The Anonymous Widower

Are Short Lengths Of High Speed Line A Good Idea?

In New ‘HS3’ Link To Yorkshire Proposed By Thinktank After Region’s HS2 Axe, I showed that a short length of faster by-pass line could give decent ties savings.

So in this post, I will look at home much time, diversions or by-passes like the Selby Diversion could save.

The diversion runs between Temple Hirst Junction and Colton Junction.

• It is 13.8 miles long.
• A typical train takes 7.5 minutes, which is an average speed of 115 mph.
• But Wikipedia claim that the route was well-designed and British Rail felt it was good for 160 mph.

So what times are possible at various speeds?

• 115 mph – 7.5 minutes
• 120 mph – 6.9 minutes
• 130 mph – 6.4 minutes
• 140 mph – 5.9 minutes
• 150 mph – 5.5 minutes
• 160 mph – 5.2 minutes
• 180 mph – 4.6 minutes

They are not great savings, but if you could increase operating speed on straight sections of thirty miles and raise the average speed from 120 to 180 mph, that would save five minutes. It would all mount up.

If you look at the railway maps of the UK, there are sections of the East Coast Main Line, Great Western Main Line, Midland Main Line and West Coast Main Line, where the track is straight and sometimes as many as four-tracks.

Stevenage Station And Stoke Junction

A simple example in a few years could be between just North of Stevenage station and Stoke junction, which after current works and some others could be four tracks all the way.

• It is 72.2 miles.
• Trains take 39 minutes.
• My timings give an average speed of 111 mph.
• There are a number of level crossings.
• Flat junctions at Hitchin and Werrington have been replaced with grade separated junctions.

Note that it is longer than the Cologne-Aachen high speed railway in Germany, which is only 43 miles long and has an operating speed of 250 kph or 155.3 mph.

Savings on the Stevenage and Stoke stretch could be as follows.

• 140 mph – eight minutes
• 155.3 mph – eleven minutes
• 160 mph – twelve minutes
• 180 mph – fifteen minutes.
• 200 mph – seventeen minutes.

This alone could mean that London Kings Cross and Leeds could be around two hours with trains such as the proposed High Speed Two Classic-Compatible Trains.

It couldn’t be extended to the North very easily as Stoke Tunnel is between Stoke junction and Grantham.

This Google Map shows the tunnel.

If it could easily be converted into a four-track cutting, this would add nearly six miles to the four-track section with high speed lines in the middle and slow lines on the outside.

A Diversion At York

When improving speeds and times on the East Coast Main Line, a diversion at York is sometimes mentioned.

The Google Map shows the East Coast Main Line, as it goes through York station.

Note.

1. York station is in the South East corner of the map.
2. The River Ouse meandering North from near the station, before turning West at the top of the map.
3. The East Coast Main Line running North from the station to the West of the river.

The railway crosses the river just to the North of Skelton junction.

This Google Map shows the tracks at York in more detail.

Note.

1. The River Ouse in the North-East corner of the map.
2. The East Coast Main Line through York station curving round the Railway Museum, before going North.
3. A second rail route and sidings to the West of the East Coast Main Line can be seen.

Could a diversion route be created between Holgate and Skelton junctions on railway land?

• It would be about two miles long.
• It could be built to also sort out the bottleneck at Skelton junction.
• It might be possible to extend the fast line to Northallerton station.

This could create up to thirty miles of fast lines between Holgate junction and Northallerton.

A Diversion At Durham

When improving speeds and times on the East Coast Main Line, a diversion at Durham is sometimes mentioned.

The Google Map shows the East Coast Main Line, as it goes through Durham station.

Note.

1. I have arranged the map so that the East Coast Main Line goes between the South-West and North-East corners of the map.
2. Durham station is clearly visible.
3. The railway line curves East towards the station around Nevilles Cross after running North from the South.

This Google Map shows the East Coast Main Line, as it goes through Chester-le-Street station.

Note.

1. Chester-le-Street station is in the North-East corner of the map.
2. The East Coast Main Line runs North-South down the middle of the map.
3. About halfway down the map, the East Coast Main Line starts to veer to the East.

If you look at the bigger picture of these maps, it appears that to serve Durham, the line took a loop to the East, so would a diversion cut off the corner between Chester-le-Street and Nevilles Cross and put Durham on a loop?

It would be a bit shorter, but it could be built to enable running at a higher speed.

Short German High Speed Lines

I have travelled a lot on German trains and they have some of our problems.

• Infrastructure dating back to the times of Kaiser Bill.
• A high mileage of track without electrification.
• Less high speed railways than France or Spain.

They are creating several high speed railways.

Earlier, I indicated that the Cologne-Aachen high speed railway, which is only 43 miles long, has an operating speed of 250 kph.

Other short high speed railways include.

• Lübeck–Hamburg railway – 39 miles – 200 kph.
• Lübeck–Puttgarden railway – 55.1 miles – 200 kph.
• Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway – 62 miles – 280 kph
• Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway – 66 miles – 300 kph
• Stuttgart–Wendlingen high-speed railway – 9.5 miles – 250 kph
• Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed railway – 37 miles – 250 kph

Note, that the Germans are still upgrading lines to 200 kph or 125 mph.

The Germans would appear to favour some shorter high speed lines, so it must be a worthwhile philosophy.

Conclusion

I very much feel there is scope to create some new high speed sections on the current UK network, with only building very little outside of the current land used by the network.

As with Germany would it be worthwhile to upgrade some lines to 125 mph running?

These could be possibilities.

• Basingstoke and Exeter – Currently 121 miles at 90 mph – Not electrified
• London Liverpool Street and Norwich – Currently 114.5 miles at 100 mph – Electrified
• North Wales Main Line – Currently 84.4 miles at 90 mph – Not electrified
• Reading and Taunton – Currently 107 miles at 110 mph – Not electrified

There are probably others.

 

December 8, 2021 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | East Coast Main Line, Germany, High Speed Rail, High Speed Two Classic-Compatible Trains, Selby Diversion, York Station