Network Rail Chief Proposes High-Speed Rail Network

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Iain Coucher is proposing three new lines operating at up to 200mph: from London to Glasgow via Birmingham and Manchester; London to Edinburgh via Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne; and London to Cardiff via Bristol (link below.)
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article3247811.ece

He will commission a detailed study soon into possible routes for a network that is likely to cost more than ^50 billion to complete. Network Rail has decided to take a lead after becoming frustrated by the Department for Transport^s lack of progress on the issue of high-speed rail.

In an interview with The Times, he said that High Speed 1, the 186mph (300km/h) line that opened in November between London St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel, should be viewed as the first part of a new network carrying faster intercity express trains.

He added:

^Not just High Speed 2, but High Speed 3, maybe even High Speed 4 ^ that^s where we need to be by 2020. There is demand building up today. We^ll now sit down, working with the train-operating companies, to come up with ideas about where we think it should go and what it should look like.

^We will need something up the West Coast by 2015, 2020 time. That^s why we think it^s better to think about how we^re doing it now, so that we have time to build it properly and we^re not trying to rush it out under impossible timescales.

^We need to find a way of delivering this cost effectively to minimise the draw on the public purse.^

Mr Coucher said that the new network, which would have stops about 100 miles apart, would release capacity on existing lines for more frequent local services and freight trains.

Quote from Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of Passenger Focus :

^If they can^t finish works at Rugby on time over Christmas, what chance have they of building a high-speed line?

^Talking about a network of new lines in today^s conditions takes a vision and level of assumption about the planning system which could only be described as heroic.^

[Shazz]

Thet should get the Scots whineing that they're not getting there Maglev, that costs ^100mil a mile to build

[Lee]

The London to Cardiff via Bristol proposal is interesting, given that First mooted similiar plans in 2002 (link below.)
http://web.archive.org/web/20041026081304/www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/news/release.php?item=29

[Lee]

New TGV^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse)-style rail lines linking southeast England to the Midlands and Scotland would bring economic benefits of ^63 billion, according to a study to be released this week (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2008/03/labour_eyes_31bn_highspeed_rai.html#more

Atkins, the engineering group, will say that without new lines, the network will run out of capacity by 2026 - or even 2016 if the recent rapid growth in rail passenger numbers continues.

The conclusions come from an update of the investigation into the case for high-speed rail commissioned by the government from Atkins in 2003 (link below.)
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/researchtech/research/highspeedlinestudysummaryreport

The consultants looked at three options ^ a new line for the west coast, one up the east coast, and the ^full network^ option, which includes both.

It said the latter generated the highest benefits, worth about ^63 billion. The full network would cost about ^31 billion to build.

The report is likely to receive the backing of Theresa Villiers, shadow transport secretary, and Network Rail.

[devon_metro]

More ^ for the midlands!

[Lee]

More in the link below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/7322311.stm

[Lee]

Christian Wolmar remains sceptical, and particularly questions the Atkins methodology (link below.)
http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/rail/589.shtml

[Lee]

A multi-billion-pound plan to build a high-speed train link between Scotland and London is back on track following secret talks between the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and Scottish Governments (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2008/06/secret_talks_on_scotlandlondon.html#more

Rail ministers from Edinburgh and London met last week for preliminary discussions on laying down the spine of Britain an entirely new line, which could cut journey times from north to south to just three hours. The talks have been kept private in a bid to dampen public expectation, with ministers on both sides of the border balking at the vast cost of the scheme.

[Lee]

Britain is to be left out of Europe^s high-speed rail revolution because the Government has decided that 200mph trains are bad for the environment (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2008/06/highspeed_rail_travel_is_not_a.html#more