West Coast Record Breaking Attempt
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ค. 2024
- On Thursday 17th June 2021, Avanti and Network Rail teamed up to attempt to break the record for the fastest railway journey between London and Glasgow. Pendolino 390 044 newly named as "Royal Scot" set off to beat the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) time of 3 hours, 52 minutes, 40 seconds.
The attempt also celebrated the value of the UK's railway industry whilst showcaing the ease of travelling between the home nations, whilst raising money for the Railway Benefit Fund and Action For Children.
My thanks to Avanti on everyone on board that I interviewed - Please Note : I interviewed Tim and Pete in their food/drinks break moment which is why they weren't wearing face coverings at that time.
Thanks also to the additional clips from the following people!
Autounder (Leyland) - / @autounder
Brian (Polesworth) - / @sykarost
JmatthewsUK (Atherstone) - / @jmatthewsuk
Georgia (Wigan) - / @glovestrains
Shoutout to the people who made the footage of the train passing through the stations.
Especially the one at the bridge for Wigan. I’ve been there and the path there is insanely muddy all the time
Watching from the USA, and the amount of shots along the way is just spectacular. Wow!
Exactly! Wish I could've made it!
@@gstakktransport5227 You've been to Wigan? I'm so sorry. :P
@@gstakktransport5227 Ikr that bridge is good for trainspotting. Good walk through all the trees etc too
I love Tim's reasoning for taking a model APT with him 🤣
Wasn’t needed in the end
lol
Same!
A little bit subversive "if the record is broken, in a way they will still hold the record"
@@RatelHBadger Might even call it "Trumpian"
Train: delays 21 seconds
Japanese passengers: That's very late
lol
@@SK_3PT1 xd
True
lol, even with 3s late, JR do a press conference to give official public excuses, and maybe fire the driver
Lol
I'd love it if Avanti collaborated with LNER for an east coast versus west coast race from London to Edinburgh, with split-screen and everything!
The LNER train will likely win. It’ll be a shorter distance over the same 200km/h speed limit
@@spdfatomicstructure the curves above Carlisle slow the WCML way down compared to ECML too 😃
That would be awesome
Shades of the 1895 "Race to the North" when either the North British Railway or the Caledonian Railway would get the fastest train through to Aberdeen from London -- depending which one got past Dundee and onto the shared track first!
Erm don’t you mean VTEC because LNER only existed once
The fact that Pendolino being a "tilting train" and a almost direct successor to APT is quite endearing
BR sold the tech for a song to the Italians who then ofcourse went on to develop the Pendolino. Quite ironic.
@@formidable38 Basically it was working (after some issues) but Thatcher wouldn’t give the last bit of money needed (because the press campaign against the train) and so it got cancelled just before it was finished. Wasn’t BRs decision.
@@melanierhianna That’s not the full story. APT only made sense on the WCML. Without the necessary track and signalling upgrades to allow the APT to travel sufficiently fast to benefit from tilt, the business case for the train disappeared.
@@melanierhianna Agreed! It was pretty much a victim of its own success and Thatcher hated the railways. With a little more 'can do' from her it would have been sorted.
I couldn't agree more!
"It's smooth. It's quiet - and an altogether delightful experience."
Don’t be Blue, Peter.
*tea having a seizure in the background
That’s so bizarre seeing my dad doing the official timing. It’s so much a part of my childhood, weird how I’ve missed it! I can say with fondness and a touch of eye rolling but jeez, you bunch of dorks!
High Five for the funniest comment here!
SNCF should invite Geoff the next time they do a TGV speed record run.
The TGV speed record is 357mph that's too fast that couldn't possibly be beaten
Superb video! Given that the APT exceded speed limits throughout its record-breaking run, being 21 seconds tardy while adhering to same is impressive indeed, & reflects some impressive driving by Mr Barker...
He was a lovely chap, highly experienced and knew his stuff. Top driving!
@@geofftech2 bruh instant reply
21 seconds is such a big difference!
Not quite correct ... the APT record run kept to a max line speed of 125mile/h and kept to it’s own line speed profile. The profile is subtly different to that of the current EPS profile that the Pendolino kept to and there’s a few other differences in the standards/rules between the APT and Pendolino... (I helped create it during WCRM! 👍)
Excellent video in your inimitable style, Geoff (I've picked up some tips, I think!). A great account of a great trip - I think there needs to be a rematch next year!
thanks Mark, nice to finally meet you! 😎👍
@@geofftech2 It was great to hear you, and briefly see you, on Mark's video too. I enjoy the work you both do. Thank you
So good to see The man in Seat 61 in the vid. Been following your blogs even before your TH-cam vids were around.
Kinda Wow! two of my favourite vloggers on the one train!
You should have sat in the actual carriage seat 61
Geoff actually got me more into modern trains because I always loved train travel and steam trains but Geoff got me into modern stock and how it all works and the people who run it. Top work!
