Editing Chiltern Main Line (section)

===GWR era===
Once the route between Birmingham and London was completed in 1852, the GWR introduced its first expresses between the two cities, timed at 2 hours 45 minutes, however this was soon revised to three hours, which matched the timings of the rival LNWR service. There was relatively little improvement for the rest of the 19th century, and three-hour expresses remained the standard timing of both companies until 1905, when the LNWR introduced new, more powerful [[LNWR Whale Precursor Class|Precursor Class]] locomotives, which allowed them to introduce two-hour expresses. The GWR could not compete with this, and it spurred the shortening of its route, as detailed above, which allowed them to introduce a matching timing of two hours once the works were completed in 1910.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boynton |first1=John |title=Main Line to Metro: Train and tram on the Great Western route: Birmingham Snow Hill – Wolverhampton |date=2001 |publisher=Mid England Books |isbn=978-0-9522248-9-1 |pages=12-18}}</ref>