The international definition of
high-speed rail is new lines with a speed of at least and existing lines with a speed of around . As of 2009, there are four "classic" main railway lines in the
United Kingdom operating at , plus of purpose built
high-speed lineHigh-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions include 200 km/h and faster — depending on whether the track is upgraded or new — by the European Union, and above 90 mph by the United...
.
The first purpose-built
high-speed railHigh-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions include 200 km/h and faster — depending on whether the track is upgraded or new — by the European Union, and above 90 mph by the United...
line within the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
was the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, of which the first section opened in 2003. The building of the line (re-branded "High Speed 1" in 2006) provoked discussion in the national media and specialist rail circles on the merits of constructing further high-speed lines. Costs and benefits of route options for a second dedicated high speed line, between London and the West Midlands, are to be considered by the Government at the end of 2009 (See High Speed Two).
A mixture of
EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway passenger service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains cross under the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
international services and
SoutheasternSoutheastern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It began operations in south-east England on 1 April 2006 as franchisee for the Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the prior publicly-owned operator South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...
domestic passenger services use High Speed 1. Attempts to increase speeds to on the
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a 393-mile long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh....
(ECML) and
West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. It provides fast, long-distance Intercity passenger services between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and southern Scotland....
(WCML) have both failed, partly as train travel above is judged to require in-cab signalling. The term
High Speed TrainThere are three types of trains in Britain that have been traditionally viewed as high speed trains:* Advanced Passenger Train - Tilting trains which never entered into regular revenue-earning service....
is currently used to refer to the British fleet of diesel-powered
InterCityInterCity was introduced by British Rail in 1966 as a brand-name for its long-haul express passenger services ....
trains currently in use.
Background
Attempts to increase the speed of British train services beyond began in the 1970s with the
Advanced Passenger TrainThe Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, which did not enter regular service....
project and finally succeeded in the opening of the first phase of the CTRL in 2003. During that time, various abortive projects and reduced scope upgrades have failed to raise line speeds above this target on domestic routes. These issues have been documented extensively elsewhere, but they can be summarised as follows.
British Rail strategy
While the Japanese and French decided to build completely new tracks for their respective
ShinkansenThe is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the now long network has expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū at speeds up to...
and
TGVThe TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by VFE, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator. It was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom and SNCF, and is now operated primarily by SNCF...
high-speed rail systems, British Rail opted instead to develop a train capable of running on its existing rail infrastructure. The
Advanced Passenger TrainThe Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, which did not enter regular service....
could tilt into bends to reduce cornering forces on passengers and had a high power-to-weight figure to enable rapid acceleration. The APT project first produced a self-propelled gas turbine train, but the 1970s oil crisis caused a rethink in the choice of motive power (as with the prototype TGV) and later pre-production and production APTs were electric units.
Initial experience with the trains was good. The prototype set record speeds on the GWML and
Midland Main LineThe Midland Main Line is a major railway line in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The 'Modern' line links London St. Pancras International to Sheffield station in northern England via Luton, Bedford, Kettering, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield.Historically the...
and the production versions vastly reduced journey times on the WCML. However, negative media coverage, technical problems and financial constraints caused the project to be cancelled. The APT was withdrawn in the early 1980s.
BR then proceeded to electrify the ECML and ordered a new fleet of
Intercity 225The InterCity 225 is the fastest locomotive-hauled domestic train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer...
trains in the mid 1980s. These electric trains were capable of 140mph (225 km/h) and although not initially equipped to tilt, were designed to be easily upgraded by having trailer profiles that tapered inwards at the top and suitable bogies. Speeds of were trialled on the southern, straighter sections of the ECML by using a flashing green aspect on the signals. This indicated it was safe to proceed above , but HMRSI eventually ruled that this practice was dangerous and speeds above 125 mph would require in-cab signalling. The 225s were curtailed to and have been limited to this speed since.
Meanwhile, internal studies at BR were investigating the case for a new dedicated track, but none of this work is in the public domain.
High Speed 1 (HS1)
The CTRL was the first new mainline railway to be built in the UK for a century, and was constructed by
London and Continental Railways-History:Created at the time of the Privatisation of British Rail it bid for and won the contract from the UK government in 1996 to build and operate High Speed 1 between London and the Channel Tunnel...
. After a lengthy process of route selection and public enquiries in the second half of the 1990s, work got under way on Section 1 from the
Channel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel , also known as the Chunnel, is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the UK with Coquelles, near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point it is deep...
to west of the
MedwayMedway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County Council, though still within the...
in 1998 and the line opened in 2003. Section 2, continuing the line to
London St PancrasSt Pancras railway station is a major railway station situated in the United Kingdom that is celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London, between the British Library, King's Cross station and the...
, started soon after Section 1 and was opened to the public on 14 November 2007. The complete line is now known as High Speed 1.
The HS1 line was finished on time and under budget. The reduction in journey times and increase in reliability achieved through the opening of Section 1 enabled Eurostar to capture 71% of the total London-Paris market and over 80% of the leisure market, and Section 2 has increased these figures further. Additionally, the connections provided to the WCML, MML and ECML by Section 2 may see growth of hitherto marginal markets, by finally allowing
Regional EurostarRegional Eurostar was the name given to plans to operate Eurostar train services from Paris and Brussels to locations in the United Kingdom beyond London.-Beginnings:...
s to operate, at least on the electrified ECML and WCML. Eurostar's chief executive stated that the company believes they can take 50% market share even on 4½ hour journeys, a journey time that would put
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
,
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
and
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
within reach of mainland Europe.
Market share statistics of Eurostar on London-Paris (and Punctuality):
- September 2006 (July-September 91.4%)
- August 2005 71.03% (January-September 87%)
- May 2005 69%
- August 2004 67.87% (January-December 84%)
- July 2004 65.88% (January-June 89%)
- October 2003 65%
- July 2003 60.23% (January-June 77%)
The completion and successful operation of CTRL Sections 1 and 2 spurred much discussion and several proposals for new lines in the UK and many interested parties are hoping to capitalise on the momentum given to these ideas by the completion of the complete CTRL. These proposals are discussed below.
First high-speed line proposals
In 2001, two privately-sponsored proposals were put forward to build high-speed lines in the UK. The first, from Virgin Trains, was part of its tender for the ECML franchise. The second, from First Group, was independent of the
DfTIn the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
/
SRAIn existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....
rail franchising process. Neither was welcomed by the government, who in the wake of the
Hatfield rail crashThe Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. Although the accident killed fewer than other accidents, Hatfield exposed the major stewardship shortcomings of the national railway infrastructure company Railtrack and the failings of the...
were focused on - as they saw it - getting the rail network back to reliable operations. There was also a suggestion that at that time government officials overseeing the railways favoured increased nationalisation of infrastructure rather than allowing the creation of additional track operators, seemingly against the notion of
public-private partnershipPublic-private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
s (PPPs) promoted elsewhere.
Virgin Trains' ECML bid
When the ECML franchise (then operated by GNER) came up for its first renewal, Virgin Trains raised the idea of constructing new track and purchasing a new fleet of trains for the line. These so-called VGVs (Virgin Grand Vitesse, after the French TGV) would be capable of and travel using a mixture of new track and existing track. The new track would be from
PeterboroughPeterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of as of June 2006. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. The Town Hall is north of London at Charing Cross...
to Yorkshire and on from
NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England...
to the Scottish border. This first track would have opened in 2009 and was chosen for ease of construction in the south and elimination of severe curves in
NorthumberlandNorthumberland is a ceremonial county and unitary district in the North East of England. It borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty miles of North...
. Later, if successful, further stretches would have been upgraded. Publicity material featuring Virgin branded TGV and
ICEThe Intercity-Express — in Austria, Denmark and Switzerland: InterCityExpress ; abbreviation: ICE — is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
trains appeared and it was stated that the stock would be built in Birmingham (implying Alstom would be the supplier), although at that time the only train capable of such speeds was the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
ICE3.
Virgin teamed up with experienced civil engineering contractors such as
Bechtel Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 7th-largest privately owned company in the U.S. With headquarters in San Francisco, Bechtel had 44,000 employees as of 2009 working on projects in nearly 50 countries with $31.4 billion in revenue.Bechtel...
, but their tender was rejected. There were issues with the souring relationship between the
Strategic Rail AuthorityIn existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....
and Virgin Trains' other operations and the possibility of creating a monopoly on Anglo-Scottish routes. Sir Richard Branson said he would give up one of their other franchises if necessary.
Nevertheless, the Virgin bid started people thinking about possibilities and showed that multinational companies were prepared to get involved with privately funded UK high-speed rail projects for the first time.
First Group's plans for the GWML corridor
Around the same time
First Great WesternFirst Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales....
, operators of lines west of London, announced a study into a line from London to
South West EnglandSouth West England is one of the regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area, covering including Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It has a population of almost five million, and includes the area often known as...
and
South WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
. First sponsored the study and input was given by other stakeholders in the regions to be served.
Journey times from London given included:
- Swindon 35 mins
- Bristol Parkway 49 mins
- Cardiff Central 70 mins
- Swansea 120 mins
- Plymouth 140 mins
Although First stated that this report would be published and given to the SRA and government, little has been heard of the plan since the initial press release. Many at the time felt that First should concentrate on day-to-day running of its services..
Government-commissioned studies
Since the completion of Section 1 of the CTRL, various government departments and ministers have commissioned reports into the viability of high-speed rail. This is in part due to the success of the CTRL project, part due to realisation that upgrades to existing infrastructure offer poor value for money and cannot hope to meet future capacity needs, and part due to increasing environmental concerns over the expansion of the short-haul airline industry.
Atkins study
In 2001, the SRA commissioned
AtkinsAtkins is a professional services firm providing engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services, based in Epsom, United Kingdom. Formerly known as WS Atkins, it was founded in 1938 by Sir William Atkins. Atkins employs approximately 17,000 staff based in 180 offices in 25...
to perform a feasibility study into the transport and business case for high-speed rail. The study, published on 29 October 2004, looked at combinations of 11 routing options to accommodate forecast traffic flows and concluded:
- New capacity is required to relieve the WCML by 2015
- Further new capacity will be required to relieve all three north-south routes by 2031
- Construction of the complete proposed network would cost £33bn, the shortest option £10bn
- The line would give a cost-benefit ratio of between 1.9 and 2.8 to 1
Furthermore, additional work was done to look at the impact of
road pricingRoad pricing is an economic concept regarding the various direct charges applied for the use of roads. The road charges includes fuel taxes, licence fees, parking taxes, tolls, and congestion charges, including those which may vary by time of day, by the specific road, or by the specific vehicle...
