Way to go!

[coupwotcoup]

Yesterday (Saturday) there were engineering works on the line between Liverpool Street and east Anglia. And guess what....from Harold Wood to town was actually a quicker service than normal. It was pure luxury to have a semi-fast service again, calling at Gidea Park, Romford and Stratford only en route. Engineering works...bring 'em on. :grin:
Footnote
It takes longer to get from Harold Wood to Liverpool Street today (apart from yesterday of course), than it did when I started work in 1967 :???:

 

[Max]

I think journey times have actually increased over recent years as opposed to decreased for a number of reasons:

1. More demand has meant that services that were once fast are now forced to stop at smaller stations.
2. Meanwhile, in some cases, fast services have cut out stops to lower journey times for the busiest routes/stations, and avoid delays (eg. Trent Valley WCML stations), meaning stations that once had direct or fast services have been left with stoppers, and trains which terminate shorter than they once did.
3.Slack time.

One example I can think of is Gilberdyke in East Yorkshire, which used to have an hourly semi-fast to Sheffield in one direction, and Bridlington/Scarborough in the other. However, the semi-fast no longer calls here, leaving it with an hourly stopper to Doncaster in one direction, and Hull in the other. This has resulted in slower journey times, and more changes for passengers.

 

[me123]

I believe Edinburgh-Glasgow trains are slower than they used to be. I think they stop more often, though, and have a lot of slack.