PS. I'm now a trainspotter haha.
Nice
Just enjpy the train ride. It's so much fun.
Geoff; you and I have been chums for very many years and I think that *that* was the longest rail-related monologue that you have ever let me get away with. And that's despite you editing out the really bits out too. V jolly! Almost like we had planned to sit adjacent. Maybe we should co-ordinate diaries and do some sort of rail-related video again... ;)
All the editing!! Ha ha. You were great, thank you sir … let’s indeed do a train thing soon. Yes yes 👍
I'd love to see you working together! Maybe put in a word at UKTV, Tim?
I was following the journey with both of you on Twitter. I must say that I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't show the part of the line where you can actually see the west coast, Geoff! Tim's seen my (shoddy) photos, you're more than welcome to use (laugh at) them.
: )
@@steve.b.23 I know it doesn't fit sequentially in the video, but where is the shot at 8:00 in? It's after Pete Waterman talked about going through the Lake DIstrict but does look similar to the Morecambe Bay view.
This so needs to happen!!!
I would love you & Geoff to do a series for UKTV. Your last 2 railway ones were wonderful. I have seen 1 on the Underground being promoted on UKTV, so perhaps Geoff may be in it?;)
Who else saw The Man in Seat 61's video a couple of days ago, heard Geoff's voice there, and was waiting for this video?
Missing out by 21 seconds. That's heartbreaking
I know :(
@@lnertrainfan1785 I mean the positive is that it beat the old penileno time. And you ained a new sub.
Wow very big difference
if only they'd had fewer passengers
Japan:I WANT MY FU*KING MONEY BACK!
"Welcome on board this Peugeot pendolino to Glasgow Central!!"
I thought the same, not often you see the lion it's usually the St Andrew cross nowadays
Well, the Pendolino was designed by Fiat. That part of Fiat was of course bought by Alstom, however the rest of Fiat merged last year with PSA, the owners of Peugeot. So, you’re not far off.
So that's why they failed the record
@@southcalder I am sure he meant it as joke because of the lion at the front which made it look like a Peugeot lol.
I kept waiting for the replacement bus to be announced.
APT had the advantage over the Pendolino. The former was, IIRC, allowed to run at up to 140mph. While the latter was limited to a maximum of 125mph. So, only missing out by 21 seconds is really impressive. Hopefully Avanti will have another go.
If they'd get cab signaling they'd be able to do the 140 routinely on relatively straighter sections of track -- and probably also up the restricted bits by 10 or 20mph as well as you'd no longer be worrying about unsighted signals.
However the WCML has had improvement work since then so there should have been fewer points where the maximum speed slowed this one.
I've heard new Avanti WCML stock would actually be slower, 110 mph and non tilting. I'm starting to wonder if this is partially because of HS2. Less pressure to make WCML faster?
@@PeteS_1994i think its because the new stock is part o the iet family and have extremely fast acceleration speeds so the acceleration would offset the speed difference
What a joy to watch. Slick edit and great fun, loved the natter from the guests!
This is one of your most entertaining videos which I've seen so far -- special occasion, the interviews with the people on board, and the anticipation of hearing the outcome of the record attempt. Great fun to watch!
Geoff, I must say, great interviews and amazing documentation of this special event, you've made a great video!
Fantastic coverage - Thanks Geoff!
I remembered that when APT set the record on the line, it ignored the line speed limit and got up to 225km/h in several places, just like the Intercity 225 has done on ECML. Getting this close to the record without exceeding the line speed limit is fantastic.
That was in the days before Elfin Saftee clobbered everything we do in this country!!
@@stepheneyles2198 Also in the days where rail disasters were far, far more common. So there is that.
@@stepheneyles2198 mans angry cause hes been nicked for going 49 in a 40 zone
Do trains still exceed the speed limit on the ECML? Because I remember vivdly when i was on the way to darlington from leeds, the Stretch from York to Northallerton according to my speedometer went to around 140mph for a short period of time, and it definitely felt faster than 125mph
@@jamrah8713
No, they don't. Overspeed is controlled and all trains now have data recorders which are monitored for compliance!
Super video Geoff, great access to speak to all involved. Keep up the great work 👍🏼
Fantastic, close shave. Worked with people on railways decades ago - a great team, dedicated, professional, humerous. Had the privilege of visiting the deeds archive archive and looking at original line plans for much legal/wayleaves work.
This is a video ive been waiting for. I hope they have another attempt
I have loved all the posts about this fantastic trip, culminating in your video! 21 seconds out is a fantastic achievement, but I didn't know it was the fastest Pendo to do that route! That could have been praised more I feel! Great video as always Geoff!
I do love and miss the Pendolino. Brilliant train. The fact it has an appearance from Tim Dunn makes this amazing video epic too.