, downgrading the enhancements to the ECML, and changes to the
TreasuryA treasury is any place where the currency or items of high monetary value are kept. The term was first used in Classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or many similar buildings erected in Olympia, Greece by...
's green book method of assessing project finance. All three areas were found to improve the case for high-speed rail.
Atkins Option 1
The Atkins study proposed a line between London and Stoke-on-Trent, broadly following the existing WCML and using the WCML for onward connection, as its baseline scenario.
Atkins Option 8
The study concluded that new lines should be built each side of the Pennines, with the eastern line continuing to Edinburgh and Glasgow. A branch also serves Heathrow Airport. This is the £33bn "end game" scenario.
Atkins Option 10
Interestingly, the study considered a link between Manchester and Leeds but did not take this forward. No explanation is given for this.
Commission for Integrated Transport
In 2004 the Commission for Integrated Transport commissioned
Steer Davies GleaveSteer Davies Gleave is an independent consultancy working worldwide across the transport sector. It was ranked at #18 in the Business Times' top 100 companies to work for. -Stadium Projects:...
to produce a report entitled
High Speed Rail: International Comparisons. The report focused on the reasons why the costs being quoted for UK HSR routes (particularly in Atkins) were high in comparison to other countries, in addition to investigating the business case and transport case for such a network.
The routes studied gave journey times from and to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
as follows:
| Destination |
Current Journey Time |
HSR Journey Time |
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
|
1h 10m |
0h 55m |
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
|
2h 08m |
1h 06m |
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
|
2h 05m |
1h 25m |
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
|
2h 8m |
1h 15m |
NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England...
|
2h 50m |
1h 40m |
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
|
4h 05m |
2h 06m |
| Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
|
4h 20m |
2h 32m |
The study gave the following recommendations:
- That the Government and SRA begin to plan now for High-Speed Rail (HSR) as part of a wider strategy to ease the anticipated capacity constraints on the existing networks. Schemes that appear to offer good value for money should be actively progressed.
- That costs of HSR projects are closely examined to bring them closer to the lower costs achieved in Europe. They should take account of possible reductions in underlying costs and further cost reductions if the industry structure, safety regulations and the approvals process were reviewed.
- That the Government examines ways of maximising private sector involvement in HSR. This should take account of the potential impact of any future national road charging scheme on passenger demand and its potential to make private sector investment more attractive.
- That changes in the appraisal process be considered relating to value of time, economic impact analysis, environmental assessments and risk/optimism bias allowances.
- Additional capacity will be required by 2015
- Ways to reduce the currently high cost of new rail infrastructure such as high-speed lines include:
- Building lines in phases rather than all at once could produce a cost saving of 20%-30%
- UK project management, planning, design and legal costs can reach 25% of the total cost (compared with 3% on the Spanish Madrid - Lerida line
Alta Velocidad Española is a service of high speed trains operating at speeds of up to on dedicated track in Spain. The name is literally translated from Spanish as "Spanish High Speed", but also a play on the word , meaning "bird"....
) and could therefore be reduced
- If these cost savings materialise, then the benefits could outweigh the costs by 3 to 1
Eddington report
British Airways' former chief executive Sir Rod Eddington produced
The Eddington Transport Study, reporting on future transport strategy in November 2006.
The report covered all transport modes and had initially been expected to strongly recommend investment in high-speed rail. However, on 29 August 2006
The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
reported that Sir Rod would state that given a limited transport budget, a high-speed rail link is not the most cost-effective option to obtain higher capacity on the rail network and therefore should not be built. Most of the press continued to take this line when the report was finally published, drawing scorn from both opposition parties, Labour back-benchers and transport pressure groups alike. The report seemed to confirm this:
However, Sir Rod later claimed both to the press and parliamentary select committee that he was quoted out of context in reports at the time, had aimed his comments specifically at speculative MagLev options, and in fact was in favour of using conventional high-speed rail to relieve congestion once existing main lines reached capacity. Nevertheless, enthusiasm for such projects seemed to wane after the report's publication, at least in Westminster. The topic remained much on the political agenda in the North East of England and Scotland.
Greengauge 21 Study
The international definition of
high-speed rail is new lines with a speed of at least {{convert|250|km/h|mph|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} and existing lines with a speed of around {{convert|200|km/h|mph|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}. As of 2009, there are four "classic" main railway lines in the
United Kingdom operating at {{convert|125|mph|km/h|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}, plus {{convert|108|km|mi|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} of purpose built
high-speed lineHigh-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions include 200 km/h and faster — depending on whether the track is upgraded or new — by the European Union, and above 90 mph by the United...
.
The first purpose-built
high-speed railHigh-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions include 200 km/h and faster — depending on whether the track is upgraded or new — by the European Union, and above 90 mph by the United...
line within the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
was the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, of which the first section opened in 2003. The building of the line (re-branded "High Speed 1" in 2006) provoked discussion in the national media and specialist rail circles on the merits of constructing further high-speed lines. Costs and benefits of route options for a second dedicated high speed line, between London and the West Midlands, are to be considered by the Government at the end of 2009 (See High Speed Two).
A mixture of {{convert|300|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on}}
EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway passenger service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains cross under the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
international services and {{convert|225|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}
SoutheasternSoutheastern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It began operations in south-east England on 1 April 2006 as franchisee for the Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the prior publicly-owned operator South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...
domestic passenger services use High Speed 1. Attempts to increase speeds to {{convert|140|mph|km/h|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} on the
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a 393-mile long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh....
(ECML) and
West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. It provides fast, long-distance Intercity passenger services between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and southern Scotland....
(WCML) have both failed, partly as train travel above {{convert|125|mph|km/h|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} is judged to require in-cab signalling. The term
High Speed TrainThere are three types of trains in Britain that have been traditionally viewed as high speed trains:* Advanced Passenger Train - Tilting trains which never entered into regular revenue-earning service....
is currently used to refer to the British fleet of diesel-powered {{convert|125|mph|km/h|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}
InterCityInterCity was introduced by British Rail in 1966 as a brand-name for its long-haul express passenger services ....
trains currently in use.
Background
Attempts to increase the speed of British train services beyond {{convert|125|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} began in the 1970s with the
Advanced Passenger TrainThe Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, which did not enter regular service....
project and finally succeeded in the opening of the first phase of the CTRL in 2003. During that time, various abortive projects and reduced scope upgrades have failed to raise line speeds above this target on domestic routes. These issues have been documented extensively elsewhere, but they can be summarised as follows.
British Rail strategy
While the Japanese and French decided to build completely new tracks for their respective
ShinkansenThe is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the now long network has expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū at speeds up to...
and
TGVThe TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by VFE, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator. It was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom and SNCF, and is now operated primarily by SNCF...
high-speed rail systems, British Rail opted instead to develop a train capable of running on its existing rail infrastructure. The
Advanced Passenger TrainThe Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, which did not enter regular service....
could tilt into bends to reduce cornering forces on passengers and had a high power-to-weight figure to enable rapid acceleration. The APT project first produced a self-propelled gas turbine train, but the 1970s oil crisis caused a rethink in the choice of motive power (as with the prototype TGV) and later pre-production and production APTs were electric units.
Initial experience with the trains was good. The prototype set record speeds on the GWML and
Midland Main LineThe Midland Main Line is a major railway line in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The 'Modern' line links London St. Pancras International to Sheffield station in northern England via Luton, Bedford, Kettering, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield.Historically the...
and the production versions vastly reduced journey times on the WCML. However, negative media coverage, technical problems and financial constraints caused the project to be cancelled. The APT was withdrawn in the early 1980s.
BR then proceeded to electrify the ECML and ordered a new fleet of
Intercity 225The InterCity 225 is the fastest locomotive-hauled domestic train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer...
trains in the mid 1980s. These electric trains were capable of 140mph (225 km/h) and although not initially equipped to tilt, were designed to be easily upgraded by having trailer profiles that tapered inwards at the top and suitable bogies. Speeds of {{convert|140|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} were trialled on the southern, straighter sections of the ECML by using a flashing green aspect on the signals. This indicated it was safe to proceed above {{convert|125|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}, but HMRSI eventually ruled that this practice was dangerous and speeds above 125 mph would require in-cab signalling. The 225s were curtailed to {{convert|125|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} and have been limited to this speed since.
Meanwhile, internal studies at BR were investigating the case for a new dedicated track, but none of this work is in the public domain.
High Speed 1 (HS1)
{{Main|High Speed 1}}
The CTRL was the first new mainline railway to be built in the UK for a century, and was constructed by
London and Continental Railways-History:Created at the time of the Privatisation of British Rail it bid for and won the contract from the UK government in 1996 to build and operate High Speed 1 between London and the Channel Tunnel...
. After a lengthy process of route selection and public enquiries in the second half of the 1990s, work got under way on Section 1 from the
Channel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel , also known as the Chunnel, is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the UK with Coquelles, near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point it is deep...
to west of the
MedwayMedway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County Council, though still within the...
in 1998 and the line opened in 2003. Section 2, continuing the line to
London St PancrasSt Pancras railway station is a major railway station situated in the United Kingdom that is celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London, between the British Library, King's Cross station and the...
, started soon after Section 1 and was opened to the public on 14 November 2007. The complete line is now known as High Speed 1.
The HS1 line was finished on time and under budget. The reduction in journey times and increase in reliability achieved through the opening of Section 1 enabled Eurostar to capture 71% of the total London-Paris market and over 80% of the leisure market, and Section 2 has increased these figures further. Additionally, the connections provided to the WCML, MML and ECML by Section 2 may see growth of hitherto marginal markets, by finally allowing
Regional EurostarRegional Eurostar was the name given to plans to operate Eurostar train services from Paris and Brussels to locations in the United Kingdom beyond London.-Beginnings:...
s to operate, at least on the electrified ECML and WCML. Eurostar's chief executive stated{{When|date=July 2009}} that the company believes they can take 50% market share even on 4½ hour journeys, a journey time that would put
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
,
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
and
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
within reach of mainland Europe.
