UK - Intercity routes considered for 180mph travel

[John Ashworth]

Intercity routes considered for 180mph travel

· London-Glasgow journey time could be cut in half
· High-speed lines would ease commuter chaos

* Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
* The Guardian,
* Tuesday June 24, 2008

Intercity travel could be switched to a new generation of high-speed lines that would halve the journey time between London and Glasgow, Network Rail said yesterday.

Launching the biggest study of high-speed rail travel in the UK, the owner of Britain's rail infrastructure said commuters would be the biggest beneficiaries. Five routes will be considered for new lines that could carry passengers between London and other UK cities at 180mph.

They are the east coast line from London to Edinburgh; the west coast mainline from London to Glasgow; the great western track from London to Cardiff; the midland mainline route from London to Bradford; and the Chiltern line between Birmingham and the capital.

One such high-speed line, between Ashford, in Kent, and London St Pancras, is due to be operational from next year.

Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher said it would spend one year examining Britain's most congested rail routes, including services into London from Reading, Peterborough and Bedford, which all share lines with Intercity services.

He said the best way to increase capacity on those routes might be the construction of high-speed lines alongside them, with the new tracks taking the Intercity services, so freeing up more space.

"One solution is new lines, perhaps taking Intercity services off those routes. For every Intercity service, we can put on two new commuter services," said Coucher.

He also acknowledged concerns that a national shortage of skilled engineers might make construction of lines impractical or too expensive. Network Rail was embarrassed at the start of this year when upgrade work on the west coast mainline overran by four days, in part owing to a lack of overhead line engineers.

"This process gives us time for planning to get the resources. But resources will always be an issue for us," he said. Network Rail will also include price estimates, with projected costs for a high-speed link between London and Glasgow ranging from £11bn to £29bn. Passenger numbers on the British rail network have climbed 40% over the past decade to more than 1.1 billion last year - a total that is growing at 5% per year. The new lines could be built from 2025, Network Rail said.

Michael Hayes, a rail planning specialist at Atkins, the engineering consultancy, said publishing a blueprint for a high-speed rail network would be less important than drawing up a convincing case for building it. "It is very easy for people to come up with grand projects that cost billions of pounds, but if you want the money you have to prove that they are not only good for Network Rail, but good for the country as a whole," he said.

According to Atkins, a high-speed rail route would slash the journey time between London and Glasgow from five hours to two-and-a-half hours.

The Greengauge21 group, which campaigns for a high-speed rail network, has pinpointed London to Birmingham, with a spur line to Heathrow airport, as the first leg of a potential high-speed network.

Jim Steer, a Greengauge21 director, said the government and rail industry's heads would be turned by the potential economic benefits, which could be double the construction cost of a £30bn line from London to Glasgow.