Great video Geoff, you have brilliantly captured the journey for all of those who couldn’t be onboard. Glad I could contribute with an external shot and thanks for the credit 👍🏻
I work at Carstairs Junction with network rail, unfortunately the 50mph speed restriction has been in place for a while, so hopefully we can get that fixed in time for another record attempt 😀
Yeah! Hope you're enjoying it at least :)
Stunning video. Love it. I feel such grief about the APT. I remember the hope we had at the time for it. A cousin of mine was working on its signalling. Would have changed UK railways for ever.
thank you Martin, glad you enjoyed!
@Geoff Marshall - excellent fast-moving documentary: great story, great interviews, great edit. Thank you!
Loved your presentation.... The atmosphere and energy... 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
I’d travel more by rail if it was cheaper
Regretably, it's still much quicker and cheaper to drive from where I live in Wales to central London - and that includes the Congestion Charge and London's Mafia parking fee racket.
It is cheap if you book in advance.
@@jamesknightvo Lol where are you booking your tickets? Use a third party app!
@@jamesknightvo Car travel is cheap, as people usually underestimate the cost of the car (which almost everyone does) and a lot of subsidies go into car travel which you pay with your taxes, of course. This includes build and maintaining roads, ecological impacts, measures against noise pollution, cleaning roads, additional police forces, fire brigades, rescue services, curing insured people, etc. However, is there not an option to park on the outskirts of London and travel the rest by train or tube to avoid huge fees in London?
Great video Geoff, very well edited and produced with great featuring guests and shots 👍🚄
Fantastic video Geoff 🙂 Big thanks for everyone making it happen 😂 Pete Waterman what a cool guy he’s looking 👍🏻
21 seconds! Really! Great video. Thank you Geoff.
What a shame! So close and yet...
Thanks for the footage Geoff. Great to see young Tim on there as I greatly enjoy the enthusiasm he has for all things railway related that comes across in his programmes. 👍
Hopefully you'll get another invitation if they try another Royal Scot run in the future? 😜
Cheers for another highly enjoyable video 🍻🍀😀
I've been looking forward to this video a lot.
😂😂 I was on twitter biting my nails and then i saw the 21 seconds tweet!
Wonderful video, Geoff! Thanks for the suspenseful editing and the interesting interviews.
And I had to laugh when my face mirrored yours at the 21sec reveal 😮🤭
Thank you, Geoff.
And also for 'All the stations'. In particular Corrour.
Been looking forward to watching this!
I love the passion for the rails everyone on board seems to have on board!
What a great effort! But it must be said that it a bit mad that Britain developed a faster train nearly 4 decades ago, but in their wisdom at the time they gave up on it. How very British! Nearly 40 years later and the APT record still stands. I am sure that APT in the siding had a smug look on it's face whilst the Penolino shot past it was obviously aware of the 50mph speed restriction, and that that would keep the record safe.
I think we need to appreciate that that hero of a driver sat there and held his bladder for nearly 4 hours! What a guy!
Thanks for the video, Geoff. 👍
Great for James!! Good to see young blood in the railways.
I'm similar. Started in the railways just after uni, at 22 in Hospitality.
Became a conductor at 24 and now nearly 3 years of conducting and 5 years of service . . . Aged 26 and looking down the barrel at 27.
Great job, great industry 👍 best of luck to the guy :D
Brilliant to see people like Tim dunn on there!
Geoff's videos always get a like before I even start watching them because you know they're always going to be good, lol.
I’m glad you showed the APT at Crewe. The motor car did used to be at Coventry electric railway museum before it closed down. I have seen it before it got transferred to Crewe to join the rest of it
Thank you so much for including my clip Geoff! I’d have loved to have been there
Thank you for letting me use it! very kind 👍👍
Brilliant video Geoff, I filmed your train whizzing past just outside of rugby
Great video as always Geoff,was a pity they lost out on literally seconds!!
21 seconds thats impresive and the apt did a great job at keeping the record
Tim Dunn seems such a nice guy, I'd love to listen to him talking about railways!
Hes friends with Gareth Dennis and goes on his livestreams every once and awhile.
@@Jobother cool thanks 😊
He did a series on UKTV Play called The Architecture The Railways Built (Available online)
@@RandomRailways both series of that show are good! Lots of things covered!
Live in Glasgow, it’s nice to see more being done to bring us together :)
I might have guessed you'd be on board.
Hope it was fun.
Thank you Geoff!
Great vid...lovely to see the legend that is Pete Waterman 👍
Fantastic video Geoff! Great to see our President Pete on there :)
Been waiting for this :)
God I can't wait until these speeds are no longer a struggle in this country and are the norm, if not the minimum. Well done Avanti and well done Geoff for a fantastic video as always.
