Posted 21st June 2008 | 5 Comments
Boost for British high-speed rail plans
PLANS to extend high-speed train services from London to the Midlands and North have been boosted by Network Rail, which has set up a study to see if a new line can be justified. The results should be known within a year.
Richard Eccles, Head of Route Planning, told a Railway Forum conference in Birmingham that a ‘new lines programme’ would be looking at the East Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line, West Coast Main Line, Chiltern and Western Main Line corridors.
A team had been set up by Network Rail to examine what should be done when network capacity runs out in the next 10 – 20 years, he said.
“Our expectation is that the best value for money will be a high-speed line,” Richard Eccles said.
Already proposals have been made by the Greengauge 21 pressure group for the first stage of new high-speed line — High Speed 2, operating at 300km/h (186 mph) — from St Pancras (terminus of High Speed 1 from the Channel Tunnel) and Heathrow airport as far as the West Coast Main Line, near Tamworth, Staffs, with a branch running into Birmingham.
All journey times from London to Birmingham and town and cities farther north on the West Coast Main Line would be reduced by at least 30 minutes.
Greengauge 21 has announced it is setting up a Public Interest Group to examine its proposals in detail, and this will work in conjunction with Network Rail’s ‘New Lines Programme.’
The new Network Rail study does not necessarily mean it will endorse the Greengauge 21 plan. While many rail experts support the idea of building more high-speed track in Britain, other routes have been put forward instead of the one proposed to Birmingham and Tamworth.
Some operators and engineers would prefer to see the first stage of a high-speed line completed at least as far as Manchester.
The Network Rail ‘New Lines Programme’ study is intended to determine if a new line is justified—and, if so, where it should be built and if it should be high speed.
• Full details of the high-speed rail plans, and the Railway Forum conference in Birmingham, will appear in the next print edition of Railnews, which will be distributed from 1 July.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Stuart Dale, Nottinghamshire, England
It's all very well having high speed links here, and rail links there, but when the rail operating companies then charge stupid amounts for tickets, people will still not use them. Lets go back to a decent price for travel, then travellers will have an incentive for using the train and not their cars. I would love to go to Paris via St Pancrass and the tunnel, but at the moment I can get a return flight cheaper from East Mids Airport.
Craig Ward, Blackburn, UK
I wish the Govt and Network Rail would concentrate on the many smaller scale improvements and line re-openings that would make a real difference to local and regional rail travel. Most people travel within their regions most often and not to London so high speed links to the capital are not top of their priorities. Here in the north it's the links across the Pennines and to regional centres such as Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool which are more important tahn saving half an hour getting to London. Perhaps providing through trains to Paris and Brussels would more useful to most people so that they could avoid air travel.
Gareth Miller, Chinnor, UK
Network Rail have the right idea, we need to increase line speeds, re-open lines and improve capacity on existing lines, sadly the government have no interest in investing in the future of the railways as there is no immediate political payback, trying to impede growth by letting fares go sky high so they dont have to invest in improvements angers me
James Toporowski, King's Heath
Yet another study that has to be funded. A Route Planner is not the person to set up the remit for such a study as these are not transport planners or civil engineers. Additionally the decisions on strategy are a Department for Transport role. The priority for the West Midlands is the bread and butter stuff of overall journey times for which a fuller network and greater frequencies are the key.
Timothy Vernon Wykes, nuneaton, England
It is about time we caught up with the rest of the world with regards to eco friendly rail and curtailed the over relience on road transport