Market share statistics of Eurostar on London-Paris (and Punctuality):
- September 2006 (July-September 91.4%)
- August 2005 71.03% (January-September 87%)
- May 2005 69%
- August 2004 67.87% (January-December 84%)
- July 2004 65.88% (January-June 89%)
- October 2003 65%
- July 2003 60.23% (January-June 77%)
The completion and successful operation of CTRL Sections 1 and 2 spurred much discussion and several proposals for new lines in the UK and many interested parties are hoping to capitalise on the momentum given to these ideas by the completion of the complete CTRL. These proposals are discussed below.
First high-speed line proposals
In 2001, two privately-sponsored proposals were put forward to build high-speed lines in the UK. The first, from Virgin Trains, was part of its tender for the ECML franchise. The second, from First Group, was independent of the
DfTIn the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
/
SRAIn existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....
rail franchising process. Neither was welcomed by the government, who in the wake of the
Hatfield rail crashThe Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. Although the accident killed fewer than other accidents, Hatfield exposed the major stewardship shortcomings of the national railway infrastructure company Railtrack and the failings of the...
were focused on - as they saw it - getting the rail network back to reliable operations. There was also a suggestion that at that time government officials overseeing the railways favoured increased nationalisation of infrastructure rather than allowing the creation of additional track operators, seemingly against the notion of
public-private partnershipPublic-private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
s (PPPs) promoted elsewhere.
Virgin Trains' ECML bid
When the ECML franchise (then operated by GNER) came up for its first renewal, Virgin Trains raised the idea of constructing new track and purchasing a new fleet of trains for the line. These so-called VGVs (Virgin Grand Vitesse, after the French TGV) would be capable of {{convert|330|km/h|mph}} and travel using a mixture of new track and existing track. The new track would be from
PeterboroughPeterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of as of June 2006. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. The Town Hall is north of London at Charing Cross...
to Yorkshire and on from
NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England...
to the Scottish border. This first track would have opened in 2009 and was chosen for ease of construction in the south and elimination of severe curves in
NorthumberlandNorthumberland is a ceremonial county and unitary district in the North East of England. It borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty miles of North...
. Later, if successful, further stretches would have been upgraded. Publicity material featuring Virgin branded TGV and
ICEThe Intercity-Express — in Austria, Denmark and Switzerland: InterCityExpress ; abbreviation: ICE — is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
trains appeared and it was stated that the stock would be built in Birmingham (implying Alstom would be the supplier), although at that time the only train capable of such speeds was the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
ICE3.
Virgin teamed up with experienced civil engineering contractors such as
Bechtel Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 7th-largest privately owned company in the U.S. With headquarters in San Francisco, Bechtel had 44,000 employees as of 2009 working on projects in nearly 50 countries with $31.4 billion in revenue.Bechtel...
, but their tender was rejected. There were issues with the souring relationship between the
Strategic Rail AuthorityIn existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....
and Virgin Trains' other operations and the possibility of creating a monopoly on Anglo-Scottish routes. Sir Richard Branson said he would give up one of their other franchises if necessary.
Nevertheless, the Virgin bid started people thinking about possibilities and showed that multinational companies were prepared to get involved with privately funded UK high-speed rail projects for the first time.
First Group's plans for the GWML corridor
Around the same time
First Great WesternFirst Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales....
, operators of lines west of London, announced a study into a {{convert|320|km/h|mph}} line from London to
South West EnglandSouth West England is one of the regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area, covering including Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It has a population of almost five million, and includes the area often known as...
and
South WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
. First sponsored the study and input was given by other stakeholders in the regions to be served.
Journey times from London given included:
- Swindon 35 mins
- Bristol Parkway 49 mins
- Cardiff Central 70 mins
- Swansea 120 mins
- Plymouth 140 mins
Although First stated that this report would be published and given to the SRA and government, little has been heard of the plan since the initial press release. Many{{Who|date=July 2009}} at the time felt that First should concentrate on day-to-day running of its services..
Government-commissioned studies
Since the completion of Section 1 of the CTRL, various government departments and ministers have commissioned reports into the viability of high-speed rail. This is in part due to the success of the CTRL project, part due to realisation that upgrades to existing infrastructure offer poor value for money and cannot hope to meet future capacity needs, and part due to increasing environmental concerns over the expansion of the short-haul airline industry.
Atkins study
In 2001, the SRA commissioned
AtkinsAtkins is a professional services firm providing engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services, based in Epsom, United Kingdom. Formerly known as WS Atkins, it was founded in 1938 by Sir William Atkins. Atkins employs approximately 17,000 staff based in 180 offices in 25...
to perform a feasibility study into the transport and business case for high-speed rail. The study, published on 29 October 2004, looked at combinations of 11 routing options to accommodate forecast traffic flows and concluded:
- New capacity is required to relieve the WCML by 2015
- Further new capacity will be required to relieve all three north-south routes by 2031
- Construction of the complete proposed network would cost £33bn, the shortest option £10bn
- The line would give a cost-benefit ratio of between 1.9 and 2.8 to 1
Furthermore, additional work was done to look at the impact of
road pricingRoad pricing is an economic concept regarding the various direct charges applied for the use of roads. The road charges includes fuel taxes, licence fees, parking taxes, tolls, and congestion charges, including those which may vary by time of day, by the specific road, or by the specific vehicle...
, downgrading the enhancements to the ECML, and changes to the
TreasuryA treasury is any place where the currency or items of high monetary value are kept. The term was first used in Classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or many similar buildings erected in Olympia, Greece by...
's green book method of assessing project finance. All three areas were found to improve the case for high-speed rail.
Atkins Option 1
The Atkins study proposed a line between London and Stoke-on-Trent, broadly following the existing WCML and using the WCML for onward connection, as its baseline scenario.
Atkins Option 8
The study concluded that new lines should be built each side of the Pennines, with the eastern line continuing to Edinburgh and Glasgow. A branch also serves Heathrow Airport. This is the £33bn "end game" scenario.
Atkins Option 10
Interestingly, the study considered a link between Manchester and Leeds but did not take this forward. No explanation is given for this.
Commission for Integrated Transport
In 2004 the Commission for Integrated Transport commissioned
Steer Davies GleaveSteer Davies Gleave is an independent consultancy working worldwide across the transport sector. It was ranked at #18 in the Business Times' top 100 companies to work for. -Stadium Projects:...
to produce a report entitled
High Speed Rail: International Comparisons. The report focused on the reasons why the costs being quoted for UK HSR routes (particularly in Atkins) were high in comparison to other countries, in addition to investigating the business case and transport case for such a network.
The routes studied gave journey times from and to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
as follows:
| Destination |
Current Journey Time |
HSR Journey Time |
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
|
1h 10m |
0h 55m |
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
|
2h 08m |
1h 06m |
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
|
2h 05m |
1h 25m |
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
|
2h 8m |
1h 15m |
NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England...
|
2h 50m |
1h 40m |
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
|
4h 05m |
2h 06m |
| Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
|
4h 20m |
2h 32m |
The study gave the following recommendations:
- That the Government and SRA begin to plan now for High-Speed Rail (HSR) as part of a wider strategy to ease the anticipated capacity constraints on the existing networks. Schemes that appear to offer good value for money should be actively progressed.
- That costs of HSR projects are closely examined to bring them closer to the lower costs achieved in Europe. They should take account of possible reductions in underlying costs and further cost reductions if the industry structure, safety regulations and the approvals process were reviewed.
- That the Government examines ways of maximising private sector involvement in HSR. This should take account of the potential impact of any future national road charging scheme on passenger demand and its potential to make private sector investment more attractive.
- That changes in the appraisal process be considered relating to value of time, economic impact analysis, environmental assessments and risk/optimism bias allowances.
- Additional capacity will be required by 2015
- Ways to reduce the currently high cost of new rail infrastructure such as high-speed lines include:
- Building lines in phases rather than all at once could produce a cost saving of 20%-30%
- UK project management, planning, design and legal costs can reach 25% of the total cost (compared with 3% on the Spanish Madrid - Lerida line
Alta Velocidad Española is a service of high speed trains operating at speeds of up to on dedicated track in Spain. The name is literally translated from Spanish as "Spanish High Speed", but also a play on the word , meaning "bird"....
) and could therefore be reduced
- If these cost savings materialise, then the benefits could outweigh the costs by 3 to 1
Eddington report
{{Main|Eddington Transport Study}}
British Airways' former chief executive Sir Rod Eddington produced
The Eddington Transport Study, reporting on future transport strategy in November 2006.
The report covered all transport modes and had initially been expected to strongly recommend investment in high-speed rail. However, on 29 August 2006
The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
reported that Sir Rod would state that given a limited transport budget, a high-speed rail link is not the most cost-effective option to obtain higher capacity on the rail network and therefore should not be built. Most of the press continued to take this line when the report was finally published, drawing scorn from both opposition parties, Labour back-benchers and transport pressure groups alike. The report seemed to confirm this:
{{Cquote|Significant momentum has built behind the case for a new network of very high-speed rail lines in the UK. This is often associated with new technologies, such as magnetic levitation devices, currently in very limited use in China. The business case is often argued to rest on the transformational impact of such a network on the UK’s economic geography. However, new high-speed rail networks in the UK would not significantly change the level of economic connectivity between most parts of the UK, given existing aviation and rail links. Even if a transformation in connectivity could be achieved, the evidence is very quiet on the scale of resulting economic benefit, and in France business use of the high speed train network is low.
Faced with such arguments, supporters of HSLs point to the capacity increases such new
lines would deliver in London and selected urban areas by removing some or all interurban
trains from commuter and freight lines. Such benefits are likely to be both real and substantial. Crucially though, these goals could be achieved by other solutions, and perhaps at much lower cost. The range of policy measures would include fares pricing policy, signal-based methods of achieving more capacity on the existing network, and conventional solutions to capacity problems e.g. longer trains. Indeed, in keeping with a non-modal approach, the measures assessed should include improvements to other modes that support these journeys (e.g. motorway, bus, and urban access improvements).
