TRIVIA: Longest End-to-End Journeys done by Rolling Stock in service [NEW Edition]

[jfollows]

It appears Any Permitted (Off-Peak) Returns between Manchester and London are also valid via Hereford according to that same website which is interesting; might give that one a go!

Off-topic here I know, but I don't think this is true, unless I'm missing something. Only valid on a through train which no longer runs.

 

[mm333]

I think the longest class 333 journeys have been the infrequent Leeds-Doncaster stopper (45 mins), just longer than Leeds-Skipton (43 minutes), but there had been Skipton-Shipley-Guiseley-Leeds diversions on occasional historic Sundays when the Thackley Tunnel was closed, they would have taken about 48-50 minutes.

 

[D6130]

Did a BSK (or similar) not use to make it to Lairg on a regular basis with the papers from Euston? Whether it was officially in passenger service the whole way is a different matter.

IIRC, only a couple of BGs ran all the way from Euston to Lairg. Certainly the passenger coaches were Inverness-based ScR vehicles when I travelled on it back in the 1970s.

 

[Peter0124]

Also for Class 397s: Glasgow Central to Manchester Airport at 234 miles 56 chains, just 1 mile longer than Edinburgh to Manchester Airport.

 

[Strathclyder]

• Class 380: North Berwick to Ayr (3h??*) with Scotrail (joined-up services)

Those Edinburgh/North Berwick - Ayr trains haven't run for a while now, not since at least the start of the first lockdown I think. When they did, they ran via Carstairs, a reversal at Glasgow Central, Paisley & Kilwinning. The longest journeys time-wise the 380s do now are Glasgow Central - Ayr stopping services (41 miles & taking 1hr give or take a few minutes) & Glasgow Central - Largs (42 miles and taking 56 minutes on average).

For the ScotRail EMUs that have moved on/been withdrawn:

Classes 303/311: Dalmuir - Lanark/Carstairs (via Yoker, Partick, Central Low Level, the Hamilton Circle & Holytown) & Helensburgh Central - Drumgelloch (roughly 35 miles) are the two that most readily spring to mind, though am sure there were journeys that the 303s transferred to the Manchester area undertook that equalled or surpassed these in duration/distance. Back in Strathclyde, 303s could crop up on golf specials on Glasgow Central - Ayr runs and there was a regularly scheduled evening-peak working for the class from Glasgow Central to Ardrossan Town (31 miles) & back working in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Class 305: Edinburgh - North Berwick, not aware of the class making regularly scheduled appearences at Glasgow Central on the services via Carstairs unless anyone knows any different?

Class 314: Like above, Dalmuir - Lanark/Carstairs (via the Hamilton Circle & Holytown) and Helensburgh Central - Drumgelloch (roughly 35 miles). By the end of their careers, Glasgow Central - Wemyss Bay was the longest run they took time/distance-wise (30 miles and taking roughly 50 minutes).

Class 322: Glasgow Central - North Berwick via Carstairs (78 miles). One 322 (322484) cropped up on a evening-peak Glasgow Central - Ayr working and return in late April 2010, but this was very much a one-off occurence and significantly shorter than Glasgow - North Berwick, so it probably shouldn't be counted here.

 

[Ayman Ilham]

Currently I’m sure that the longest 170 operated service is 1A69 14:39 Glasgow - Inverness via Aberdeen which is 262 miles and 4 hours 58 minutes, it can also be 158 operated now and again

Last time I've been told about this service, it was 5h15m but either way, it's shorter than when Central Trains did Norwich to Liverpool and hopefully, EMR can put the 170 back on the route (it did Norwich to Nottingham once according to this tweet https://twitter.com/GrahamTheGuard/status/1503407766496493579 so it's getting warmer) to reclaim the crown once again! The 170 (my favourite unit) did a wide variety of routes across the country, didn't they? Would be interesting to see the longest services they did with each operator that had them; in fact, as a 'side quest' I'll list a few now:

