July 1873: High speed rail
Of all the topics featured in The Engineer over the past decade few have been more divisive, or attracted more reader comment, than the ongoing debate over the UK’s proposed high speed rail network HS2.
But as an editorial from the early days of The Engineer pondering the likelihood of us ever developing a 100mph train illustrates, our desire for rapid rail travel is far from a modern obsession.
Commenting on the advantages of such a breakthrough The Engineer wrote that, ‘It can scarcely be disputed that to possess the power of traversing long distances at a velocity of 100 miles an hour would be advantageous to a very large section of the community.’
‘The benefits to be gained by the power of reaching Liverpool in two hours would be quickly recognised by the nation’ continued the article (its failure to mention from where a reminder that today’s London-centric view of the world also has some pedigree).
However, despite identifying some compelling advantages to the 100mph train, the article - written at a time when top average rail speeds were around half that – wonders whether such an achievement will ever be possible on existing tracks.
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