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Just seconds frustrated speed attempt on West Coast

A SPECIAL fast run between London Euston and Glasgow Central has failed to beat the existing ‘best time’ record, but only by less than half a minute.

Avanti West Coast has named one of its Pendolinos ‘Royal Scot’ to mark a record attempt with Network Rail for the fastest journey between London and Glasgow.

The set carries the name of what was once the flagship train in the West Coast Main Line Timetable and which provided the fastest passenger service from London to Glasgow for many years.

Royal Scot made its inaugural journey on 17 June with a non-stop run from London Euston to Glasgow Central that aimed to beat a record of 3 hours 52 minutes and 40 seconds set in 1984 by an Advanced Passenger Train – the tilting high speed train developed by British Rail. The technology developed for the APT forms the basis of modern Pendolinos now.

And the APT is still on top – just – because the record was missed by just 21 seconds, but Avanti said the collaborative efforts of Avanti West Coast and Network Rail enabled the nine-carriage train to travel at an average speed of 103mph/166km/h during the journey. The final arrival time at Glasgow Central was clocked at 3 hours, 53 minutes and one second.

Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy said: ‘Today marked a brilliant collaboration across the railway industry. This event shows how the clean, green railway of today can cement economic growth, jobs, housing and social cohesion through better connectivity across the United Kingdom. There will be more on better connectivity by rail and faster journey times between England and Scotland when I publish my final Union Connectivity Report for the Prime Minister in the summer.’

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