UK’S HS2
Posted on 27 March 2009 by Railways Africa Editor
Sir David Rowlands, chairman of High Speed Two – Britain’s fastest-most-frequent-train-in-the-world project – envisages a four-track line between London and Manchester carrying 800-passenger, 360km/h double-deck trains every four minutes. The journey time from London to Birmingham (185km) would be 30 minutes and from London to Manchester (296km), a little over an hour. Detailed plans for the new line are being prepared.
The initial high-speed trunk line from London to the West Midlands would open soon after 2020 and be extended later with branches to the north-east and north-west, eventually extending to Glasgow and Edinburgh. A site at Old Oak Common rail depot near Wormwood Scrubs in West London is being considered as a giant rail hub where passengers would switch from the high-speed line to Crossrail, the new main-line railway being built under central London to link routes to the east and west. The hub would also connect with the Heathrow Express and the Great Western main-line. Sir David, formerly Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport, forecasts “tens of thousands of homes for long-distance commuters” being built between London and Birmingham. They would travel to work on the existing west-coast main line.
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