Trivia: Slowest and fastest services on UK rail network

[mjc]

Apologies if this has been covered before, I did a quick search and didn’t find anything…

Having been frustrated by what feels like a couple of really slow services from my local station (Stoke) and some services getting slower recently I wondered what were the fastest and slowest (direct) services people experience.

I know there will be some oddities like the St Ives branch which come out slow because they’re very short and have intermediate stops, so let’s say distance at least 10 miles and no underground, trams or light rail.

I don’t know how to measure distances by rail easily, so I’ve used Google Maps road distance as a rough proxy.

From Stoke (discounting any occasional blips in the timetable), the fastest and slowest are:
London Euston: 157 miles in 91 minutes, 103mph
Crewe: 14 miles in 23 minutes, 36mph

Even Bristol, 127 miles, takes 147 minutes averaging 52mph. And costs a fortune. Ever likely we can’t shift people from cars to trains!

 

[yrreb]

From York to Kings Cross the fastest services are pathed to take 110m, so I make that 102.8mph.

Similarly, it's 107m from Warrington BQ to Euston and I make that 101.7mph.

 

[InkyScrolls]

Ilkley to Bradford, 13 mi 31 ch timed to take 32 mins - an average of just 25.1 mph.

 

[The exile]

Even Bristol, 127 miles, takes 147 minutes averaging 52mph. And costs a fortune. Ever likely we can’t shift people from cars to trains!

I wonder what average speed you could reliably and legally achieve by car - especially allowing for at least 1 PNB.

 

[InkyScrolls]

I wonder what average speed you could reliably and legally achieve by car - especially allowing for at least 1 PNB.

Not far off, surely - an average of around 55 mph is about all you'd get in practice due to traffic.

 

[Aviator88]

Ebbsfleet Int to Ashford Int is 33.35 miles and takes 19 minutes = ~ 105 mph

 

[duffield]

Nottingham to Worksop, 32 miles, 28mph
Haborough to Barton-on-Humber branch, 11.5miles, 26.5mph.

(Rounded to half miles/mph).

BTW, You can get proper rail mileage from rail miles (limit 10 enquiries per day), or you can look at individual trains on real time trains which gives a mileage column when viewed on wide enough screens.

 

[SteveM70]

Pwllheli to Mach is 57.825 miles, and the train currently en route is in the WTT at 143 minutes, so an average of 24.26mph

 

[Stephen1001]

Not quite the slowest but up there - Lincoln to Sheffield by Northern via Retford, 83 minutes to cover 48.44 miles so slightly below 35mph average.

 

[Kingspanner]

I thought I was in with a chance with Bishop Auckland -Darlington 11.77 miles in 27 minutes, 26.2mph. Let the service continue to destination at Saltburn and a sparkling 28mph is achieved.

 

[Bald Rick]

The 0652 West Worthing to Brighton manages 11.375 miles in 32 minutes, 21.3mph.

But I’d have thought the services heading up the Valleys from Cardiff would have this covered.

 

[Sultan]

Trainline says Inverness to Georgemass Junction is 77 miles and takes 3 and a half hours. That's 22mph average.

 

[Mike99]

The 07.27 and 09.48 Hull Trains services from London Kings Cross to Hill, appear to be given 60 minutes for the 105.38 miles (as shown on Real Time Trains).

 

[mjc]

Trainline says Inverness to Georgemass Junction is 77 miles and takes 3 and a half hours. That's 22mph average.

To be fair the 77 miles must be straight line and there’s a lot of water in the way. By land it’s probably about 100 miles and the railway takes a meandering route of around 125 miles so still pretty slow but not so shocking…

 

[greaterangrier]

Short by just 21 chains is Clacton on Sea to Walton on the Naze - a one off working that reverses at Thorpe le Soken and is passed at Kirby Cross.

At 9 miles 59 chains, this works out to 19.475mph.

Realtime Trains | 2N02 0612 Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze | 23/06/2023

Real-time train running information for 2N02 0612 departure from Clacton-on-Sea to Walton-on-the-Naze on 23/06/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

(2N02 0612 Clacton on Sea to Walton on the Naze)

 

[mjc]

I wonder what average speed you could reliably and legally achieve by car - especially allowing for at least 1 PNB.

I think that’s a fair point, but arguing that a car (limited legally to 70mph at best and subject to traffic and congestion en route) is not better than a direct rail service (supposedly capable of 125mph and timetabled to have a clear run through) isn’t the best defence. I don’t expect trains to teleport and accept that station stops and other issues mean they have to stop, which brings deceleration and acceleration time) but even still why is the train so slow? Is it the technology, the rails, the station stops?

 

[Hadders]

I wonder what average speed you could reliably and legally achieve by car - especially allowing for at least 1 PNB.

Door to door you’d be doing well if you average 40mph.

 

[InkyScrolls]

The Morecambe - Lancaster shuttles average between 20 and 22 mph (depending on the exact timings - they vary by up to two minutes). 4 mi 3 ch; 10, 11 or 12 mins.