New lines – including new very high-speed lines – should take their place within this range
of policy measures, and each should be assessed on their merits before selecting the option
that offers the greatest returns on investment. An alternative argument is sometimes made on environmental grounds because a very high speed line from London to Scotland could attract modal shift from air. Such arguments must be made with care given that total domestic aviation emissions, including flight between other cities, account for 1.2 per cent of the UK’s annual carbon emissions (CO2 equivalent), including allowance for the climate change impacts of non-carbon emissions from aviation. Furthermore, rail’s energy consumption and carbon emissions
increase with speed and this would erode rail’s environmental advantage and so it is important to consider the costs involved in reducing carbon emissions in this way.}}
However, Sir Rod later claimed both to the press and parliamentary select committee that he was quoted out of context in reports at the time, had aimed his comments specifically at speculative MagLev options, and in fact was in favour of using conventional high-speed rail to relieve congestion once existing main lines reached capacity. Nevertheless, enthusiasm for such projects seemed to wane after the report's publication, at least in Westminster. The topic remained much on the political agenda in the North East of England and Scotland.
Greengauge 21 Study
{{UKrail-header|Greengauge 21 Proposal (2009)|#FFA500}}
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The international definition of high-speed rail is new lines with a speed of at least {{convert|250|km/h|mph|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} and existing lines with a speed of around {{convert|200|km/h|mph|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}. As of 2009, there are four "classic" main railway lines in the United Kingdom operating at {{convert|125|mph|km/h|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}, plus {{convert|108|km|mi|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} of purpose built high-speed lineHigh-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions include 200 km/h and faster — depending on whether the track is upgraded or new — by the European Union, and above 90 mph by the United...
.
The first purpose-built high-speed railHigh-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions include 200 km/h and faster — depending on whether the track is upgraded or new — by the European Union, and above 90 mph by the United...
line within the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
was the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, of which the first section opened in 2003. The building of the line (re-branded "High Speed 1" in 2006) provoked discussion in the national media and specialist rail circles on the merits of constructing further high-speed lines. Costs and benefits of route options for a second dedicated high speed line, between London and the West Midlands, are to be considered by the Government at the end of 2009 (See High Speed Two).
A mixture of {{convert|300|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on}} EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway passenger service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains cross under the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
international services and {{convert|225|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} SoutheasternSoutheastern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It began operations in south-east England on 1 April 2006 as franchisee for the Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the prior publicly-owned operator South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...
domestic passenger services use High Speed 1. Attempts to increase speeds to {{convert|140|mph|km/h|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} on the East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a 393-mile long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh....
(ECML) and West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. It provides fast, long-distance Intercity passenger services between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and southern Scotland....
(WCML) have both failed, partly as train travel above {{convert|125|mph|km/h|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} is judged to require in-cab signalling. The term High Speed TrainThere are three types of trains in Britain that have been traditionally viewed as high speed trains:* Advanced Passenger Train - Tilting trains which never entered into regular revenue-earning service....
is currently used to refer to the British fleet of diesel-powered {{convert|125|mph|km/h|sigfig=3|abbr=on}} InterCityInterCity was introduced by British Rail in 1966 as a brand-name for its long-haul express passenger services ....
trains currently in use.
Background
Attempts to increase the speed of British train services beyond {{convert|125|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} began in the 1970s with the Advanced Passenger TrainThe Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, which did not enter regular service....
project and finally succeeded in the opening of the first phase of the CTRL in 2003. During that time, various abortive projects and reduced scope upgrades have failed to raise line speeds above this target on domestic routes. These issues have been documented extensively elsewhere, but they can be summarised as follows.
British Rail strategy
While the Japanese and French decided to build completely new tracks for their respective ShinkansenThe is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the now long network has expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū at speeds up to...
and TGVThe TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by VFE, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator. It was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom and SNCF, and is now operated primarily by SNCF...
high-speed rail systems, British Rail opted instead to develop a train capable of running on its existing rail infrastructure. The Advanced Passenger TrainThe Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, which did not enter regular service....
could tilt into bends to reduce cornering forces on passengers and had a high power-to-weight figure to enable rapid acceleration. The APT project first produced a self-propelled gas turbine train, but the 1970s oil crisis caused a rethink in the choice of motive power (as with the prototype TGV) and later pre-production and production APTs were electric units.
Initial experience with the trains was good. The prototype set record speeds on the GWML and Midland Main LineThe Midland Main Line is a major railway line in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The 'Modern' line links London St. Pancras International to Sheffield station in northern England via Luton, Bedford, Kettering, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield.Historically the...
and the production versions vastly reduced journey times on the WCML. However, negative media coverage, technical problems and financial constraints caused the project to be cancelled. The APT was withdrawn in the early 1980s.
BR then proceeded to electrify the ECML and ordered a new fleet of Intercity 225The InterCity 225 is the fastest locomotive-hauled domestic train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer...
trains in the mid 1980s. These electric trains were capable of 140mph (225 km/h) and although not initially equipped to tilt, were designed to be easily upgraded by having trailer profiles that tapered inwards at the top and suitable bogies. Speeds of {{convert|140|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} were trialled on the southern, straighter sections of the ECML by using a flashing green aspect on the signals. This indicated it was safe to proceed above {{convert|125|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}, but HMRSI eventually ruled that this practice was dangerous and speeds above 125 mph would require in-cab signalling. The 225s were curtailed to {{convert|125|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} and have been limited to this speed since.
Meanwhile, internal studies at BR were investigating the case for a new dedicated track, but none of this work is in the public domain.
High Speed 1 (HS1)
{{Main|High Speed 1}}
The CTRL was the first new mainline railway to be built in the UK for a century, and was constructed by London and Continental Railways-History:Created at the time of the Privatisation of British Rail it bid for and won the contract from the UK government in 1996 to build and operate High Speed 1 between London and the Channel Tunnel...
. After a lengthy process of route selection and public enquiries in the second half of the 1990s, work got under way on Section 1 from the Channel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel , also known as the Chunnel, is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the UK with Coquelles, near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point it is deep...
to west of the MedwayMedway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County Council, though still within the...
in 1998 and the line opened in 2003. Section 2, continuing the line to London St PancrasSt Pancras railway station is a major railway station situated in the United Kingdom that is celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London, between the British Library, King's Cross station and the...
, started soon after Section 1 and was opened to the public on 14 November 2007. The complete line is now known as High Speed 1.
The HS1 line was finished on time and under budget. The reduction in journey times and increase in reliability achieved through the opening of Section 1 enabled Eurostar to capture 71% of the total London-Paris market and over 80% of the leisure market, and Section 2 has increased these figures further. Additionally, the connections provided to the WCML, MML and ECML by Section 2 may see growth of hitherto marginal markets, by finally allowing Regional EurostarRegional Eurostar was the name given to plans to operate Eurostar train services from Paris and Brussels to locations in the United Kingdom beyond London.-Beginnings:...
s to operate, at least on the electrified ECML and WCML. Eurostar's chief executive stated{{When|date=July 2009}} that the company believes they can take 50% market share even on 4½ hour journeys, a journey time that would put BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
, ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
and LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
within reach of mainland Europe.
Market share statistics of Eurostar on London-Paris (and Punctuality):
- September 2006 (July-September 91.4%)
- August 2005 71.03% (January-September 87%)
- May 2005 69%
- August 2004 67.87% (January-December 84%)
- July 2004 65.88% (January-June 89%)
- October 2003 65%
- July 2003 60.23% (January-June 77%)
The completion and successful operation of CTRL Sections 1 and 2 spurred much discussion and several proposals for new lines in the UK and many interested parties are hoping to capitalise on the momentum given to these ideas by the completion of the complete CTRL. These proposals are discussed below.
First high-speed line proposals
In 2001, two privately-sponsored proposals were put forward to build high-speed lines in the UK. The first, from Virgin Trains, was part of its tender for the ECML franchise. The second, from First Group, was independent of the DfTIn the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
/ SRAIn existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....
rail franchising process. Neither was welcomed by the government, who in the wake of the Hatfield rail crashThe Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. Although the accident killed fewer than other accidents, Hatfield exposed the major stewardship shortcomings of the national railway infrastructure company Railtrack and the failings of the...
were focused on - as they saw it - getting the rail network back to reliable operations. There was also a suggestion that at that time government officials overseeing the railways favoured increased nationalisation of infrastructure rather than allowing the creation of additional track operators, seemingly against the notion of public-private partnershipPublic-private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
s (PPPs) promoted elsewhere.
Virgin Trains' ECML bid
When the ECML franchise (then operated by GNER) came up for its first renewal, Virgin Trains raised the idea of constructing new track and purchasing a new fleet of trains for the line. These so-called VGVs (Virgin Grand Vitesse, after the French TGV) would be capable of {{convert|330|km/h|mph}} and travel using a mixture of new track and existing track. The new track would be from PeterboroughPeterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of as of June 2006. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. The Town Hall is north of London at Charing Cross...
to Yorkshire and on from NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England...
to the Scottish border. This first track would have opened in 2009 and was chosen for ease of construction in the south and elimination of severe curves in NorthumberlandNorthumberland is a ceremonial county and unitary district in the North East of England. It borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty miles of North...
. Later, if successful, further stretches would have been upgraded. Publicity material featuring Virgin branded TGV and ICEThe Intercity-Express — in Austria, Denmark and Switzerland: InterCityExpress ; abbreviation: ICE — is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
trains appeared and it was stated that the stock would be built in Birmingham (implying Alstom would be the supplier), although at that time the only train capable of such speeds was the GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
ICE3.
Virgin teamed up with experienced civil engineering contractors such as Bechtel Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 7th-largest privately owned company in the U.S. With headquarters in San Francisco, Bechtel had 44,000 employees as of 2009 working on projects in nearly 50 countries with $31.4 billion in revenue.Bechtel...
, but their tender was rejected. There were issues with the souring relationship between the Strategic Rail AuthorityIn existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....
and Virgin Trains' other operations and the possibility of creating a monopoly on Anglo-Scottish routes. Sir Richard Branson said he would give up one of their other franchises if necessary.
Nevertheless, the Virgin bid started people thinking about possibilities and showed that multinational companies were prepared to get involved with privately funded UK high-speed rail projects for the first time.
First Group's plans for the GWML corridor
Around the same time First Great WesternFirst Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales....
