Written evidence from Eurostar (HSR 128)
Introduction
1. Eurostar is the high-speed train service linking
the UK to destinations across France, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Germany and Switzerland. We have been operating since 14 November
1994 and have since carried around 115 million passengers, doubling
the size of the market for travel between London and Paris in
the process.
2. Since September 2010 Eurostar has been a single
British-registered company, Eurostar International Limited (EIL),
having previously been an unincorporated joint partnership between
the British, French and Belgian railways. As well as helping to
streamline decision-making and reduce unit costs, this will better
equip us to meet the challenge of increased competition arising
from the new Open Access framework. We also believe it will help
us more effectively expand our own operations, as we seek to broaden
our reach across the UK, regional France, and further into continental
Europe.
3. Our first step as a new company has been to
announce a £700 million investment in our rolling stock,
with the purchase of 10 new train-sets and the refurbishment of
our existing fleet. Built to a bespoke specification, the new
Eurostar e320 trains will be "interoperable", meaning
that they can operate across the European high speed rail (HSR)
network, and provide direct services between London and a range
of city centre destinations throughout Europe.
4. We aim to become the leading travel experience
in Europe, substantially increasing the number of connecting passengers
to destinations beyond Brussels, Lille and Paris by 2015. At the
same time, we want to maintain our leadership on the London-Paris
route, which will be central to our success in the future.
5. Eurostar supports the Government's plans to
expand the country's HSR network and, as the only operator currently
running international HSR services in the UK, has a number of
substantive points to make in response to the Committee's inquiry.
We have only responded to those questions where we have felt able
to put forward a view based on our experience as a HSR operator.
The main arguments for High Speed Rail
Increasing capacity
6. High speed rail represents the most effective
means to introduce additional capacity to the national transport
system. It is noteworthy that the original business case for France's
first high speed line from Paris to Lyon included the benefits
of capacity released on conventional lines, by transferring intercity
trains to the new line.
7. Additional capacity will soon become necessary
in the UK. For example, the West Coast Main Line - despite being
upgraded at great expense and disruption - will again encounter
capacity constraints by the middle of the next decade. Investment
in new infrastructure in the form of HSR will restore capacity
on existing railway lines, for the benefit of local stopping services
and freight movements, and deliver a step-change in reliability.
This cannot be matched by upgrading the existing rail network.
8. Capacity improvements, combined with a dramatic
shortening of journey times for medium- and long-distances journeys,
will result in significant modal shift to HSR from carbon-intensive
car and air travel. This will not only release capacity on motorways
but bring with it considerable environmental benefits and will
be crucial to meeting the ambition of the European Commission,
as stated in its recently published White Paper, to see a "50%
shift of medium distance intercity passenger and freight journeys
from road to rail and waterborne transport".
Environmental benefits
9. Through the 2008 Climate Change Act, the UK
government has signed up to ambitious carbon reductions targets
of 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. The UK Committee on Climate Change
has also recently recommended an interim target for 2030 of 60%
reduction with an adjustment to the 2020 target, raising it to
37%. At the time of writing, the Government has not yet decided
whether to accept the recommendations of the Committee. In parallel,
the European Commission's recent White Paper on Transport sets
out steps to achieve a 60% reduction in transport emissions across
Europe by 2050. As the transport sector is responsible for approximately
29% of European carbon emissions, it has a significant role to
play in helping the UK to meet its own carbon reduction targets.
Within the sector, delivering modal shift to lower carbon forms
of transport such as HSR is clearly critical in meeting the proposed
60% target.
10. Travel by HSR produces only one-third of
the carbon emissions of car travel and one-quarter the emissions
of an equivalent trip by air, taking into account the average
loadings typically achieved on each mode. For example, a typical
Eurostar journey between London and Paris or Brussels generates
around a tenth of the amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide
(CO2) generated by the equivalent short haul flight.
11. The shift of passengers from short-haul air
to high speed rail within the first year of operating on HS1 resulted
in a combined passenger saving in excess of 40,000 tonnes of CO2.
Investment in HSR will therefore make possible a lowering of emissions
from the transport sector at a time of increased public awareness
and acceptance of the effects of damaging CO2 emissions
on climate change.
