> As of 2016, the fastest journey times are around half an hour, which is little better than over a century earlier.

Which is fine if the reliability and comfort have improved [checks notes] Oh, never mind then.

(For me, it'd be fine for it to take an hour if you know it's absolutely going to be an hour, you know reliably when that hour is going to be, and you're not standing for that hour in a vestibule that reeks of urine. Alas, UK trains have yet to get to grips with running to timetable and also run enough trains to not have them packed out to standing.)