, operators of lines west of London, announced a study into a {{convert|320|km/h|mph}} line from London to South West EnglandSouth West England is one of the regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area, covering including Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It has a population of almost five million, and includes the area often known as...
and South WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
. First sponsored the study and input was given by other stakeholders in the regions to be served.
Journey times from London given included:
- Swindon 35 mins
- Bristol Parkway 49 mins
- Cardiff Central 70 mins
- Swansea 120 mins
- Plymouth 140 mins
Although First stated that this report would be published and given to the SRA and government, little has been heard of the plan since the initial press release. Many{{Who|date=July 2009}} at the time felt that First should concentrate on day-to-day running of its services..
Government-commissioned studies
Since the completion of Section 1 of the CTRL, various government departments and ministers have commissioned reports into the viability of high-speed rail. This is in part due to the success of the CTRL project, part due to realisation that upgrades to existing infrastructure offer poor value for money and cannot hope to meet future capacity needs, and part due to increasing environmental concerns over the expansion of the short-haul airline industry.
Atkins study
In 2001, the SRA commissioned AtkinsAtkins is a professional services firm providing engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services, based in Epsom, United Kingdom. Formerly known as WS Atkins, it was founded in 1938 by Sir William Atkins. Atkins employs approximately 17,000 staff based in 180 offices in 25...
to perform a feasibility study into the transport and business case for high-speed rail. The study, published on 29 October 2004, looked at combinations of 11 routing options to accommodate forecast traffic flows and concluded:
- New capacity is required to relieve the WCML by 2015
- Further new capacity will be required to relieve all three north-south routes by 2031
- Construction of the complete proposed network would cost £33bn, the shortest option £10bn
- The line would give a cost-benefit ratio of between 1.9 and 2.8 to 1
Furthermore, additional work was done to look at the impact of road pricingRoad pricing is an economic concept regarding the various direct charges applied for the use of roads. The road charges includes fuel taxes, licence fees, parking taxes, tolls, and congestion charges, including those which may vary by time of day, by the specific road, or by the specific vehicle...
, downgrading the enhancements to the ECML, and changes to the TreasuryA treasury is any place where the currency or items of high monetary value are kept. The term was first used in Classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or many similar buildings erected in Olympia, Greece by...
's green book method of assessing project finance. All three areas were found to improve the case for high-speed rail.
Atkins Option 1
The Atkins study proposed a line between London and Stoke-on-Trent, broadly following the existing WCML and using the WCML for onward connection, as its baseline scenario.
Atkins Option 8
The study concluded that new lines should be built each side of the Pennines, with the eastern line continuing to Edinburgh and Glasgow. A branch also serves Heathrow Airport. This is the £33bn "end game" scenario.
Atkins Option 10
Interestingly, the study considered a link between Manchester and Leeds but did not take this forward. No explanation is given for this.
Commission for Integrated Transport
In 2004 the Commission for Integrated Transport commissioned Steer Davies GleaveSteer Davies Gleave is an independent consultancy working worldwide across the transport sector. It was ranked at #18 in the Business Times' top 100 companies to work for. -Stadium Projects:...
to produce a report entitled High Speed Rail: International Comparisons. The report focused on the reasons why the costs being quoted for UK HSR routes (particularly in Atkins) were high in comparison to other countries, in addition to investigating the business case and transport case for such a network.
The routes studied gave journey times from and to London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
as follows:
| Destination |
Current Journey Time |
HSR Journey Time |
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
|
1h 10m |
0h 55m |
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
|
2h 08m |
1h 06m |
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
|
2h 05m |
1h 25m |
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
|
2h 8m |
1h 15m |
NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England...
|
2h 50m |
1h 40m |
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
|
4h 05m |
2h 06m |
| Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
|
4h 20m |
2h 32m |
The study gave the following recommendations:
- That the Government and SRA begin to plan now for High-Speed Rail (HSR) as part of a wider strategy to ease the anticipated capacity constraints on the existing networks. Schemes that appear to offer good value for money should be actively progressed.
- That costs of HSR projects are closely examined to bring them closer to the lower costs achieved in Europe. They should take account of possible reductions in underlying costs and further cost reductions if the industry structure, safety regulations and the approvals process were reviewed.
- That the Government examines ways of maximising private sector involvement in HSR. This should take account of the potential impact of any future national road charging scheme on passenger demand and its potential to make private sector investment more attractive.
- That changes in the appraisal process be considered relating to value of time, economic impact analysis, environmental assessments and risk/optimism bias allowances.
- Additional capacity will be required by 2015
- Ways to reduce the currently high cost of new rail infrastructure such as high-speed lines include:
- Building lines in phases rather than all at once could produce a cost saving of 20%-30%
- UK project management, planning, design and legal costs can reach 25% of the total cost (compared with 3% on the Spanish Madrid - Lerida line
Alta Velocidad Española is a service of high speed trains operating at speeds of up to on dedicated track in Spain. The name is literally translated from Spanish as "Spanish High Speed", but also a play on the word , meaning "bird"....
) and could therefore be reduced
- If these cost savings materialise, then the benefits could outweigh the costs by 3 to 1
Eddington report
{{Main|Eddington Transport Study}}
British Airways' former chief executive Sir Rod Eddington produced The Eddington Transport Study, reporting on future transport strategy in November 2006.
The report covered all transport modes and had initially been expected to strongly recommend investment in high-speed rail. However, on 29 August 2006 The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
reported that Sir Rod would state that given a limited transport budget, a high-speed rail link is not the most cost-effective option to obtain higher capacity on the rail network and therefore should not be built. Most of the press continued to take this line when the report was finally published, drawing scorn from both opposition parties, Labour back-benchers and transport pressure groups alike. The report seemed to confirm this:
{{Cquote|Significant momentum has built behind the case for a new network of very high-speed rail lines in the UK. This is often associated with new technologies, such as magnetic levitation devices, currently in very limited use in China. The business case is often argued to rest on the transformational impact of such a network on the UK’s economic geography. However, new high-speed rail networks in the UK would not significantly change the level of economic connectivity between most parts of the UK, given existing aviation and rail links. Even if a transformation in connectivity could be achieved, the evidence is very quiet on the scale of resulting economic benefit, and in France business use of the high speed train network is low.
Faced with such arguments, supporters of HSLs point to the capacity increases such new
lines would deliver in London and selected urban areas by removing some or all interurban
trains from commuter and freight lines. Such benefits are likely to be both real and substantial. Crucially though, these goals could be achieved by other solutions, and perhaps at much lower cost. The range of policy measures would include fares pricing policy, signal-based methods of achieving more capacity on the existing network, and conventional solutions to capacity problems e.g. longer trains. Indeed, in keeping with a non-modal approach, the measures assessed should include improvements to other modes that support these journeys (e.g. motorway, bus, and urban access improvements).
New lines – including new very high-speed lines – should take their place within this range
of policy measures, and each should be assessed on their merits before selecting the option
that offers the greatest returns on investment. An alternative argument is sometimes made on environmental grounds because a very high speed line from London to Scotland could attract modal shift from air. Such arguments must be made with care given that total domestic aviation emissions, including flight between other cities, account for 1.2 per cent of the UK’s annual carbon emissions (CO2 equivalent), including allowance for the climate change impacts of non-carbon emissions from aviation. Furthermore, rail’s energy consumption and carbon emissions
increase with speed and this would erode rail’s environmental advantage and so it is important to consider the costs involved in reducing carbon emissions in this way.}}
However, Sir Rod later claimed both to the press and parliamentary select committee that he was quoted out of context in reports at the time, had aimed his comments specifically at speculative MagLev options, and in fact was in favour of using conventional high-speed rail to relieve congestion once existing main lines reached capacity. Nevertheless, enthusiasm for such projects seemed to wane after the report's publication, at least in Westminster. The topic remained much on the political agenda in the North East of England and Scotland.
Greengauge 21 Study
{{UKrail-header|Greengauge 21 Proposal (2009)|#FFA500}}
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In June 2007, the campaign group Greengauge 21, led by Jim Steer, published its report
High Speed Two: A Greengauge 21 Proposition. In it, they evaluated options for high-speed rail in the UK and recommended an £11bn route from London St Pancras and Heathrow to Birmingham and the North West, which they dubbed HS2. The report recommended the new rail line be built in the M40/Chiltern Main Line corridor, and used it as the basis for its findings. This Route has the greatest strategic advantage, as the Chiltern Main Line is a popular alternative to the WCML from Birmingham to London, and also lends the opportunity to build a branch line to Heathrow Airport, giving the passengers served by the WCML a direct service to one of the world's premier international airports. The WCML is also the corridor which would be under the most pressure in the next 15 – 20 years. A connection to High Speed 1 would allow Eurostar terminals to open in Birmingham and Manchester.
Branching off HS1, it would briefly follow the WCML and GWML, branching off at the connection with the
Central LineThe Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Out of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
, going to Northolt Junction, where it will follow the Chiltern Main Line and have a triangular junction serving a branch to Heathrow. The line will be tunnelled at Chiltern stations, up till Princes Risborough, where it will incorporate itself with the intercity line, up to Banbury, where it will branch off and hug the M40 and M42, before joining the Birmingham Loop, at Birmingham International/NEC. Links to Milton Kenyes and Oxford via the Varsity Line, and Banbury in the middle of the Line, would experience a growth in services. Local services on Chiltern, WCML south of Rugby, and Banbury - Coventry - Birmingham could be intensified.
The new line would enable journey times of:
- London to Birmingham in 45 minutes
- Birmingham to Paris in 3 hours
- London to Manchester (via the WCML after the Trent Valley) in 1 hour 30 minutes
- Manchester to Paris in 3 hours 45 minutes
The line would be built to the continental loading gauge, allowing the use of double-decker trains.
On 3 July 2007 reports appeared in several online editions of British newspapers about the UK government's forthcoming 30-year strategy (see below). It was stated that "Britain may need High Speed Two", but that "the strategy will stop short of promising to pay for the line".
In September 2009, Greengauge 21 published a new study into High Speed Rail. This was far more extensive than Network Rail's proposal, with the plan calling for a full, integrated high speed network totalling around 1500km. Greengauge's plan calls for two north/south corridors from London, which would broadly parallel the
ECMLThe East Coast Main Line is a 393-mile long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh....
and
WCMLThe West Coast Main Line is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. It provides fast, long-distance Intercity passenger services between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and southern Scotland....
