Additional HS2 Line - East Midlands Hub to London

[Intercity 225]

Hi,

The existing plans for HS2 are understandable, however in the longer term could it be a bit of a problem that journeys between London and the North East, Leeds, Sheffield and the East Midlands need to make a detour via Birmingham? Surely this is going to have a significant impact on journey time.

I’d especially be interested to find out:

• Whether a cost/benefit analysis has been performed for a line that would run between the proposed East Midlands Hub and London directly?

• What are the likely time savings achieved from such a route?

All thoughts, opinions and views on this topic appreciated.

Many Thanks

 

[tbtc]

Surely this is going to have a significant impact on journey time

It'll take longer (than following the M1) but at two hundred miles per hour it's not going to be as significant a delay as some dog-leg routes on the Victorian network.

Plus most of the costs/ disruptions associated with HS2 are the central London bit and the getting through the green-belt bit, so keeping everything on one line from Euston through the Chilterns is going to be much easier/ cheaper/ faster than trying to run two separate lines.

There's also the benefit that skirting towards the West Midlands will significantly reduce the journey time from Newcastle/ York/ Leeds to Birmingham, bringing it down to something similar to the current Newcastle/ York/ Leeds - Manchester journey times, which could transform that corridor (Sheffield - Birmingham will potentially be faster than Sheffield - Manchester, which could be a game changer for commutes etc).

And the HS2 line should give us eighteen paths per hour through the Chilterns, so plenty to be shared around for the MML/ECML routes - that's a lot of 400m trains.

I've been in favour of a London - East Midlands HS line (maybe using Stratford as an equivalent to Old Oak Common then running via Stansted/ Cambridge, giving them much better links to the north of England), but it's going to be hard enough to get one HS line built in the next decade so I think we'd probably be best sticking with one proposal and getting it built before we have the luxury of a second line from London to "the north".

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I think it makes sense to build a second high speed line.

Following the M1 alignment, a station could be provided at Milton Keynes, providing access to the East Midlands and the North East to a growing city. Released paths on the original HS2 route could be used for cross-country services to Heathrow or Southampton.

You could use the Javelin platforms at St. Pancras for HS2 eastern services. What would happen to the Javelins? Perhaps the Euston Cross proposal could be be used to send them onwards to Heathrow. You could use the Euston Cross box for Crossrail 2 services as well, which was in the 1980s BRs original plan for the Kings Cross International station when the CTRL was projected to run through Peckham. The station was meant to hold a station for Thameslink 2000 services underneath the current trainshed.

Oh, and build for god sake underground through platforms at Birmingham and Manchester so Heathrow-Birmingham-Manchester-Glasgow trains could run.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Milton Keynes is not a city

 

[edwin_m]

The M1 is quite difficult for a railway to follow particularly around Luton. Previous discussions on here have suggested something further east, through easier terrain and providing service to Peterborough and Cambridge. This would have less long-distance traffic than the line out of Euston so perhaps allow high speed commuter services too.

However I don't think St Pancras would work as a terminus as the Javelin platforms are too short.

 

[aarongumley]

Milton Keynes is not a city

correct it's just one hell ofa big town

 

[adrock1976]

Would it be possible for a High Speed East route branching from Stratford International running along an alignment of Cambridge - Peterborough - Leeds New Lane - York - Newcastle - Edinburgh?

This would provide direct (or same platform one change at Stratford International) between the eastern side of England north of the Thames to the Kent area (or if venturing into the realms of fantasy international trains from the North East running through the Channel Tunnel).