the 'Leeds Executive' had one stop to pick up only at Wakefield westgate. think one from KX about 4pm was set down only at wakefield
used to be quite a lot of 's' and 'u' in the all line timetable in the 70's.
how they stopped abuse I dont know.
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Are there any true non-stop expresses left in the UK?
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used to be quite a lot of 's' and 'u' in the all line timetable in the 70's.
how they stopped abuse I dont know.
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In the process of travelling between (e.g.) Deal and St Johns without doubling back you can catch three different trains terminating at Charing Cross, each progressively slower than the last. Does that make the first one a "Sevenoaks Express" and the second a "Hither Green Express", I wonder?
The 'u' were ineffectual to people in the know (the 17:12 Manchester-Euston called at Macclesfield at 17u35 and was probably the busiest commuter service in that direction between those points), but the 's' were sensible in allowing long-distance trains to leave early if they ran early. So there were non-stop trains Euston-Wilmslow which didn't have to 'wait time' at Wilmslow, but nobody tried to stop you boarding either.
Doctor Fegg
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There is of course, in non-Covid times, a very regular 2hr15 non-stop run from a London terminal. Not all of it is "in the UK" though!
sjm77
Member
I would agree, especially from York to KX. Even today a couple of XX:00 departures (Pre-Covid) from Kings Cross stop at Peterborough breaking the standard hourly pattern, but nothing Southbound on the Edinburgh Fasts.
Virgin's 16:30 off Euston was Preston only.
Cheshire Scot
Established Member
In the early sixties the Royal Scot only called at Carlisle, around five and a half hours on the long non-stop section, then electrification started and a call at Crewe was added where the traction changed and changed to Preston only with full electrification in 1974. Over the years other stops have been added and taken out.
In the same era the Flying Scotsman at the traditional 10.00 departure time called Newcastle only, just under 4 hours non stop, and the Night Scotsman non stop in the public timetable in both directions between Edinburgh and Kings Cross, but would in reality have at least one, possibly two or more stops for crew changes en route - on the west side the Night Limited called only at Motherwell but again would have had stops for crew changes. .
No because it doesn't fit the OP's criteria. The Cambridge services all run to Ely or Kings Lynn so are not "true non-stop expresses" even if they are fast from Kings Cross to Cambridge.
GlitterUnicorn
Member
Does it really matter as much now? Stops are a lot shorter, trains accelerate a lot faster. The advantages of a non-stop train don't quite stack up anymore.
Cheshire Scot
Established Member
Eurostar London to Paris non stop service departing from a UK station!
fgwrich
Established Member
What about the new GW Fast services from Bristol, Calling at Temple Meads and Parkway before running non stop to Paddington?
True, but there are other reasons too.
Firstly, the "headline" two hour Manchester-London time, which some people like to make something of, for example, only possible with a non-stop Stockport-London run.
Secondly because in the past I've been on this train and it's left Stockport pretty much full. So there's a train ten minutes behind which deals with the passengers from Macclesfield and Stoke.
No, not under the original criteria because none of the trains which are non-stop to York terminate there. They aren't non-stop express trains to Edinburgh.
To pick up the point about ‘progress’:
1) the Azumas are still scheduled in the running times of Class91s
2) there are a lot more trains on the ECML now, and the fast services to York have ‘pathing time’ added to thread them through the other trains on this busier railway
3) in my time traveling London - York on non-stop services, 1h46 was a case of hope over experience.
Cherry_Picker
Established Member
Longest non stop run in the UK? (and Europe if anyone knows)
Is it weird that, having only just read about it, I really want to get that train? :lol: Not so odd, according to http://www.opentraintimes.com/schedule/Y71662/2016-05-15 Also has Newcastle and York stops (and runs as 1E97) 1E98 is the train an hour later...
www.railforums.co.uk
This post from 2016 had the longest non stop run from each TOC in that particular timetable. COVID timetables have probably made updating it right now a little pointless but it’s good for a rough idea.
gg1
Established Member
Although depending on how you define non-stop it may not count as it called at Wolverhampton and Sandwell & Dudley before New Street. About a third of them used to end up calling at International and Coventry anyway though, used to travel on this service once or twice a month pre COVID.
It will come...
