FGW train in Plymouth to London non-stop record attempt - 13 October 2010

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) train will leave Plymouth later attempting to break the record for the fastest journey time to London Paddington.

It is hoped the non-stop train will arrive into Paddington in 2 hours 52 minutes - shaving 20 minutes off the current time.

FGW said fast journey times between the South West and London were important. It has worked with local authorities and businesses to ensure services support Devon and Cornwall's economies.

The company said timetables have been developed to "best meet the needs of the region" within the constraints of available resources and the existing rail infrastructure.

As an example, FGW cited a new high-speed morning service from December which will leave London Paddington at 0706 to provide an earlier morning business arrival into Exeter, with connections to Plymouth.

In July the company announced it was adding more carriages on its "Night Riviera" service because of the increase in demand for the sleeper from Penzance to Paddington.

Tim Jones from the Devon and Cornwall Business Council said if the record attempt was successful it would "raise the bar".

"If the record is broken it will set a new standard of expectation from the business community. If it can be done once, it can be done again and should be achievable on a regular basis."

The FGW train will leave Plymouth at 1248 BST and should arrive in Paddington at 1540 BST.

[TerminalJunkie]

It must be running non-stop from Plymouth, as there is no sign of it on the LDBs for Exeter, Taunton or Reading.

The 1255 from Plymouth to Paddington is expected to be 43 minutes late at Exeter, though!

[johoare]

Hope it doesn't have to stop at airport junction then 

[inspector_blakey]

It must be running non-stop from Plymouth, as there is no sign of it on the LDBs for Exeter, Taunton or Reading.

By the same logic, it also appears to be non-stop Paddington as it doesn't appear on the LDB there (1540 ex-Plymouth) as an arrival either!

[johoare]

Yep I was just looking at Paddington arrivals.. Hope it does stop there though 

[IndustryInsider]

Presumably running as a special?

[johoare]

I reckon platform 5 as that's not mentioned on the arrivals board until 16.22 arrivals.. Although that is just a guess..

[readytostart]

Just had a look in genius, train ran as 1Z55, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) unadvertised express, funnily enough the WTT^▸ (Working Time-Table) times show as PLY^» (Plymouth - next trains): 1250 (departed 1 early at 1249) and PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains): 1531 (arrived 2 late at 1533)! So a little bit of padding there if they're telling the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) it will arrive at 1540!

Earliest it ran was 2E at several points in the journey, latest it ran was 3L at Ladbrook Grove, according to my tracking points.

Hope this helps.

(Arrived Plat 1)

[Chris from Nailsea]

Brilliant - thanks for that, readytostart! 

[Chris from Nailsea]

The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) page has now been updated:

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) train breaks Plymouth to London non-stop record

A train has broken the record for the fastest time from Plymouth to London Paddington, First Great Western (FGW) has claimed.

The non-stop train reached Paddington in 2 hours 43 minutes, 17 minutes faster than the previous record.

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Congratulations to everyone involved!  Pulling off a record-breaking journey like this helps raise the profile of train travel and must be good for staff morale.  It's really good that Swindon managed to find the time  to plan and deliver this run, despite having to cope almost every day with HST^▸ (High Speed Train) failures, stock shortages etc.

[coachflyer]

Saw a odd HST^▸ (High Speed Train) at Reading this morning heading towards the Berks and Hants.

It was only 5 coaches made up of 2 first class, 1 buffet, 1 first class and then the TGS.

Looks like a cheat to allow it to keep to time and to have greater acceleration if it had to slow down!!

[Brucey]

have greater acceleration if it had to slow down!!

And being unadvertised, it probably had a much smaller passenger loading than a normal HST^▸ (High Speed Train) between these stations.

Nevertheless, still a good achievement.

[devon_metro]

0600 Plymouth - Paddington used to do the journey in 3 hours with stops at Newton Abbot, Exeter,  Taunton and Reading if it had a good run!

Hardly spectacular. Fairly sure BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) have done much faster.

[IndustryInsider]

It was only 5 coaches made up of 2 first class, 1 buffet, 1 first class and then the TGS.

Ah , yes.  I think I saw that earlier, too.  Still, some good publicity, although talk of beating the previous 'record' by 17 minutes is misleading to say the least.  True, it's 17 minutes quicker than the fastest scheduled service (10:43ex Plymouth), but that's a daily scheduled service, which I'm sure has done the journey quicker than that on many occasions!

An average speed of just over 83mph I make it.  Not bad considering the speed restrictions on the route, and I doubt BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) would have done much faster, DM!  Now, let's see a little of that slack trimmed off the normal timetable please, FGW^▸ (First Great Western)!