Midland Mainline hits 125mph

Trains on Britain’s Midland Mainline are now running at 125mph.

As of last week, trains have been able to run at practically full pelt from London to a range of destinations in the North of England including Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham, East Midlands Parkway and Leicester.

The higher line speeds should result in faster journey times to and from the Capital, and represent a £70 million investment spanning over 159 miles of track. In a press release, David Horne, MD of East Midlands Trains said; “Faster journeys are vital for economic growth and this major investment in track and signalling will help us to provide faster and more reliable journeys for our passengers travelling to London”.

The previous top speed on the line was 110mph (177kph), and whilst still far short of those of SNCF’s 320kph Train a Grande Vitesse on the Continent for example, it’s still sure to be a welcome speed boost for the Midlands!

Do you think the extra 15mph will make a difference? Why not drop us a tweet – @transportdsn.

EMT Meridian image credit: Martyn-Ahoy on Flickr.