CURRENT OPERATORS:

• CrossCountry: Bristol Temple Meads to Stansted Airport via BHM (5h18m)
• Scotrail: Glasgow Queen Street to Inverness via Aberdeen (4h58m)
• East Midlands Railway: Leicester to Cleethorpes via Lincoln (3h00m)
• Northern: Sheffield to Scarborough via Hull (2h45m)
• Transport for Wales: Maesteg to Cheltenham Spa (2h21m)

PAST OPERATORS:

• Central Trains: Norwich to Liverpool Lime Street via Nottingham (5h38m)
• Anglia Railways: via Stratford (3h06m)
• Midland Mainline: London St Pancras to Nottingham (2h-3h??)

Also for Class 397s: Glasgow Central to Manchester Airport at 234 miles 56 chains, just 1 mile longer than Edinburgh to Manchester Airport.

Shared with the 350s that they replaced

I think the longest class 333 journeys have been the infrequent Leeds-Doncaster stopper (45 mins), just longer than Leeds-Skipton (43 minutes), but there had been Skipton-Shipley-Guiseley-Leeds diversions at times when the Thackley Tunnel was closed, they would have taken about 48-50 minutes.

So it HAS done the Leeds-Doncaster before; how come it never does it normally? Do drivers who currently sign the 333 not have route knowledge of that bit?

 

[Watershed]

PAST OPERATORS:

• Central Trains: Norwich to Liverpool Lime Street via Nottingham (5h38m)
• Anglia Railways: Basingstoke to Ipswich via Stratford (3h06m)
• Midland Mainline: London St Pancras to Nottingham (2h-3h??)

They were also used by Hull Trains in their early days. Can't say exactly how long the journey to Hull would have been in those days but probably on the order of 3 hours.

 

[Ayman Ilham]

They were also used by Hull Trains in their early days. Can't say exactly how long the journey to Hull would have been in those days but probably on the order of 3 hours.

Felt like the route for that operator would've been too obvious did they extend a few services to Beverley back then like they do nowadays?

 

[Watershed]

Felt like the route for that operator would've been too obvious did they extend a few services to Beverley back then like they do nowadays?

No, that only started in February 2015. Still, Hull Trains probably win an award for having managed to operate 5 different fleets (170, 180, 222, 802, HST and 86+Mk3) in 22 years, to run a timetable of 7 trains a day!

 

[Magdalia]

This thread from 2016 was fairly emphatic:

313 To Southampton

Given to understand a 313 may have worked the 16:33 Brighton to Southampton Central and 18:32 Southampton Central to Brighton today. If correct this is a rare outing to Southampton for a 313. Can anyone confirm or otherwise?

www.railforums.co.uk

…but I’ve always thought properly diagrammed WTT services to Southampton were pretty much non-existent. But there are some threads (found by the search function) where people have reported a period of them happening regularly on Sundays.

That is a good find and qualifies as firm evidence for me.

If we are talking historical services, then 318s worked direct Glasgow Central to North Berwick services in the early 2000s (About 78 miles).

Was this covering for failures when the trains were booked class 322?

PAST OPERATORS:

• 
  
• Midland Mainline: London St Pancras to Nottingham (2h-3h??)

I recall that the Midland Mainline class 170s also worked St Pancras-Barnsley but do not have the relevant timetables to check.

 

[Peter0124]

Was this covering for failures when the trains were booked class 322?

I'm not sure, most likely though.

SR 318255, Drem

ScotRail Railways Class 318, 318255, departs Drem with a service from Glasgow Central to North Berwick

www.flickr.com

 

[Magdalia]

For the ScotRail EMUs that have moved on/been withdrawn:



Class 305: Edinburgh - North Berwick, not aware of the class making regularly scheduled appearences at Glasgow Central on the services via Carstairs unless anyone knows any different?

It makes little difference, but in the spirit of pedantry, didn't some trains start/terminate at Haymarket?

