A COMPANY from the North-East has helped smash the UK rail speed record.
The Channel Tunnel Eurostar train accelerated to 208mph on Wednesday, destroying the previous record of 162.2mph reached in 1979.
That brought smiles all round to a team of engineers at Idec Limited, in Stockton.
The company provided the control and data system, and most of the control panels, in a £1.2m contract.
The equipment enables operators to keep tabs on the entire system, including the power to overhead lines for trains.
Idec's control system allow various levels of control either from headquarters or local control panels.
Robbie Etherington, lead engineer at the company, based at Preston Park Industrial Estate, said his team began work on the project in November 2000.
He said: "Projects like these require a lot of hard work from dedicated, self-motivated people, without whom achievements such as that of last Thursday can not happen. We're lucky to have people like that at Idec and their efforts are much appreciated."
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