Friends of the Rail Forum

Go slow for High Speed Two

The Government is looking to slice around 100km per hour off the top speed of the controversial High Speed Two (HS2) rail connection proposed between London and Birmingham...

questions whether 400kph trains are needed on HS2...

300kph, which is HS1's top velocity, would be sufficient in an area as small as the UK...

Will such a design limitation not be adjudged very unwise in the future? In effect an irrevocable short-term gain that may well be rued.

Railways are long-term assets. Their construction and use is not just for today but for "all time". The UK already suffers from various restrictions in rail speed caused by tight curvature and a small moving structure gauge in part because of lack of foresight and trade-offs made more than a century ago.

In a similar twist, much of Africa is saddled with size and speed restrictions due to the adoption of narrower track gauges; an ad hoc decision made early in local railway development to solve one seemingly costly problem at the time posed by the escarpment (Hex River mountains) into the interior. East Africa is saddled with metre gauge (which they now plan to replace with standard gauge (1435mm) at great cost) partly because of a decision made to use military surplus railway gear.

Let's also not forget that whilst London and Birmingham may be relatively close, HS2 would ultimately form an integral part of a much longer high speed London to Scotland route. Taking a few tens of minutes longer to get to Bhm may not seem to be a big deal now, but extrapolate that extra time over the distance to Glasgow in the future.

High speed rail is intended to be an environmentally friendlier way to travel around. However, if the journey times over longer distances cannot match city centre-to-city centre air travel times, people will stay with the airlines creating yet more pollution and requiring ever larger airports. The UK also suffers from chronic road congestion and with that a need to be competitive with the motor car.