 

[matchmaker]

Last time I've been told about this service, it was 5h15m but either way, it's shorter than when Central Trains did Norwich to Liverpool and hopefully, EMR can put the 170 back on the route (it did Norwich to Nottingham once according to this tweet https://twitter.com/GrahamTheGuard/status/1503407766496493579 so it's getting warmer) to reclaim the crown once again! The 170 (my favourite unit) did a wide variety of routes across the country, didn't they? Would be interesting to see the longest services they did with each operator that had them; in fact, as a 'side quest' I'll list a few now:

CURRENT OPERATORS:

• Scotrail: Glasgow Central to Inverness via Aberdeen (4h58m)
• CrossCountry: Stansted Airport to Gloucester (4h30m) ??
• East Midlands Railway: Leicester to Cleethorpes via Lincoln (3h00m)
• Northern: Sheffield to Scarborough via Hull (2h45m)
• Transport for Wales: Maesteg to Cheltenham Spa (2h21m)

PAST OPERATORS:

• Central Trains: Norwich to Liverpool Lime Street via Nottingham (5h38m)
• Anglia Railways: via Stratford (3h06m)
• Midland Mainline: London St Pancras to Nottingham (2h-3h??)

Shared with the 350s that they replaced

So it HAS done the Leeds-Doncaster before; how come it never does it normally? Do drivers who currently sign the 333 not have route knowledge of that bit?

Glasgow Queen Street, not Central.

There used to be a Glasgow Queen Street to Kyle service - twin 158s from memory. I imagine it went via the Rose Street curve and reversed into the north platforms.

 

[Ayman Ilham]

Glasgow Queen Street, not Central.

There used to be a Glasgow Queen Street to Kyle service - twin 158s from memory. I imagine it went via the Rose Street curve and reversed into the north platforms.

Oh yeah, I was half asleep

 

[jopsuk]

Added it to the list does the 334 do other services though?

when they were first introduced they were mainly south of the Clyde on Ayrshire and Inverclyde services

 

[Halish Railway]

So it HAS done the Leeds-Doncaster before; how come it never does it normally? Do drivers who currently sign the 333 not have route knowledge of that bit?

Presumably it would have been worked by Leeds drivers and guards that sign both 333s and the route to Doncaster.

To add to the topic of longest routes worked by 333s, Leeds to Skipton, calling also at Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge takes 45 1/2 minutes, just about nudging out the rare Leeds to Doncaster services in terms of journey time, but not distance. Also, there have in the past been Ilkley to Leeds via Shipley services that have taken about 48 minutes (21 & 51 minutes past departure from Ilkley and 09 & 39 minutes past arrival into Leeds).

 

[Ayman Ilham]

Presumably it would have been worked by Leeds drivers and guards that sign both 333s and the route to Doncaster.

To add to the topic of longest routes worked by 333s, Leeds to Skipton, calling also at Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge takes 45 1/2 minutes, just about nudging out the rare Leeds to Doncaster services in terms of journey time, but not distance. Also, there have in the past been Ilkley to Leeds via Shipley services that have taken about 48 minutes (21 & 51 minutes past departure from Ilkley and 09 & 39 minutes past arrival into Leeds).

I wonder if Northern could do a merged Skipton to Doncaster via Leeds service and put a 333 on it (even though theoretically, it'd more likely be a 331) so it would actually be worth putting the 333 on my list, as right now virtually all the routes the 333 does are around 30-45 minutes long so barely any variation here.

 

[RPI]

The Manchester to Penzance service which operated via Hereford also in later years attached to a single class 153 at Newport, this unit had travelled from Milford Haven, so a 153 from Milford Haven to Penzance, the journey was the best part of 12 hours from what I remember

 

[Strathclyder]

when they were first introduced they were mainly south of the Clyde on Ayrshire and Inverclyde services

Aye, most were on the Ayrshire Coast & Inverclyde Lines for the first few years, but they also had a noted presence on the Argyle & North Clyde Lines as well; the Argyle Line in particular as the 320/3s weren't cleared for in-service use through the line's underground city centre stations at the time (visibility issues with platform screens/mirrors iirc) and they wouldn't be until this issue was resolved in late 2010/early 2011.

