The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 8 (December 1, 1929)
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On the Home railways the fastest running is found on the Great Western and London and North Eastern lines. Fastest of all quick runs is the Swindon-London flight of the daily express from Cheltenham to London, on the Great Western system. On this trip 77¼ miles are covered in 70 minutes—an average start to stop speed of 66¼ miles per hour. This is a world record, and one of which Home railwaymen are rightly proud. On the same railway, the 107 miles between London and Bath are traversed in 105 minutes—an average start to stop speed of 61 miles an hour. A similar speed is attained by the Westbury-London express, covering 95½ miles in 94 minutes. On the London and North Eastern line there is a regular daily run from Darlington to York (44 miles) in 43 minutes, and another from Leicester to Nottingham (22½ miles) in 22 minutes, both of which give average start to stop speeds of 61½ miles an hour.