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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 4 (September 1, 1931.)

Train Speeds

Train Speeds

There has been considerable improvement in the train speeds of most countries in recent years, but the best recorded run to date is still that made by the Ocean Mail train from Plymouth to London, in 1904, when the distance—246 1/2 miles—was covered in 3 hours 43 minutes, or at an average rate of 63.3 miles per hour.

The “International Limited,” the “daily each way” express which now links Montreal with Chicago, has one stretch of 334 miles, between Toronto and Montreal, where the average speed maintained is 55.6 miles per hour for a six-hour run.

In South Africa, where the gauge is the same as in New Zealand, viz. 3ft. 6in., there has been great attention paid to improving the times between principal points. For instance, the Johannesburg-Capetown express, which in 1910 took 43 hours 50 minutes for the 956-mile journey, now completes the trip in 28 1/2 hours, an improvement in the average rate from 21.8 miles to 33.8 miles per hour.

Our “Limited” express, from Wellington to Auckland, takes 14 hours 25 minutes for the 426 miles, an average speed of over 29 miles per hour, much of the distance, however, being over heavy grades, including the central mountain district where, at Waiouru, the line rises to 2,660ft. above sea level.