12. These benefits will further increase in the
future as HSR becomes more environmentally efficient and as the
UK electricity supply becomes less carbon intensive. The UK electricity
supply is currently amongst the least environmentally friendly
in Europe in terms of CO2 emissions per kW hour of
electricity generated. It is certainly the most carbon intensive
electricity supply on Eurostar's network, with grid averages for
France and Belgium having approximately a fifth and a half, respectively,
of the carbon intensity of UK generation.
Journey times
13. High Speed 1 was the first new mainline railway
for 100 years, with the principal practical effects having been
to reduce the journey times between the centres of London and
Paris/Brussels [fig.1] These faster services, as well as the convenience
of city centre to city centre travel, have resulted in both significant
modal shift and a stimulus to business and leisure activity.
Figure 1
| November 1994 |
September 03
(opening of CTRL 1, first part of HS1)
| November 07
(completion of HS1)
|
London-Paris | 2h 55m | 2h 35m
| 2h 15m |
London-Brussels | 3h 15m |
2h 20m | 1h 51m |
London-Lille | 2h 05m |
1h 40m | 1h 20m |
14. A further principal attraction of HSR to passengers is
reliability. Because HSR lines are purpose built, they offer much
higher reliability and punctuality than is possible on conventional
lines. The presence of often older equipment and a mixture of
different train types mean that any delays that occur on conventional
lines are often compounded. In contrast, the average delay per
train due to infrastructure problems of any reason (including
weather) on HS1 since it opened is less than ten seconds per train.
15. The problem of regular weekend disruptions because of
maintenance or renewals also barely exists for HSR lines. The
greater spacing between tracks necessary for high speed operation
- a wider "six foot" in railway parlance - means that
relaying and maintenance works can be routinely carried out on
one line with the other still fully open with reversible working.
Economic impact
16. France's TGV network provides a number of examples of
the economic impact of HSR. Lille is such an example. The city
has been transformed by its location on the crossroads of the
northern TGV networks, with direct links to Paris, Brussels and
London. 20 years ago, it was struggling with around 40% unemployment
resulting from the decline in its traditional engineering and
mining industries. The TGV has given Lille residents access to
new job opportunities in Paris and Brussels, with significant
commuting flows to both, and encouraged new businesses to locate
there because of its superb accessibility. The line has also enabled
tourism to flourish in the city, further fueling the local economy
and creating new jobs in the area. Unemployment is now around
11%, only a couple of percent above the national average.
17. Eurostar believes that similar benefits could flow from
the construction of a London to Birmingham high speed line and
the extension further north of the UK's high speed network.
18. The establishment of high speed rail services between
London and Paris has also had a major impact on the economies
and geographies of those two cities. London is now France's sixth
city in terms of population with over 300,000 French nationals
now living and working in London. Many companies exchange personnel
weekly between their Paris and London offices, and some service
both capitals from a single office - in both cases boosting productivity
and extending markets. It is also well known that the volume of
tourism between the two cities has expanded enormously - with
the market for French visitors to London virtually created by
Eurostar.
19. Moreover, according to London & Continental Railways
(the builders of HS1), since the construction of the line, there
has been £10 billion worth of development and investment
committed around St Pancras International/Kings Cross, Stratford
and Ebbsfleet stations. Although not all of this development is
attributable to HS1, the line has undoubtedly played a major role
in encouraging this investment.
How does HSR fit with the Government's transport policy objectives?
HSR is designed to improve inter-urban connectivity. How does
that objective compare in importance to other transport policy
objectives and spending programmes, including those for the strategic
road network?
20. Of all the potential options available, HSR is the only
one capable of offering a step change in the reduction of journey
times, and therefore improved accessibility between key cities
and regions. Building a new motorway would not directly reduce
inter-regional journey times, because maximum speeds would still
be the same as on existing motorways. If anything, motorway speed
limits may be reduced in future - as they already have been in
Spain - in order to improve fuel consumption and reduce dependence
on imported oil. Likewise, domestic air services are already largely
at their practical limit in terms of aircraft speed, and therefore
journey times. This leaves HSR as the only mode which would materially
reduce passenger journey times on an inter-regional basis, and
therefore achieve the desired strategic improvement in accessibility.
