Guests on a test-run of the “Javelin” – Britain’s fastest commuter train with a 140mph top speed – have been whisked from London to Kent and back.
The Hitachi train took 30 minutes to travel from St Pancras station to Ashford at an average speed of 114mph. The return journey took 29 minutes.
The test-run on the Channel Tunnel line passed without a hitch and was slightly quicker than the forthcoming passenger services as it did not stop at Ebbsfleet.
The services are expected to cut Ashford to London journey times from 80 minutes to 37 minutes. Ebbsfleet to London will take 17 minutes.
The trains, which have 338 seats and can carry up to 508 people, will provide the “javelin” service to take spectators from St Pancras to the 2012 Olympics site at Stratford in east London in just seven minutes…
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, who travelled on the test-run, said the high-speed trains were the “future of the railways“…
“It will offer the best service in to London from the Kent coast and the Medway towns. It’s a great day for passengers and a great day for UK railways.”
This is the kind of train the Obama administration proposes for high speed rail corridors in the United States.
Following the construction of the new railroad track system in central New Mexico has convinced me it could be a piece of cake – if we can claw the politicians and lobbyists out of the way of progress. It’s a beautiful piece of work and appears to be as capable of high speed traffic as any rail line in Europe or Asia.
No doubt the project will be opposed by the Party of No and all the other feebleminded thugs who’d rather find a war to invest in. Meanwhile, the Javelins look to be up and raring to go – in the UK.
Eideard 