

[Geep]

I'd forgotten it was Scot hauled, but it is a bit of a stretch to say it was a 'scheduled' service, isn't it?
Didn't 6201 do a similar run, or was that a non-service train?

I wonder what the steaming/firebox was like when the compound finally arrived in Edinburgh? (At Princes' Street, I assume?) Driving and firing any steam-hauled train for 400 miles must take some doing, especially with a 4-4-0.

It certainly would have been scheduled, in that very considerable organisation of the attempt took place, particularly of the Edinburgh run. Undoubtedly a Special Traffic Notice would have been required, since the Edinburgh train was running additionally from Euston to Carstairs. Whether that makes it a scheduled service is debatable, although what I actually wrote was ‘scheduled train’ rather than service, since the latter implies rather more, and I pondered the point before writing it. I rather doubt that it was pre-publicised, though perhaps the newspapers were tipped off about the attempt; it was by no means certain of success on the day, of course. No doubt signalmen and others would have been exhorted (by the STN) to produce a clear run!

Other special arrangements made for the Edinburgh run, according to O.S.Nock, were the supply of special tenders to increase coal capacity to 9 tons, though in the event only 6¼ tons were required. There was one fireman, and a driver from each of Camden and Dalry Road sheds, with similar arrangements for the Glasgow run; apparently all were volunteers. The only point I have issues with on what Nock wrote is that he stated the overall time to Edinburgh Princes Street as being 6hrs 10mins. That I do not believe, particularly as he subsequently described the schedule as relatively easy; I think it should be 8hrs 10mins.

I have no info on a comparable run with 6201. It is perfectly possible, perhaps as part of the preparation of schedules for the introduction of the Coronation Scot some 10 years later. I doubt though that it would be a public run in any way.

 

[Ianno87]

The 1630 ex-Euston (1S82) stops only at Preston on it's way. Don't wanna get on that one for Milton Keynes Central by mistake. I bet they get a few that do though.

Sadly, 1S82 ran non-stop to Preston for the final time last night...

Standard xx.30 calling pattern applies from new timetable on Monday.

 

[30907]

What would Lille to Nimes be? Because I've done that.

Was that a special working? The booked service has AFAIK always called at least at CDG and Lyon PD or St Euxpery.

 

[Phil.]

What would Lille to Nimes be? Because I've done that.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The Eurostar "Ski train" (running non-stop from Moutiers Salains Brides les Bains to London St Pancras) must be rather long.

Crew change at Lille.