Written evidence from David Hodgson (HSR
192)
HS2
I recently saw a broadcast on the BBC Parliament
Channel showing your questioning of representatives from a) Network
Rail/ATOC/Passenger Focus/RFG and b) SNCF/Eurostar. The answers
to two specific questions seemed inadequate, so
I should like to help "fill the gap".
High Speed Railways operating 18 trains per hour
I believe an MP from Northamptonshire asked about
this, and the SNCF Director was quite right to say that nowhere
in the world operates 18 HSTs per hour (in each direction). However,
it was not made clear that SNCF experience and elsewhere is for
a two track railway. My understanding is that the full 18 trains
per hour service would operate on a four track railway.
The initial construction MAY only be two track but
the preparatory works will have been done to allow relatively
easy expansion to four tracks later. However, this will depend
on the view taken about the migration of services onto HS2, essentially
"phased" or "big bang".
Given that the initial construction seems likely
to reconnect with the classic WCML near Lichfield, the first tranche
of services to use HS2 is likely to be the "West Coast set":
nominally:
| | Birmingham
| 2 per hour |
| | Manchester
| 2 per hour |
| | Liverpool
| 1 per hour |
| | Glasgow
| 1 per hour |
| | Sub-total
| 6 per hour |
Only when the "East Coast set" and the
"Midland Main line set" are added in does the total
come anywhere near 18 per hour, again nominally:
| | Leeds
| 2 per hour |
| | Newcastle/Edinburgh
| 2 per hour |
| | East Midlands/Sheffield
| 2 per hour |
| | Sub-total
| 6 per hour |
| | Overall total
| 12 per hour |
Some direct services via HS1 to Paris, Brussels and Europe
may boost the eventual total.
Services on the classic West Coast Route. Once HS2 has opened
It is my understanding (confirmed by the SNCF
contributor) that HS2 should provide direct services, with few
if any intermediate stops.
Taking one route as an example, current services between London
and Manchester take two alternative routes, stopping variously
at Watford Junction, Rugby, Stafford, Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield
and Stockport. Once HS2 has opened, all these locations will still
require express services to London and Manchester and to each
other. This is likely to require at least one train per hour each
way, compared with the two trains per hour currently. Thus only
one path per hour would be released for other use. Even that may
be questioned further. Similar thinking has to be applied to all
the other routes, in order to come up with a total number of train
paths "released".
My own view is that there are MANY intermediate locations (listed
belowaround 45 places!!!) currently enjoying express services
to/from London and various points North:
ECML: Stevenage, Peterborough,
Grantham, Newark, Retford, Doncaster, Wakefield, York, Darlington,
Durham, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Dunbar.
MML: Luton, Bedford, Kettering, Wellingborough,
Leicester, Loughborough, Chesterfield WCML: Watford, Milton
Keynes, Rugby, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Stoke, Macclesfield,
Crewe, Chester and stations to Holyhead, Stockport, Runcorn, Warrington,
Wigan, Preston, Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Lockerbie,
Motherwell.
These places will not cease to exist once HS2 comes in, and
they will not accept simply being by-passed: they will, rightly
in my view, expect broadly the same level of services as they
currently have. My assumption at this stage is that most if not
all of these places will be served via the classic routes, so
the train paths they currently occupy will continue to be required.
Genuine HS2 services (London-Birmingham non-stop; London-Manchester
non-stop, etc) may well come to be ADDITIONAL to the existing
"Inter City" multi-stop services.
ADDITIONAL
WITNESSES
The contributions I watched were all perfectly valid, and I
would suggest that that your committee should also take a close
look at the German high speed network (ICE) in so far as it is
much more a true network, some of the distances between conurbations
are shorter, and there is greater use of the historic routes ie
less new build lines.
June 2011
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