Focusing on rail, what would be the implications of expenditure
on HSR on funding for the "classic" network, for example
in relation to investment to increase track and rolling stock
capacity in and around major cities?
21. It is important that the Government maintains adequate
investment in the existing rail network, including - as achieved
in France with great success - allowing for the integration of
existing lines with new HSR lines. The Government has already
demonstrated its commitment through the allocation of hundreds
of millions of pounds of investment in the classic rail network.
Eurostar supports the ring-fencing of funding for HS2 away from
the main DfT budget.
What are the implications for domestic aviation?
22. The construction of a HSR network should result in a decrease
in domestic air journeys. The introduction of an HSR line between
Brussels and Paris, for example, has virtually eliminated commercial
flights between those two cities. This will, in turn, release
airport capacity for long-haul flights and better enable Heathrow
to preserve and build upon its status as a global aviation hub.
Business case
What would be the pros and cons of resolving capacity issues
in other ways, for example by upgrading the West Coast Main Line
or building a new conventional line?
23. Alternatives to the construction of the national HSR network,
such as upgrading the West Coast Main Line or building new conventional
lines, whilst resulting in new capacity, would lead to considerable
disruption during the period of construction without a concomitant
improvement to journey times, punctuality or reliability. There
is considerable evidence to support this, including research carried
out by Atkins for the Department for Transport in 2009 and 2010
and for the Strategic Rail Authority in 2003, Network Rail's New
Lines Programme and Greengauge 21's Fast Forward research programme
in 2009.
What lessons should the Government learn from other major transport
projects to ensure that any new high speed lines are built on
time and to budget?
24. Despite the complexity of that programme, HS1 and its
associated projects serve as a good model for what future schemes
can achieve. The £5.8bn project to build the UK's first high
speed rail line was achieved on time and within budget. In this
respect, it is one of the country's most successful major infrastructure
projects in recent years, and provides an excellent example of
UK engineering excellence.
The strategic route
The proposed route to the West Midlands has stations at Euston,
Old Oak Common, Birmingham International and Birmingham Curzon
Street. Are these the best possible locations? What criteria should
be used to assess the case for more (or fewer) intermediate stations?
25. HSR makes possible fast city-centre to city-centre journey
times. It is self-evident that the more intermediate stations
there are along a HSR line, the longer the length of the journey.
As noted in a number of key studies on high speed rail,[97]
reducing the overall speeds by stops at smaller intermediate towns
can reduce the benefits for major cities without achieving sufficiently
large compensating gains for the smaller centres. Examination
of existing high speed networks in other countries reveals that
most trains run between the capital and the major target city,
with very few intermediate stops.
26. Where intermediate stations have been built on the French
high speed lines - such as at Le Creusot - thus building up its
role as a local centre of activity, the expected development around
the station has failed to materialise and has deterred the construction
of further intermediate stations.
27. Although careful planning in some areas - for example,
at Aix-en-Provence - has sometimes been able to generate new development
around an intermediate station, we consider that investment in
the classic network, which would ensure that these areas can link
to the major HSR hubs, would represent a better use of funding.
The Government proposes a link to HS1 as part of Phase 1 but
a direct link to Heathrow only as part of Phase 2. Are those the
right decisions?
28. Eurostar welcomes the proposal to connect HS1 to a HSR
network from London northwards. This will offer more and more
customers the potential of connecting to continental destinations
via HSR. It will also help achieve the ambition recently articulated
in the EU's Transport White Paper to complete a European high-speed
rail network by 2050. At the end of 2009, Europe had over 6214km
of HSR lines on which trains could run at speeds in excess of
250km/h. By contrast, the UK currently only has 109km miles of
HSR line.
29. The opening of the European rail network to competition
under the EU Open Access framework will present passengers with
greater choice in terms of both operators and destinations. The
construction of a HSR line to Birmingham and northwards will enable
more UK citizens to benefit from direct rail connections to Continental
Europe, and for those regions to forge economic links with mainland
Europe.
Economic rebalancing and equity
What evidence is there that HSR will promote economic regeneration
and help bridge the north-south economic divide?
30. As mentioned above, Eurostar has observed at close hand
the economic benefits that HSR has brought to Lille. During the
1980s, post-manufacturing dislocation resulted in high unemployment
and economic depression in the city. Since the introduction of
HSR in the 1990s, however, Lille has been transformed into the
crossroads of Europe's HSR network, becoming France's third most
powerful financial, commercial and industrial centre.
