High Speed 2 Feasibility
Introduction
The UK government set up High Speed 2 (HS2) Ltd in January 2009 to consider the case for new high speed rail line between London and Scotland capable of carrying passenger trains at speeds up to 250 miles per hour. The broad plan for the network to Manchester and Leeds including the section between London and the West Midlands is roughly the shape of a letter Y. The “Service specification assumptions for the Y network” shows a total of 18 trains per hour (tph). The government and its consultants, HS2 Ltd argued that HS2 rail network would ‘transform the country’s economy geographically’, bringing Britain’s major cities closer together.
Feasibility of HS2 Y Network
HS2 plans to design a track that will be capable of running up to 18tph, each carrying up to 1,100 passengers and operating at speeds of up to 250 mph, to run between these cities and serve other destinations via links to the existing “classic” rail network. HS2 hopes to reduce journey times between London Euston and central Birmingham from 84 to 49 minutes. One of the key arguments put forward by the government in support of HS2 is that it is the only effective way of increasing capacity on the rail network.
1. The institute of Railway Operators’ definition of capacity, adopted in the Department for Transport Rail Technical Strategy is; ‘The number of trains that can be incorporated into a timetable that is conflict free, commercially attractive, compliant with regulatory requirements, and can be operated in the face of anticipated levels of primary delay whilst meeting agreed performance targets’. This definition emphasises the dynamic nature of capacity and identifies the fundamental factors that affect it.
The factors that I consider may impinge on HS2’s capacity of achieving 18tph includes: the design of station terminals and their approaches, the dovetailing of services at junctions, the practicality of rapid boarding at intermediate stations and the impact of potential delays on
The UK government set up High Speed 2 (HS2) Ltd in January 2009 to consider the case for new high speed rail line between London and Scotland capable of carrying passenger trains at speeds up to 250 miles per hour. The broad plan for the network to Manchester and Leeds including the section between London and the West Midlands is roughly the shape of a letter Y. The “Service specification assumptions for the Y network” shows a total of 18 trains per hour (tph). The government and its consultants, HS2 Ltd argued that HS2 rail network would ‘transform the country’s economy geographically’, bringing Britain’s major cities closer together.
Feasibility of HS2 Y Network
HS2 plans to design a track that will be capable of running up to 18tph, each carrying up to 1,100 passengers and operating at speeds of up to 250 mph, to run between these cities and serve other destinations via links to the existing “classic” rail network. HS2 hopes to reduce journey times between London Euston and central Birmingham from 84 to 49 minutes. One of the key arguments put forward by the government in support of HS2 is that it is the only effective way of increasing capacity on the rail network.
1. The institute of Railway Operators’ definition of capacity, adopted in the Department for Transport Rail Technical Strategy is; ‘The number of trains that can be incorporated into a timetable that is conflict free, commercially attractive, compliant with regulatory requirements, and can be operated in the face of anticipated levels of primary delay whilst meeting agreed performance targets’. This definition emphasises the dynamic nature of capacity and identifies the fundamental factors that affect it.
The factors that I consider may impinge on HS2’s capacity of achieving 18tph includes: the design of station terminals and their approaches, the dovetailing of services at junctions, the practicality of rapid boarding at intermediate stations and the impact of potential delays on
References: Abril, M., Barber, F., Ingolotti, L., Salido, M.Á, Tormos, P. & Lova, A. 2008, "An assessment of railway capacity", Transportation Research Part E, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 774-806. High Speed Rail – London to the West Midlands and Beyond, March 2010 High-Speed Rail: Fair and Affordable, Greengauge, 2010 Systra, 2011, Operational concept study, Technical note: capacity and reliability (redacted), http://www.hs2.org.uk/publications/ SYSTRA-Technical-note-capacity-and-reliability-redacted-77741 UIC Code 406 R - Capacity