, together with three east/west corridors between London-Bristol, Sheffield-Manchester and Edinburgh-Glasgow. Both the north/south lines would consist of new built high speed lines, while the east/west corridors would run on existing lines upgraded to allow 200km/h running. One of the central parts of the Greengauge 21 proposal is to have it linked directly with High Speed 1, to allow through running to the
Channel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel , also known as the Chunnel, is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the UK with Coquelles, near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point it is deep...
, thus enabling services to run direct from regional cities to Europe. The draft timetable produced as part of the plan estimates that trains could run between Birmingham and Paris in approximately 3 hours.
- High-Speed North-East - the North-East route would run north from London to Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. It is also at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen....
, with a spur connecting to Stansted Airport, before diverting towards the East MidlandsThe East Midlands is one of the regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and most of Lincolnshire, although people often speak of...
, stopping at NottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England and is one of only eight members of the English Core Cities Group....
and SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base...
. It would then run as far as LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
, before resuming the route of the ECML towards NewcastleNewcastle or New Castle primarily refers to the historic city Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and also Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.-Australia:*Newcastle, New South Wales, the second most populated area in the state of New South Wales...
. Between Newcastle and EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
, the route would consist of existing upgraded line rather than new build.
- High-Speed North-West - the North-West route would be completely new build. This would run north towards Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
, with a spur to Heathrow Airport, before reaching ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
and LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. Both of these would be on branches off the main line, with Manchester at a triangular junction; the main line would continue north where it would fork, with branches to GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
, where it would connect with the North-East Line.
- High-Speed West - the Western corridor would consist of existing track upgraded to 200 km/h, and would run west out of London stopping at Heathrow, Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff.With an estimated population of 416,400 for the unitary authority in mid-2007, and a surrounding urban area with an estimated 561,500 residents, it is England's sixth, and...
and CardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for many national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. According to recent estimates, the...
. A triangular junction at Heathrow would allow access from these western destinations to the North-West route without the need to go via London.
- High-Speed Trans-Pennine - the Trans-Pennine route would be a short corridor of upgraded line connecting Sheffield and Manchester. Both of these would be on triangular junctions, allowing access to all destinations on the North-East and North-West corridors.
- High-Speed Scotland - the Scottish route would be a corridor between Edinburgh and Glasgow, consisting of entirely new build line.
Government White Paper: Delivering a Sustainable Railway
In July 2007, the new Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, delivered a white paper called
'Delivering a Sustainable Railway'. The report outlined the government's strategic plan for the railways until 2037. This report overlooked high-speed rail options, with the government opting instead for "further study" and saying that dedicated "magnetic rail link" and freight lines were
"too expensive". Amongst the support documentation for this white paper is a report by transport professors Roderick Smith and Roger Kemp, entitled
Technical issues raised by the proposal to introduce a 500 km/h magnetically-levitated transport system in the UK. This report reviewed the options for a MagLev trunk line, particularly those proposed by
UK UltraspeedThe UK Ultraspeed line is a proposed magnetic-levitation train line between London and Glasgow, linking Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle, and with a spur to Liverpool.-Proposal:...
and concluded that it was a high risk option, with a high impact on transport energy use and therefore
CO2Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state...
emissions.
Second Atkins study
In March 2008, The Observer and The Sunday Times both reported that a second report for the Department of Transport by Atkins entitled
Because Transport Matters showed that the original Option 8 (a high speed network on both west and east coast) would give a benefit of £63bn, well in excess of the predicted costs of £31bn. The report suggested building two {{convert|300|km/h|mph}} lines on the East and West coasts. The West coast line would run to Manchester, whilst the Eastern line would run to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Travel times of 71 minutes to Manchester and 74 minutes to Sheffield were mentioned in the report
High Speed Two
{{Split|High Speed 2| date=September 2009}}
{{Main|High Speed 2}}
While proposals for high speed rail in the UK had previously been dubbed High Speed Two (following the naming of the CTRL as High Speed 1), on 15 January 2009 the UK Government launched a formal high speed rail project, announced as part of a package of transport proposals dominated by the announcement of approval for the
expansion of London Heathrow AirportBAA Limited have proposed a plan for expansion of London Heathrow Airport by building a new runway and a sixth terminal. The plan is supported by both business and airline interests and the UK government, however many groups and prominent individuals are opposed to the expansion.- Background :The...
by the addition of a third runway and sixth terminal.
The project consisted of the launch of a separate company called High Speed Two, which would study the feasibility and viability of a new line, referred to as
High Speed 2, using trains capable of travelling at speeds over 150mph (240 km/h). The company's stated purpose was to "help consider the case for new high speed services from London to Scotland." As a first stage, initial proposals for a new line would be considered for routes between London and the West Midlands, with the new line extended over time to reach Scotland. The company would report formally to the Government on the initial issues affecting this first stage by the end of 2009.
The government established a separate company for the project after the same strategy was said to have been successfully used to study the financial and technical issues of the other long
lead timeA lead time is the period of time between the initiation of any process of production and the completion of that process. For example, the lead time for ordering a new car from a manufacturer may be anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months...
rail infrastructure projects, High Speed 1 and
CrossrailCrossrail is a project to build major new railway connections under central London. The project's name refers to the first of two routes proposed by Cross London Rail Links Ltd, based around an east-west tunnel from Paddington to Liverpool Street station...
. The company would start work immediately, and draw on existing consultation produced for the
Department for TransportIn the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
(Dft) and
Network RailNetwork Rail owns and operates Britain’s rail infrastructure. It is a British "not for dividend" company limited by guarantee whose principal asset is Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, a company limited by shares....
, soliciting new consultation where needed, and would utilise DfT and Network Rail staff as well as recruiting externally. While the project was launched as an independent initiative, in launching the HS2 company the government acknowledged the contributions of both the consultancy group Arup in suggesting a high speed link from Heathrow to London, and of HSR advocacy group Greengauge 21 in justifying High Speed rail based on the limitations of the WCML, as both having been important.
Prior to the HS2 project being announced, the government had concluded that the most appropriate initial route for an entirely new high speed line in the UK was from London to the
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
. As a general justification for selecting this corridor, by 2008 the government had identified that it was "the single most important and heavily used" strategic national transport corridors in England, for both passenger and freight traffic by road and rail, with the corridor being cited as having twice the size of travel market as London to the
North WestNorth West England is one of the nine official regions of England. It has a population of 6,853,200 and comprises five counties of England – Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire....
and six times that of London to Scotland. The DfT cited the significant rail market share (52%) of the
North EastNorth-East England is one of the nine official regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Tees Valley. The historic name for North-East England is Northumbria and whilst a few regional bodies still use this name, it is rarely used in...
, "a region well served by efficient and reasonably fast rail services", as showing that the new line could achieve '
modalMode of transport is a general term for the different kinds of transport facilities that are often used to transport people or cargo....
shift' to rail, from road and air.
In justifying HS2 it was also stated by the DfT that the
West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. It provides fast, long-distance Intercity passenger services between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and southern Scotland....
(WCML), the existing UK main railway line serving the corridor, was the UK's busiest, but was expected to be "overloaded south of Rugby by about 2025". This was despite a recently completed upgrade, and the expected implementation of plans for longer trains and in-cab signalling. Specifically for the WCML as opposed to other main lines, it was asserted that no further significant capacity enhancements were possible without "major disruption to passengers and freight services". It was proposed that released capacity on the existing WCML due to construction of HS2 would then be used to enhance services for the
Milton KeynesMilton Keynes , often abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is also the principal town of the Borough of Milton Keynes. It was formally designated as a new town on 23 January 1967...
and
South MidlandsThe South Midlands is an area of England. It is the southern portion of the English Midlands, and just as there is no agreed definition for that area, various organisations use the name South Midlands to refer to an area that is specific to their own way of dividing up the country. The term is...
area, identified as the "largest growth area in the UK" with a population of 1.6 million people.
In launching the project the DfT announced that the new High Speed 2 line between London and the West Midlands would follow a different
alignmentAlignment is the adjustment of an object in relation with other objects, or a static orientation of some object or set of objects in relation to others.* An alignment of megaliths: see stone row....
to the existing WCML, because it was considered to be too costly to provide extra capacity by building new rail alongside the existing WCML while the existing track was in use. Furthermore, parts of the existing
VictorianThe Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements...
WCML alignment were not suitable for High Speed Rail service.
In addition to the expected capacity benefits for the WCML, in launching HS2 the Government stated that the new line would improve rail services from London to "Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and other destinations in the north of England and Scotland", and an approach route west of London would allow opportunities to "improve surface access by rail to Heathrow Airport." Furthermore, if the new line were connected to the
Great Western Main LineThe Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads station in Bristol...
(GWML) and
CrossrailCrossrail is a project to build major new railway connections under central London. The project's name refers to the first of two routes proposed by Cross London Rail Links Ltd, based around an east-west tunnel from Paddington to Liverpool Street station...
it would provide links with East and West London, and the Thames Valley.
The company would provide advice on the cost and benefits of a proposed route with any options as appropriate, options for a Heathrow International interchange station, options for access to central London and other cities on the route, connectivity with HS1 and the existing rail network, and proposals for financing and construction. The options to be considered for connecting with Heathrow were to comprise: routing the new line via Heathrow, constructing a
spurA branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
of the new line to serve Heathrow, or building a new 'Heathrow International' interchange station in West London, connecting the proposed new HS2 line with
CrossrailCrossrail is a project to build major new railway connections under central London. The project's name refers to the first of two routes proposed by Cross London Rail Links Ltd, based around an east-west tunnel from Paddington to Liverpool Street station...
and the GWML. An interchange with Crossrail could be in addition to, or instead of, extending the capacity of an existing North London terminus. An interchange with HS1 at
St. PancrasSt Pancras railway station is a major railway station situated in the United Kingdom that is celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London, between the British Library, King's Cross station and the...
would allow connections to the
European high speed rail networkHigh-speed rail is emerging in Europe as an increasingly popular and efficient means of transportation. The first high-speed rail lines in Europe, built in the 1980s and 1990s, improved travel times on intra-national corridors. Since then, several countries have built extensive high-speed...
.
