Railways: French speed and British investment

Two railway stories for you today.

French set new rail speed record (BBC Article)

A French TGV broke the speed record for a train running on conventional rails at a speedy 356 mph. This was done on the new high speed line which has been built between Paris and Strasbourg.

There was the standard fantastic media comparison, apparently according to the BBC:

"The train travelled almost as fast as a World War II Spitfire fighter at top speed."

For info the maximum speed of a spitfire was approximately 378 mph (Source:Wikipedia)

The UK train speed record is 208 mph (BBC Article) set on the channel tunnel link in 2003. Now that the new line is opening who knows they may try to beat that.

Of course the UK probably holds the record for fastest steam run by the world class Mallard which ran at 127 mph in 1938. (Reference: The Mallard)

Rail network given cash injection (BBC Article)

Network rail have unveiled 900 projects totalling £2.4 bn of investment over the next two years. The are even creating a new post to oversee all this investment, Director of Infrastructure projects who will be Simon Kirby.

This is all good news even if this isn't a sudden announcement of massive investment, a lot of projects are already under way. Having said that, it is a record level of investment in infrastructure enhancements and Network Rail should be congratulated for investing inthe future.

Usually I finish with a few quotes but frankly John Armitt Network rail CEO is a bit dull, so only read on if you are suffering from insomnia, and imagine it being said in a dull mono tone voice:

"Three million people use the railways each day, more than at any time in the past 60 years, and we're not standing still waiting for the big infrastructure projects to be delivered."

- John Armitt, CEO Network Rail