Railway Speeds on the Continent.

On the Continent of Europe, probably the best all-round showing from the viewpoint of speed is made by the railways of France. The Nord Railway comes first, with a splendid array of fast, daily heavy main-line trains, linking Paris with a hundred important centres. On this system, “Pacific” type locomotives daily haul 700- to 800-ton trains at average start-to-stop speeds of 55 m.p.h. Daily speeds recorded start-to-stop include runs between Paris and Calais, 59 m.p.h.; Boulogne, 61 m.p.h.; Aulnoy, 62 m.p.h.; Brussels, 64 m.p.h.; and St. Quentin, 65 m.p.h.

The Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean is another system which prides itself upon its high-speed attainments. A noteworthy run is that between Paris and the Italian frontier town of Ventimiglia, averaging 54 m.p.h. throughout. This includes speeds of 66 m.p.h. between Paris and Laroche; 68 m.p.h. between Dijon and Macon; and 67 m.p.h. between Avignon and Marseilles. On the Midi line, there are daily recorded in page 18 page 19

All-metal passenger carriage, Northern Railway, France.

the Paris-Bordeaux service speeds of up to 75 m.p.h.