Connecting Heathrow to Birmingham and Manchester has been proposed as an alternative to Heathrow's third runway, effectively making Birmingham airport a north terminal of Heathrow (45 minutes away). This would reduce internal flights, freeing up slots and increasing capacity by using Birmingham and other UK airports to handle more long-haul flights.
It was announced that the proposed new line would use conventional technology. A line using Maglev technology was dismissed as being too costly to build, not as environmentally friendly as conventional high speed rail, unable to integrate with the existing UK rail network or future high speed lines, and unable to bring the operational flexibility and advantages of conventional high speed rail, such as the development of domestic services on HS1 which use high speed rails in part. In June 2009, Professor Andrew McNaughton, chief engineer for the High Speed Two company set up by the government, suggested any new line would need to be capable of 250mph (400 km/h) speeds.
Technology choices
Any operators of a new high-speed route are faced with a decision on which technology to use. There are two alternative technically viable but incompatible propulsion technologies available to allow speeds of over 200mph: Wheel-on-rail (high-speed but essentially traditional railway trains) and
magnetic levitationMagnetic levitation, maglev, or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields...
(Maglev) trains and variations of both exist.
Wheel-on-rail
Most high-speed systems in use in the world today use highly developed but otherwise traditional rail technology, designed to operate at 300 km/h (186 mph) or higher speeds. All railways operating at these speeds on a regular basis use electric traction, although onboard power generation has been considered in the past. Full details of this type of traction can be seen on the High Speed Rail page.
There are various train architectures in use: Articulated rakes of coaches have been used by
AlstomAlstom is a large French multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2007-'08 Alstom had annual sales of over €16.9 billion, and employed more than 81,500 people in 70 countries. Alstom's...
for the
TGVThe TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by VFE, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator. It was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom and SNCF, and is now operated primarily by SNCF...
,
EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway passenger service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains cross under the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
and derivatives of these trains and more recently with the
BombardierBombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Bombardier Inc.. Bombardier Transportation is the world’s largest company in the rail equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters is in Berlin, Germany....
TalgoTalgo is a Spanish manufacturer of railway vehicles. It is best known for a design of articulated railway passenger cars in which the wheels are mounted in pairs, but not joined by an axle, and being between rather than underneath the individual coaches...
AVE S-102The AVE Class 102 or S-102 is a series of AVE high speed trains for the Spanish state-run railway company RENFE. Outside of AVE service, Talgo markets this train as Talgo 350....
. Meanwhile
SiemensSiemens AG is Europe's largest engineering conglomerate. Siemens' international headquarters are located in Berlin and Munich, Germany. The company is a conglomerate of three main business sectors: Industry, Energy and Healthcare with a total of 15 Divisions.Worldwide, Siemens and its subsidiaries...
and Japanese manufacturers of the
ShinkansenThe is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the now long network has expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū at speeds up to...
have promoted non-articulated
multiple unitThe term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelling train unit capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one cab...
designs with the
VelaroSiemens Velaro is a family of German high-speed EMUs. They are based on Deutsche Bahn's ICE 3 high-speed trains. Unlike the ICE 3, the Velaro is a full Siemens product.On July 2006 a Siemens Velaro train-set reached 403.7 km/h...
,
ICE 3The Intercity-Express — in Austria, Denmark and Switzerland: InterCityExpress ; abbreviation: ICE — is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
and bullet trains. More recently, Alstom combined the benefits of both with the
AGVThe AGV is an Alstom train intended as the successor to France’s TGV high-speed trains; the name stands for automotrice à grande vitesse, or ‘high-speed self-propelled carriage’. Instead of having separate power cars at either end of the train, as current TGVs do, the AGV will have distributed...
.
Maglev
Magnetic Levitation trainsMaglev, or magnetic levitation, is a system of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles, predominantly trains, using magnetic levitation from a very large number of magnets for lift and propulsion. This method has the potential to be faster, quieter and smoother than wheeled mass...
dispense with wheels and are lifted and propelled by magnetic fields. A group called
UK UltraspeedThe UK Ultraspeed line is a proposed magnetic-levitation train line between London and Glasgow, linking Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle, and with a spur to Liverpool.-Proposal:...
is promoting such a line in the UK.
{{Main|Transrapid#Implementations}}
Two high-speed systems are either being deployed or close to being deployed worldwide: The German
TransrapidTransrapid is a German high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. Based on a patent from 1934, planning of the Transrapid system started in 1969. The test facility for the system in Emsland, Germany was completed in 1987...
system has been deployed in
ShanghaiThe Shanghai Maglev Train or Shanghai Transrapid is the first commercial high-speed maglev line in the world. The system and trains were built to the Transrapid standard...
as an airport transit system. The system opened in 2004. The other main Maglev technology that is close to deployment is in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where an alternative and incompatible system to Transrapid has been developed. This line uses cooled, superconducting magnets to improve efficiency and currently holds the Maglev speed record of 581 km/h (361mph). The Japanese government has approved plans to extend the experimental
YamanashiYamanashi can refer to:* Yamanashi Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture with 888,170 people* Yamanashi, Yamanashi, a Japanese city with 39,631 people .* Joseph Yamanashi, a recurring character on MADtv played by Bobby Lee...
line into a full link between
Tokyo, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....
and
Osakais a city in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshū.Osaka is a City in Japan and also is designated city under the Local Autonomy Law and the capital city of Osaka Prefecture...
(
Chūō Shinkansenis a proposed maglev line connecting Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Japan. Currently the only part of the line that exists is the Yamanashi test track. It is proposed to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in the first stage in 40 minutes, and eventually Tokyo and Osaka in an hour...
)
A third Transrapid line had been approved in Germany, connecting
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
's Airport with its central railway station in 10 minutes, but has since been scrapped.
Route choices
{{Split|High Speed 2|date=September 2009}}
The promoters of both wheel-on-rail and maglev systems in the UK, and the technology-agnostic studies that have been commissioned by government departments and third parties, have concentrated on the North-South axis of the UK for the first route. There is some disagreement on whether a single central route, both west and east coast routes or a single S-shaped route taking in the major population centres (as proposed by maglev promoters) should be constructed first.
All studies have argued that a hub at Heathrow Airport would be desirable as both an interchange for air services and local rail services to the west and south of
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. The Atkins study has identified routes to the
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
,
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
as being capacity constrained by 2015 and this is almost certainly where the first HSL will be required. Atkins also recommended having two routes, one each side of the
PenninesThe Pennines are a low-rising mountain range in northern England and southern Scotland. They separate the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East....
. The study recommends against a trunk and branch structure.
Various route options between London and Birmingham have also been suggested, some incorporating an intermediate stop in the vicinity of either Oxford (a city of international prominence), or Northampton (being roughly half-way), or at another point which will allow convenient interchange with the national rail network (E.g. Bicester, for both the
Chiltern Main LineThe Chiltern Main Line is an intercity regional and commuter main line railway in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. It links London and Birmingham on a 106 mile route which runs via North West London, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire...
and
East West Rail LinkEast West Rail Link is a proposed new rail route to provide a fast outer orbital railway to the north of London linking Great Western Main Line, Oxford, Bicester, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich for both passenger traffic and freight...
).
The Maglev option promoted by UK Ultraspeed takes a route from London to Manchester, with a branch to Liverpool, then directly across the Pennines to
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
, with a branch to
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base...
, before heading north east to
TeessideTeesside is the name given to the conurbation in the North East of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of Teesside...
and
TynesideTyneside is a conurbation in northern England, which is home to over 80% of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. It includes Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Hebburn, Jarrow, North Shields, and South Shields — all settlements on the banks of the River Tyne. The population of the...
then north to
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
and
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. The Atkins study includes a trans-Pennine option, but puts more emphasis on a line through the
East MidlandsThe East Midlands is one of the regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and most of Lincolnshire, although people often speak of...
to Sheffield, Leeds and then north on a similar trajectory to that of the maglev.
Use of existing infrastructure
The advantage of conventional wheel-on-rail technology is that it can use existing infrastructure to access city centres. So far, the studies have stopped short of recommending a London
terminusTerminal Station is a 1953 film English language film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Production:...
, but it is generally assumed that it would be at or close to the High Speed 1 station at
St PancrasSt Pancras railway station is a major railway station situated in the United Kingdom that is celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London, between the British Library, King's Cross station and the...
. Indeed, it is assumed that the route would interface directly with HS1 to allow through running. However, the new railway will most likely be built to the larger
continentalContinental is the adjective form of continent. Continental may refer to:* Continental , an album by UK band Saint Etienne* Continental , a brand of dried and pre-packaged foods used by Unilever in Australia...
loading gaugeA loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
— just as with HS1 — so access to city centre stations over existing lines will require structures on the route to be altered and therefore negate some of the advantage conventional technology has in this respect.
The UK Ultraspeed proposal does not envisage a Central London terminus at all, but instead proposes stations at Heathrow and
StratfordStratford, historically Stratford Langthorne, is a place in the London Borough of Newham in East London. It will be the primary location of the 2012 Summer Olympics. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
. The latter would offer direct connections with
EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway passenger service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains cross under the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
and both terminals would connect to the city centre via
CrossrailCrossrail is a project to build major new railway connections under central London. The project's name refers to the first of two routes proposed by Cross London Rail Links Ltd, based around an east-west tunnel from Paddington to Liverpool Street station...
. The route from Stratford would follow the Lea Valley and meet the Heathrow branch at a
parkway station by the
M25The M25 motorway is a 117 mile orbital motorway which encircles Greater London, United Kingdom except for the tolled Dartford Crossing where it crosses the River Thames to the east of London...
on the north side of London. UK Ultraspeed argues that this gives direct access to more relevant locations in and around London than a single terminus at or near the
Euston RoadEuston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
.
Many UK cities have existing rail corridors which are currently not in use, and some proposals for new high speed routes emphasise the use of these, to enable interchanges with existing railway stations. In some cases, these corridors were formerly rail freight or locomotive yards; others are the remains of closed routes. In many cases the corridors are incomplete, having been encroached upon by development, or with bridges having been removed. In many cases they are protected by local town planning policy documents. Where their re-use is possible, it is considered more sustainable, and cheaper, than the wholesale construction of a new route through (or under) the urban landscape.