 

[MontyP]

The 0652 West Worthing to Brighton manages 11.375 miles in 32 minutes, 21.3mph.

But I’d have thought the services heading up the Valleys from Cardiff would have this covered.

Richmond to Stratford on London Overground (NLL) is 17.3 miles and takes 62 mins so 16.7mph
Clapham J to Stratford via NLL is 17.6 miles, 64 mins = 16.5mph
Clapham J to Dalston J via SLL/ELL on LO is 11.5 miles, 44 mins = 15.7mph

 

[SteveM70]

Trainline says Inverness to Georgemass Junction is 77 miles and takes 3 and a half hours. That's 22mph average.

To be fair the 77 miles must be straight line and there’s a lot of water in the way. By land it’s probably about 100 miles and the railway takes a meandering route of around 125 miles so still pretty slow but not so shocking…

Inverness to Georgemas is just under 147 miles by rail

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:Y31942/2023-06-23/detailed#allox_id=0 does it in 229 minutes at an average of 38.5mph. Some of the longer intermediate sections are (relatively!) fast, eg Tain to Ardgay at an average of 51mph

 

[InkyScrolls]

A reminder that as per the OP, "[L]et’s say distance at least 10 miles and no underground, trams or light rail."

 

[Bald Rick]

Radyr - Coryton, 10 miles, 15mph…

 

[DanNCL]

Newcastle to Whitby, a trip of 82 miles, takes 2 hours 50 minutes on a through service. Average speed = 28.94mph
Newcastle to Kings Cross, a trip of 268 miles, is 2 hours 36 minutes on the fastest service. Average speed = 103.08mph

Middlesbrough to Whitby, a trip of 35 miles, is 1 hour 32 minutes. Average speed = 22.83mph
Middlesbrough to Kings Cross, a trip of 239 miles, is 3 hours 14 minutes. Average speed = 73.92mph

 

[cce]

I wonder what average speed you could reliably and legally achieve by car - especially allowing for at least 1 PNB.

the google maps time for a car from Bristol Temple Meads to Stoke on Trent station is 2 hours and 46 minutes.

of course, the car gains advantages if you aren't actually going to the station - my house in north Bristol, near the motorway, is 15 minutes less.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Bradford Interchange to Doncaster with Grand Central. Typically 90-100 mins to cover 32 miles as the crow flies.

 

[railfan99]

Ilkley to Bradford, 13 mi 31 ch timed to take 32 mins - an average of just 25.1 mph.

But isn't it essentially a suburban service?

40kmh (25mph) is pretty standard worldwide where there are frequent stops.

 

[BingMan]

Even Bristol, 127 miles, takes 147 minutes averaging 52mph. And costs a fortune. Ever likely we can’t shift people from cars to trains!

Buxton to Stockport 46minutes 18 miles 23.4mph.

Still faster than driving (and more predictable)

 

[Intercity110]

it's got to be stourbridge? 0.8 miles in 3 mids, average speed of 16 MPH

 

[Sultan]

To be fair the 77 miles must be straight line and there’s a lot of water in the way. By land it’s probably about 100 miles and the railway takes a meandering route of around 125 miles so still pretty slow but not so shocking…

That's typical Trainline. Why would anyone go to them for 'crow flies' information - I was expecting 'train miles'.

Perhaps the missing 70 miles is only added at the checkout screen!

 

[mikeb42]

Door to door you’d be doing well if you average 40mph.

Not so for many journeys between major cities with nearby motorways including some cited by the OP. Though it obviously depends on the actual journey and very heavily on the time of day.

From plentiful experience at quieter times, central-ish Stoke-on-Trent to Bristol residential or the city centre can be sub 2:00 by road. It's only 125m, the 50mph A500 dual carriageway has a junction barely yards from the area around Stoke station, it's a few miles to the M6 and then it's continuous motorway all the way to the M32 which goes into Bristol city centre.

In the middle of the day the traffic (mainly the approaches to the M6/M5 intersection) will obviously hobble this. Even then, Stoke-Bristol can still be as quick as the plodding X-Country service which combined with it being catastrophically expensive is why we almost never use it.

Even London-Bristol is almost as quick by road as train at quieter times despite the 125mph mainline. At night, the train wins easily to Reading, is still ahead at Swindon but is marginal by Bath. I've done Lancaster Gate area - Bristol central/home by road in around 1:50 more times than I can care to remember. It's a 118 mile journey and you're doing 70mph for nearly 110 of that.

Point-to-point journeys will be even quicker for anyone living at either end within 5-10 mins drive of the motorway/equivalent. You can routinely average 65mph+ legally on many such. The long-term trip computer on my car hasn't been reset in 7000+ miles and is currently showing an average of 53.3mph which tends to underline this considering there are plenty of journeys through the single track lanes of Powys and the Yorkshire Dales mixed in with all the motorway stuff. Where the railway wins is at 4pm on a Friday, or the likes of Manchester to London.