BRITAIN'S new 125mph Pendolino tilting train travelled from London to Manchester in under two hours on Monday.
Prime Minister Tony Blair joined Virgin Trains boss Sir Richard Branson at London's Euston Station to mark the completion of the multi million pound project.
Improved passenger services will start in a week's time with the two hour 41 minute journey between London and Manchester cut by 35 minutes.
To mark the event, a tilting train set a record time of one hour 53 minutes.
The previous record was set at two hours and eight minutes.
The work on upgrading the line from London Euston to Manchester is finished, but completing improvements to Scotland will take another year.
The number of services from London to Manchester is set to double and tilting trains will eventually be introduced along West Coast mainline routes to Liverpool and Glasgow.
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