Avanti GROUP, acquisided from FS GROUP,italian GROUP.
Wow. On tenterhooks to see if it was going to happen or not. Thanks for a great video.
I knew you would do it Geoff you do every thing
Omg the train looks absolutely brilliant!
Aw, so close!! Still, I'm glad you all had a great day by the looks of things!
Our southbound from crewe to London was broken down at Stafford as it came through, engineers had to wait to turn the power off so as not to slow down the attempt
David Lindsay - classically British. We go for a record attempt and the train breaks down. wtf?!? 🤔😲😳😟🤨
@@robtyman4281 I think you interpreted that wrong; a different train broke down and had to wait for the for the record train to pass before they'd do something about it
Totally worth it though 😜
Interesting video Geoff, can't believe they were 21 seconds late!
Japan:I WANT MY FU*KING MONEY BACK
Very nice video, it's a shame that it missed out by 21 seconds but look like everyone had a great time onboard and nice to see some lovely clips of the train passing through some areas as well. Hope they try again next year after the Carstairs area being remodelled,
Keep up with the amazing work ✅️ 👏
Great video as usual
Great stuff Geoff!
Well done Just shows how good those embryonic computers and APT train systems were if only they were allowed to be developed properly back in 1981!
Fantastic video. Shame it missed out on the APT record. But Fantastic to hear it became the fastest pendalino
400 miles in less than four hours! 🤯 Bravo to you all!
Go on the APT, for a train that was experimental in most respects and pushed into service ahead of schedule before it was ready just shows you how fast a train it was!
Interesting that the Train number on the matrix display still starts VT
Off by less than half a minute... that's DAMN impressive. I wasn't sure if it was possible, what with the WCML's geography and generally being a bit outdated compared with the ECML, but the fact that "Royal Scot" came _this_ close to beating the APT's record is still astounding!
Now the next step is for Network Rail to allow another attempt. After all, if they let Tornado get up to 100 back in 2017 and she broke that barrier! Imagine what the Pendilino's could do with a bit of leeway
I was watching Mark, The Man In Seat Sixty-one's video, on this epic run, and right near the end I hear a familiar voice, your's and I wondered when we'd see you video
Me too!
Avanti Drivers are always entertaining us trainspotters with their nice tones
It's pretty clear that (except maybe for that TSR at Carstairs) the limits of the current infrastructure have been reached and the record won't be broken by more than a few seconds until HS2 is fully operational. It's not a question of APT v Pendo, it's a question of how the signals are spaced and what speed limits they allow.
ETCS is scheduled to come before HS2
Rob, if you look at the path timing on the last leg from Bridge St, juction into the station, you'll see it lost over a minute, that would have been the difference between making it win or lose the race,,j
I love a heroic 'failure' Of course it is a great success. Wonderful work by everyone involved.
This was unexpectedly fascinating.
The poor APT, I always hoped, as I passed it every day in its siding in the Glasgow Shields Road depot, that one day we'd see it operational - nice it's only taken a few more years to progress.
Great video Geoff.
My last time on a pendolino was in Jan 2020- went to Coventry to the transport museum- can’t wait to ride these trains again
The APT is amazing, it still holds up as an amazing train!
though it's record happened with breaking the speed limit on the WCML, it was allowed to go to 140, while the Pendolinos had to stick to 125 despite being able to hit the same speeds. They could have beaten it with updated signalling easy.
@@xander1052 Bit unfortunate but rules are rules lol
@@peterstransport337 yup
When the record does eventually fall, I'd LOVE to see APT come out for a rematch.
@@6yjjk That would be brilliant!
Interesting to see you pass through my neck of the woods up in Cumbria
I watched with interest.
On the Radio 4 news, the article noted that the APT was allowed to exceed speed limits, but the Pendilino did not and stayed within them. This is an impressive run.
Driver was so humble and blasé about it all!
Just about saw myself filming you pass Crewe lol
Brilliant video, oh to have been on that train
Bad luck Geoff! 21 seconds not a lot in it! Your vids are awesome 👍🙂
Good run. 21 seconds difference and no special speed exemptions is damn good. I wish we had trains and track like that in America. I hate planes and cars. I would much prefer to take a train everywhere.
Was on the inaugural run of the APT, with the family and my son was the youngest, 4, on board. Interviewed by the media and still have the tickets and the memorabilia given out at the time. Needless to say, have the Hornby APT in my collection and have ordered the latest version of the version.
Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'dour song springs to mind.
Geoff, thanks to you I have made my own video about trains here in Hong Kong.
This run happened on my Birthday so was a bit disappointed I missed it, and the record wasn’t broke, but at least they tried their best!
Finally a Avanti Video
excellent!!!thumbs up!!!
This made me do a back of the envelope milage for trains for me. Probably ~100k miles? It's a lot, I know that much. Definitely looking forwards to more journeys.