Direct vs maximum intermediate population coverage
A route taking in many of the major cities along the UK Ultraspeed route - crossing the Pennines and maximising the number of journey options possible with a single train - would total 700 km (435 miles). A route taking a line east of the Pennines, missing Birmingham and Manchester but including
LeicesterLeicester is a city and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England. It is the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
,
NottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England and is one of only eight members of the English Core Cities Group....
,
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base...
and
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The historic core at the heart of Leeds in 2001 had an estimated subdivision population of 443,247, whilst the entire city, that includes the urban and suburban areas incorporated into the city in 1974, had an estimated...
, would total 634 km (394 miles) along the core. By comparison, today's WCML is 642 km (399 miles) end-to-end.
Taking the new Madrid to Barcelona high-speed line as an example of the state-of-the-art, the trains available for a conventional UK high-speed line would be capable of {{convert|350|km/h|mph}}. The Spanish line is {{convert|621|km|mi}} long with an advertised journey time of 2½ hours, giving an average speed of {{convert|248|km/h|mph}}. Furthermore, since the opening of the
LGV EstThe LGV Est européenne is an extension to the French high-speed TGV network, connecting Paris and Strasbourg. , it is the newest high-speed line in France and still under construction, with 300 km of a planned 406 km in service...
, a TGV covers the {{convert|167.6|km|mi}} from Lorraine TGV railway station to Champagne-Ardenne TGV railway station in 36 minutes, at an average speed of {{convert|279.3|km/h|mph}}. This service calls at both stations and so is representative of a high-speed service with 100 mile stopping frequency. Moreover, the TGV that achieves these timings is only capable of {{convert|320|km/h|mph}} and so is slower than the Spanish unit.
This shows that the time penalty incurred by routing the line via Birmingham and Manchester could be expected to be less than 15 minutes for Leeds and points north. At this average speed, Glasgow would be 2½ hours from London. In contrast, UK Ultraspeed claim an end-to-end journey time of 2 hours 35 minutes and passengers wishing to access Central London would need to take a
CrossrailCrossrail is a project to build major new railway connections under central London. The project's name refers to the first of two routes proposed by Cross London Rail Links Ltd, based around an east-west tunnel from Paddington to Liverpool Street station...
journey of at least 15 minutes and change trains.
What must also be considered is that despite the direct "East of the Pennines" route having a shorter core length, in order to provide services to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, considerable length of branches are required. Therefore, the overall amount of extra track required is three times that of the additional core length of the "S" option that takes in Birmingham and Manchester directly. These branches come to an additional {{convert|201|km|mi}} of route, as opposed to the {{convert|66|km|mi}} outlined above. The option still requires a traversal of the Pennines.
Interestingly, the additional route length involved in the "S" option is nearly identical to that incurred by Eurostar trains, which are routed through
LilleLille is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, on their way from London to
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The detour adds approximately 41 miles to that journey, yet timings remain competitive with air and Eurostar enjoys significant market share. It is only now, 15 years after the construction of the
LGV NordThe LGV Nord is a French 333 km-long high speed rail line that connects Paris to the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille; it opened in 1993.With a maximum speed of 300 km/h, the line has appreciably shortened rail journeys between Paris and Lille...
that discussions over a proposed direct line, the LGV Picardie, are taking place. This is unlikely to be built within 10 years.
HSR promoters
The recent interest in high-speed rail generated by the success of the CTRL has led to the formation of several companies and non-profit groups aiming to further the construction of domestic high-speed lines in the UK. The principal groups are:
Greengauge21
Greengauge21 is a non-profit group aiming to establish conventional high-speed wheel-on-rail technology as the mode of choice for new lines. The group has performed studies on routeing, environmental issues and the use of high-speed rail as an alternative to short haul airlines.
The group's website is http://www.greengauge21.net/
Currently they are proposing a new high speed line between, at first, London and Birmingham. This is tentatively called High Speed Two.
UK Ultraspeed
UK UltraspeedThe UK Ultraspeed line is a proposed magnetic-levitation train line between London and Glasgow, linking Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle, and with a spur to Liverpool.-Proposal:...
is a company that has been formed to promote Transrapid magnetic levitation trains as the basis for a UK network. It works closely with Transrapid itself to keep maglev at the forefront of discussions in the government and media and is performing feasibility studies for a UK route.
UK Ultraspeed website: http://www.500kmh.com/
Transrapid website: http://www.transrapid.de/
Institution of Civil Engineers
{{External links|date=July 2009}}
The
Institution of Civil EngineersFounded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineers. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150 countries...
performed a study of UK high-speed rail and organised a conference on the subject. Information on their work can be found at the following links:
ICE study news release: http://www.ice.org.uk/news_events/newsdetail_ice.asp?NewsID=632&NewsType=ICE&FacultyID=
ICE study brochure: http://www.ice.org.uk/downloads//missing%20link%20brochure_.pdf
ICE conference: http://www.ice.org.uk/news_events/eventdetail_ice.asp?EventID=1702&EventType=ICE&FacultyID=
BBC NewsBBC News, formerly BBC News and Current Affairs, is the department within the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the corporation's news-gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online....
article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4982770.stm
London and Continental Railways
It was reported on 6 August 2006 that London and Continental Railways (the developers of HS1) were to put forward a high-speed rail scheme to the
Department for TransportIn the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
this autumn. Their scheme would cost between £12 billion and £19 billion depending on the route chosen. The timing of this was to depend on the release of the Eddington Report described above. It is not known if this scheme was advanced in light of subsequent developments.
Eleven cities campaign
Eleven big cities announced a joint campaign for a high-speed rail network serving the entire country on September 9, 2009. Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield stated as their goal that
The campaign will be deliberately focused on the importance of building a whole network to link all our major economic centres together, not simply a sterile debate about where a first route should go.
Intercity Express Programme (IEP)
{{Main|Intercity Express Programme}}
On 8 March 2007, the
Department for TransportIn the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
invited bidders to participate in the
Intercity Express ProgrammeThe Intercity Express Programme is an initiative of the United Kingdom’s Department for Transport to procure new trains to replace the InterCity 125 and InterCity 225 fleets....
or IEP (
website). This is a project to replace the ageing
Intercity 125The InterCity 125 was the brand name of British Rail's High Speed Train fleet. The InterCity 125 train is made up of two power cars, one at each end of a fixed formation of carriages, and is capable of in regular service. Initially the sets were classified as Classes 253 and 254...
and subsequently
Intercity 225The InterCity 225 is the fastest locomotive-hauled domestic train in the United Kingdom, comprising a Class 91 electric locomotive, nine Mark 4 coaches and a Driving Van Trailer...
fleets with a new high speed train designed to operate on the ECML, GWML and Cross Country routes. The project grew out of discussions between First Group and Siemens in the early years of the decade, later being taken over by the SRA and DfT.
The DfT has asked for:
- Increased capacity and environmental performance over current designs
- The ability to split the train in order to serve different sub-routes
- A modular design that can be powered by 25 kV, diesel or both in 3 different variants
- A design speed of 125 mph (200 km/h) with costings for higher top speeds up to 155 mph (250 km/h).
- Pre-series introduction on the ECML in 2012 with series production from 2014 to 2020
- Between 500 and 2000 vehicles
- Bids from organisations or consortia able to design, produce, finance and maintain the trains for 30 years
It was announced on 16 August that the following organisations had pre-qualified:
- Alstom-Barclays Rail Group
- Express Rail Alliance (Bombardier Transportation, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown)
- Hitachi Europe Ltd
Contract award will be in mid-2009.
Whilst dual-power trains that can split en-route are considered an improvement over many domestic units operating today, the specification of 125 mph and the potential order of so many vehicles suggests that there are no plans for true high-speed rail (150 mph+) on these routes in the near future. This tender specifically excludes tilt, despite the journey time improvement this eventually brought to the WCML and some Cross Country services.
Liberal Democrats publish plans for UK high-speed rail network
On 2 August 2007 the BBC reported that the Liberal Democrats propose to build a high-speed rail network in the UK, connecting London with Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Tyneside and Scotland in the north and Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter in the west. Funding for the investment would come from an extra £10 tax per ticket on internal flights in Britain and tolls on road freight, mirroring similar tolling schemes in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
On 22 August 2007, a Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP tabled a motion to the Scottish Parliament calling for a high-speed rail link between Scotland and London.
Tories publish plans to force short-haul passengers onto high-speed rail
On 28 August 2007
The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
reported that the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
has found that 20% of all flights from Heathrow are to destinations that can be - or soon will be able to be - reached in a competitive time by high-speed rail (the top ten short haul destinations are; Paris, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Manchester, Brussels, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford, Rotterdam and Durham/Tees Valley). They plan to impose a
moratoriumA moratorium is a temporary ban or suspension of an activity.For instance, many animal rights activists and conservation authorities often request "Fishing Moratoriums" or "Hunting Moratoriums" on endangered animal species. These bans, or suspensions, prevent people from hunting or fishing the...
on airport expansion and force this traffic onto the railways, freeing up slots for long haul flights and removing the need for a third runway at Heathrow and a second runway at Stansted.
Arup publishes plan for HS2
On 2 December 2007
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
reported that engineering group
ArupArup is a professional services firm providing engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and now has over 10,000 staff based in 92...
, one member of the consortium behind High Speed One, was to put forward a plan for a second UK high-speed line to the North of England and Scotland via Heathrow Airport. This would enable direct transfers between flights and trains to Continental Europe and British regions. The plan, closely resembling that of Greengauge21's, will be formally announced later in the week commencing 3 December 2007.
Network Rail planning five high speed lines
On 21 June 2008 the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
and
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Colonel Arthur B. Sleigh in June 1855 as the Daily Telegraph and Courier...
reported that
Network RailNetwork Rail owns and operates Britain’s rail infrastructure. It is a British "not for dividend" company limited by guarantee whose principal asset is Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, a company limited by shares....
were planning five High Speed Domestic Lines in the UK. The lines will parallel the East Coast, West Coast, Midland, Chiltern and Great Western Main Lines. A further line is planned to follow the route of the former L&SWR and GWR via Exeter to Plymouth and Penzance.
On 23 June further details appeared on the Network Rail website. It has been mooted that the high-speed lines would be parallel to existing lines, although the possibility of the East-coast line passing through Stansted Airport has also been discussed.
External links
{{High-speed rail}}
{{Future UK railway projects}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:High-Speed Rail In The United Kingdom}}