31. Cities such as Marseille, Lyon and others in France have
also benefited from the steady extension of the TGV network. Economic
growth has been much more evenly distributed across France, with
consequent less growth pressure on Paris as a capital. By contrast,
much of the UK's economic and population growth has been concentrated
in London and the South East, with strong, and still growing,
pressure on housing and infrastructure as a result
32. Faster transport links between cities will boost regional
business activity in the regions. They will help spread the economic
halo effect around London and the south-east to areas in the Midlands,
the North and the cities in Scotland. Improved business growth
in regional cities will speed regeneration in run-down areas,
and promote leisure travel to such destinations.
To what extent should the shape of the network be influenced
by the desirability of supporting local and regional regeneration?
33. As indicated above, the construction of intermediate stations
can reduce the benefits of HSR for major cities through the extension
of journey times without achieving sufficiently large compensating
gains for those smaller centres. Investing in the classic network
to ensure excellent regional links into HSR hubs represents a
sounder use of funding. This will enable regions to not only benefit
from released capacity on the classic network but also from geographical
and economic centres being brought closer together.
Which locations and socio-economic groups will benefit from
HSR?
34. All rail users including low socio-economic groups will
benefit from extra capacity on the classic network. For example
in 2010, ticket sales at our lead-in fare of £69/88
together with youth, disabled and senior tickets represented a
significant proportion of overall ticket sales.
Impact
What will be the overall impact of HSR on UK carbon emissions?
How much modal shift from aviation and roads would be needed for
HSR to reduce carbon?
35. The UIC has recently published interim findings in a technical
report which demonstrates that the European railway sector has
reduced CO2 emissions by a total of 38% between 1990-2009.
Although this figure is representative of the entire European
rail industry, it is in stark contrast to the expected rise in
emissions from domestic aviation which has a negative impact on
the UK contraction and convergence targets.
36. Independent research commissioned by Eurostar and conducted
by Paul Watkiss Associates and AEA Technology Environment, determined
that a return journey by Eurostar between London and Paris or
London and Brussels generates one-tenth of the CO2
of the same journey by air. The shift of passengers from short-haul
air to high speed rail within the first year alone of operating
on HS1 resulted in a combined passenger saving in excess of 40,000
tonnes of CO2.
37. Carbon savings will also result as modal shift takes place
from road and short haul air journeys to HSR. For example, on
the London to Paris/Brussels route, Eurostar now has an 80% market
share of the journeys made. Since the opening of HS1, Eurostar
has observed a significant modal shift from air to rail, as passengers
grow accustomed to the speed and ease of HSR travel.
38. A study commissioned by Eurostar in 2006 shows high speed
rail's market share between a whole range of city pairs in Europe,
plotting market share against journey time. The clear rule of
thumb is that where the rail city centre to city centre journey
time is reduced to three hours or less, rail succeeds in attracting
a clear majority of the travel markets, and takes an overwhelming
share where journey times are reduced below two hours. The large
majority of potential British city pairs, particularly those with
a significant domestic aviation service currently, fall comfortably
into this range. Following the Ash cloud crisis in April 2010,
Eurostar commissioned independent research which showed that 43%
of respondents would be happy to travel by train for up to six
hours.
39. The environmental benefits of HSR will be further accentuated
as supply chains become increasingly low carbon. Our experience
has shown that business travelers are already switching to a less
carbon intensive form of travel. More and more corporations and
many smaller companies are having to report their CO2
emissions, and are consequently looking to reduce their environmental
impacts. Our Tread Lightly carbon reduction programme was thus
elaborated in response to demands from corporate customers who
wanted to be able to quantify the carbon savings they were making
by switching from plane to train.
40. As mentioned above, these environmental benefits will
only improve in the future, as HSR travel becomes more environmentally
efficient. Electric trains can be switched to even lower-carbon
sources of electricity as soon as these become available under
the Government's commitments to derive 20% of the UK's electricity
supply from renewable sources by 2020. This is unlike aircraft
and road vehicles, which are likely to remain largely wedded to
fossil fuels for the foreseeable future.
May 2011
97
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