World Record Officially the world’s longest-running railway series, established in 1901
WHERE the road used to run parallel to platform 1 on the east side of London Paddington station, there is now a cavern. A series of escalators provides high passenger volume access to a barrier line and another short descent leads to a choice of platforms.
Intending travellers are protected from mishap by modern platform sliding doors aligned with those of the trains. A sleek nine-car Class 345 is about to leave the right-hand platform, but do not try to join it. This is an empty stock working in automatic driverless mode to Westbourne Park sidings, where it will reverse before reappearing in similar fashion at our left-hand platform.
These automatic moves are rapid. Putting a stopwatch on the 205 metre (224yd) trains passing the front end starting point and comparing it with split times as each coach passes the point, I make the last coach entering the tunnel at 45mph. Meanwhile the ‘driver’ changes ends ready for its return.
Make no mistake, this is a slick operation and on my four visits so far there has been a uniformity and reliability that has to be admired.
In the summer of 2022, the new line operated in three portions: from Reading and Heathrow Terminal 5 to Paddington; the adjacent so-called ‘Central Section’ from Paddington to Abbey Wood; and a currently dismembered eastern arm from Liverpool Street to Shenfield. It has been suggested that the Central section trains have been 3½ years late arriving
