Will We Get HSW Before HS2?
In this post about the BBC’s knocking of HS2, I jokingly referred to the Great Western Main Line as HSW, for High Speed West or High Speed Wales.
But is it that far from the truth?
A high speed railway is defined as one where speeds of 200 kph or 125 mph are possible. The fastest lines run at 320 kph or 200 mph.
So what speed can we expect to see on the Great Western Main Line, after it is fully modernised in 2017?
Currently the fastest trains in the UK are the Class 373 ( 300 kph) used by Eurostar, the Class 390 ( 225 kph) used by Virgin and the InterCity 225 (225 kph) used by East Coast. The latter two trains are restricted to 200 kph, due to signalling restrictions on their lines and because they have to mix it with slower trains.
It is also interesting to note that the Class 395, which bring the high speed Kent commuter services into St. Pancras run at 225 kph.
The new trains for the electrified Great Western Main Line are based on the Class 395 and are called Class 800 and Class 801. These have a design speed of 225 kph, but will be limited to 200 kph on traditional lines.
But Brunel built the Great Western for speed and a lot of the route it is pretty straight and much has four tracks. It is also going to be resignalled to the highest European standards with in-cab signalling. The latter is necessary to go above 200 kph. So it shouldn’t be one of the most difficult tasks to make much of the line capable of 225 kph or even more.
The only real problem on the line is the Severn Tunnel. But as Crossrail has shown, we have some of the best tunnel engineers in the world. So just as the Swiss dealt with their railway bottleneck of the Simplon Tunnel, all we need to do to improve the Severn Tunnel is give the best engineers their head and let them solve the problems, whilst the politicians sit around and watch and wait. After all it’s only a baby compared to the massive twin bores of the Simplon.
As an aside here, I do wonder if one of the most affordable solutions might be to use a modern tunnel boring machine to create a new tunnel alongside the current one.
Conclusion
So I believe that even if it still goes slower on opening, trains to Bristol and Wales will be doing 225 kph before the end of this decade.
If that isn’t a high speed railway like HS1, I don’t know what is?
But whatever we call it, it’ll be here several years before HS2!
I think we need to call for three cheers for Brunel, who got the route right in the first place.
Knock HS2 And It Might Go Away
I’m not a great supporter of HS2, but this story on the BBC, being spun as how it will damage other areas of the UK, is pure scaremongering and very bad journalism.
The areas, they say could be worst affected are Aberdeenshire, Norfolk, Dundee and Cardiff. On the television this morning they’re adding in Bristol and Cambridge.
Putting in Norfolk is a strange one, as obviously HS2 spending will also hurt Devon and Cornwall. These areas though will hopefully get improvement in the next few years, but this will come from using better train technology on upgraded lines.
West Norfolk for instance will be linked into the Thameslink system and electrifying and straightening the main routes across East Anglia and Ely to Norwich, would improve the area a great deal. A lot of this will happen, whether or not HS2 is built.
Devon and Cornwall is more problematical due to the geography and the scenery, but I suspect that Plymouth and Penzance will be a lot closer to London, when the electrification and new trains being planned for the Great Western Main Line are completed and delivered.
The Aberdeen and Dundee areas north of Edinburgh will always be badly served from the Scottish capital, until you build a new bridge or tunnel over the Forth of Firth. I can’t see anybody leading a campaign to replace the iconic Forth Bridge.
Cardiff and Bristol are interesting ones, as courtesy of Brunel, electrification and new trains, they will get their own HSW before HS2 is even started, at the current rate of progress. Once the Severn Tunnel is sorted, it would seem that services between the English and Welsh capitals could be around two and a half hours or even less. Having just been through the very problematic Simplon Tunnel at high speed,which is almost as old as that under the Severn, I’m certain, that a few world class engineers and tunnellers can sort out the bottleneck on the railway to Wales.
To suggest that Cambridge will be hurt by HS2, is like suggesting that the London Underground, will be hurt by Crossrail. Cambridge has recently seen an improvement of the line to London and in a few years, it will be connected to Thameslink, giving it better access to London and areas south of the Thames.
I suspect, that the overpaid BBC hack, who started this story, wants to kill HS2, as he lives in an area affected by the proposed route.
Or could, the journalist be fed-up with having to go from his home in the South East to his place of work in Manchester, so he might be very anti-train.
The BBC article is in any case unattributed.
And of course, remember it’s a much better story, if it destroys something!
The Anonymous Widower 