Cherry_Picker
Established Member
It's standard procedure even with out COVID that the new rolling stock will run to the old timetable for a while before changes get made, you don't want to change everything at once or it's much more likely to go wrong. Shorter journey times can be between two intermediate points on a journey and new stops can be added without a time penalty resulting in more frequent connections at stations which were previously underserved.
It still exists, albeit it now starts from Bradford Forster Square:
Realtime Trains - 1A07 0630 Bradford Forster Square to London Kings Cross
Realtime Trains provides live realtime running information for the Great British railway network using open data.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
Long way from the days of Brighton - "on the hour , in the hour, every hour" . That was the pre-and post war Southern Electric. Few minor developments in the patch since then , like a minor airport grown a bit.
Sunday morning sees one train start at Cambridge and run non-stop (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/L21939/2020-12-13). Everything after starts from King's Lynn.
The Down one I got back on Sunday afternoon (albeit continuing to King's Lynn) managed an impressive 78mph average speed from King's Cross to Cambridge....
Wilts Wanderer
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Even in steam days some of the allegedly non-stop expresses were a little disingenuous. The down Cornish Riviera had multiple slip coaches to intermediate stops, and then stopped on a non-platform line at Newton Abbot to attach a pilot locomotive (inside the train engine of course, so it took twice as long!) and then if not booked to call at Plymouth in the summer months the locos were changed at St Budeaux or somewhere similar as the GWR King with its double-red restriction couldn’t cross the Royal Albert Bridge. And yet this train was on occasion advertised first stop Gwinear Road, or even St Erth.
Dr Hoo
Established Member
Back in 1974, just after 'The Clansman' had been introduced, providing, I believe, the first ever regular Inverness-London daytime train, I travelled on it from the origin. There was a virtually brand new First Class compartment vehicle (BFK?) that was de-classified and I looked forward to a delightful trip to London in a forward-facing window seat. An elderly lady entered the compartment and asked if this was the "through train to London". I assured her that it was.
We set off at 1030 and made the booked call at Aviemore at 1123. At this point the lady became immensely distressed and asked me why the train had stopped. I noted that it was a booked call. "But British Railways told me that it was a through train to London," my companion wailed. I explained that "through" didn't necessarily mean the same as "non-stop". The lady then spent the next 20 minutes complaining about British Railways until we stopped at Newtonmore at 1143 at which point a similar conversation took place.
This litany of complaint and distress was then repeated at and between Pitlochry, Perth, Stirling, Coatbridge Central, Mossend Yard (where the diesel locomotive was exchanged for an electric), Motherwell, Carlisle, Preston, Crewe, Wolverhampton, Birmingham New Street and Coventry until we finally pulled in to Euston on time at 2104. During the journey stewards from the refreshment vehicle had served regular meals to the lady at her seat in order to avoid the need for her to walk to the restaurant.
Her final words as we separated at Euston (where a porter was waiting with a wheelchair) were, "Well I think it's disgusting, British Railways told me that it was going to be a through train."
Some people are hard to please.
We set off at 1030 and made the booked call at Aviemore at 1123. At this point the lady became immensely distressed and asked me why the train had stopped. I noted that it was a booked call. "But British Railways told me that it was a through train to London," my companion wailed. I explained that "through" didn't necessarily mean the same as "non-stop". The lady then spent the next 20 minutes complaining about British Railways until we stopped at Newtonmore at 1143 at which point a similar conversation took place.
This litany of complaint and distress was then repeated at and between Pitlochry, Perth, Stirling, Coatbridge Central, Mossend Yard (where the diesel locomotive was exchanged for an electric), Motherwell, Carlisle, Preston, Crewe, Wolverhampton, Birmingham New Street and Coventry until we finally pulled in to Euston on time at 2104. During the journey stewards from the refreshment vehicle had served regular meals to the lady at her seat in order to avoid the need for her to walk to the restaurant.
Her final words as we separated at Euston (where a porter was waiting with a wheelchair) were, "Well I think it's disgusting, British Railways told me that it was going to be a through train."
Some people are hard to please.
hexagon789
Veteran Member
Not since pre-war steam days and even then it made a crew stop outside Carlisle as the LMS didn't do corridor tenders.
The Riviera on summer Saturdays changed its King for a pair of Castles (or whatever) at Newton.
Good point. But I guess it's not city to city.In which case all aboard the Stourbridge Shuttle Express!
I get that bletchlyite pointed that out,however one poster has shown one service that does so win win
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