Was this covering for failures when the trains were booked class 322?

I'm not sure, most likely though.

SR 318255, Drem

ScotRail Railways Class 318, 318255, departs Drem with a service from Glasgow Central to North Berwick

www.flickr.com

IIRC, it was a regular occurence from at least July 2001 (the last 305 was withdrawn in January 2002) alongside 90/Mk3s/DVT sets until the 322s returned in late 2005 under the First ScotRail franchise. Their use on the service was frequent/persistent enough that they got 'North Berwick', 'Edinburgh' and 'via Carstairs' blinds fitted (linked images copyright of Flickr's 6089Gardener).

318253 WAF 1220 NBW-EDB 3-1-02

On 3 January 2002, 318253 stops at Wallyford on the 1220 North Berwick - Edinburgh.

www.flickr.com

318253 MUB 1519 GLC-NBW 17-9-04

On 17 September 2004, 318253 arrives at Musselburgh on the 1519 Glasgow Central - North Berwick. At this time, these were the only EMU workings to North Berwick.

www.flickr.com

318254 LND 1720 NBW-GLC 23-7-04

On 23 July 2004, 318254 stops at Longniddry on the 1720 North Berwick - Glasgow Central. At this time, most North Berwick trains were loco-hauled and this was a rare exception.

www.flickr.com

It makes little difference, but in the spirit of pedantry, didn't some trains start/terminate at Haymarket?

I believe so. In fact, in the current timetable, one North Berwick train starts there during the evening peak.

 

[chiltern trev]

Also for Class 397s: Glasgow Central to Manchester Airport at 234 miles 56 chains, just 1 mile longer than Edinburgh to Manchester Airport.

Which is longer time wise as the 390 is shown from Edinburgh to Euston via Birmingham with a time. And 390s also do Glasgow to Euston via Birmingham - which by your 397 statement is a longer distance.

 

[Peter0124]

Which is longer time wise as the 390 is shown from Edinburgh to Euston via Birmingham with a time. And 390s also do Glasgow to Euston via Birmingham - which by your 397 statement is a longer distance.

I got my figures from the railmiles engine so assuming they are correct then yeah the Glasgow leg of WCML is 1 mile longer than the Edinburgh leg.

I am unsure whether Glasgow Central - Euston via Bhm is quicker than Edinburgh though as covid has removed all of the Glasgow services bar one in the opp direction.

As for the TPEs:
Glasgow-Carlisle on the 07:09 takes 1hr 22m (Calling at Motherwell/Lockerbie) arriving 08:31.
Edinburgh-Carlisle on the 08:12 takes 1hr 19m (calling at Haymarket/Lockerbie) arriving 09:31.

So going by that it looks like the Edinburgh leg is 3 mins quicker than Glasgow (Glasgow leg being a mile longer), they have the same number of calls ie Haymarket and Motherwell.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Snow1964]

I'll list some examples to start off, although I'll update this list as I go along (please correct me where necessary):

• Class 165/166: Great Malvern to Brighton (5h15m*) with Great Western Railway

* approximate time where I can't remember the exact
** there may have been a longer service with this unit so please let me know

The 10:41 Great Malvern-Brighton takes 5 hour 34 minutes

With a class 165, is it the longest time on a non air conditioned train ?

 

[Travellin’man]

Yes, but Edinburgh-Helensburgh is the longest.


What about Scarborough-North Wales (I think Llandudno, possibly Bangor?) Back when the new 150/2s took over the alternate hour TransPennine services. (The ones starting at Newcastle remaining loco-hauled until the 158s.)

At least one of those was through to Holyhead.

 

[Bringback309s]

I believe Clacton very briefly had 313s - did any ever make it to Liverpool Street on a stopper?

No - just the local stoppers to Colchester, taken away after the Walton crash.
A 158 used to work a late night South Wales to Paddington service in the mid nineties, and apparently it was substituted more than once by a 142 which may have terminated at Reading...

 

[Travellin’man]

I need timings for these (approximate answers to the nearest 10 minutes) before I add them to my list and, for the Paignton to Inverness run, what set did that? Thoughts go out to the poor souls that had to endure that entire run on the 142 wonder what unit normally did that, on an unrelated note?

Is Brighton to Portsmouth on Southern any longer? That might be a contender if so. Do they ever cover a 377 on Brighton to Southampton? If that did happen on occasions, that beats your suggestion hands down.

Shoved the HST in with the Voyagers; was it any slower when the Class 47 was doing it?

I cannot remember the timings but I did the 142 throughout. Whatever may be said about the ride quality a 142 was the best way to see the Cumbrian coast with all those windows. The leg stretch at Carlisle when the unit reversed was very welcome!

 

[hexagon789]

At least one of those was through to Holyhead.

Ouch!

 

[Kite159]

Last time I've been told about this service, it was 5h15m but either way, it's shorter than when Central Trains did Norwich to Liverpool and hopefully, EMR can put the 170 back on the route (it did Norwich to Nottingham once according to this tweet https://twitter.com/GrahamTheGuard/status/1503407766496493579 so it's getting warmer) to reclaim the crown once again! The 170 (my favourite unit) did a wide variety of routes across the country, didn't they? Would be interesting to see the longest services they did with each operator that had them; in fact, as a 'side quest' I'll list a few now:

CURRENT OPERATORS:

• Scotrail: Glasgow Queen Street to Inverness via Aberdeen (4h58m)
• CrossCountry: Stansted Airport to Gloucester (4h30m) ??
• East Midlands Railway: Leicester to Cleethorpes via Lincoln (3h00m)
• Northern: Sheffield to Scarborough via Hull (2h45m)
• Transport for Wales: Maesteg to Cheltenham Spa (2h21m)

PAST OPERATORS:

• Central Trains: Norwich to Liverpool Lime Street via Nottingham (5h38m)
• Anglia Railways: via Stratford (3h06m)
• Midland Mainline: London St Pancras to Nottingham (2h-3h??)

Shared with the 350s that they replaced

So it HAS done the Leeds-Doncaster before; how come it never does it normally? Do drivers who currently sign the 333 not have route knowledge of that bit?

CrossCountry 170s - 0623 Bristol Temple Meads to Stansted Airport (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L11493/2022-04-12/detailed#allox_id=0)

 

[Ayman Ilham]

CrossCountry 170s - 0623 Bristol Temple Meads to Stansted Airport (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L11493/2022-04-12/detailed#allox_id=0)

Ah, I knew there'd be longer one; a nice 5h18m run that! Nice to see the Turbostars still getting good long-haul action that actually beats the Glasgow to Inverness via Aberdeen run as longest current 170 service!

The 10:41 Great Malvern-Brighton takes 5 hour 34 minutes

With a class 165, is it the longest time on a non air conditioned train ?

Not even with a 166 attached??? BRUHHHHHHHHHHH!

I cannot remember the timings but I did the 142 throughout. Whatever may be said about the ride quality a 142 was the best way to see the Cumbrian coast with all those windows. The leg stretch at Carlisle when the unit reversed was very welcome!

Must've been a great train for scenic routes I bet!

 

[Kite159]

The 10:41 Great Malvern-Brighton takes 5 hour 34 minutes

With a class 165, is it the longest time on a non air conditioned train ?

165s have been fitted with an Air Cooling system, which works better than the AC system fitted to 166s

 

[gg1]

Units no longer in service such as the Class 142, Class 365 or old loco-hauled sets can also be included

Class 87 and 90 - Ayr to Euston (quite possibly 86s too though haven't seen photographic evidence)