High Speed 2

High Speed 2, HS2 short, is the project name of a planned British high-speed line. They will run from London Euston to Birmingham, broken down there to Manchester and Leeds and lead up to Glasgow later.

Course

The route is to run from London Euston to Birmingham and share there in two branches: The western branch leads via Liverpool to Manchester. The eastern branch should be routed via the East Midlands and South Yorkshire to Leeds. The travel times of these places to London should be halved compared to today in about.

History

In January 2009 the British government established the project company "High Speed Two Ltd ".. This should be up to 31 December 2009 up to / - 0.5 meters provide - accurate 25 meter route with a Gradientengenauigkeit of /. In a first step, the London- Birmingham is to be realized. After completion of this section are to be connected in a further step as Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow. The route to relieve the current Main Line West Coast Main Line.

If the decision to build the line in the first quarter of 2010 fell, the plans had to be drawn up and approved by mid- 2016. This should be followed ( from 4th quarter 2017 to 3rd quarter 2023), the commissioning was scheduled for mid- 2025 a six-year construction period. It would be the second high-speed line in the UK, according to the 2003 ( partial) and 2007 (fully) opened High Speed 1

At the moment (as of 2011) is ( to Birmingham ) Calculated with the commissioning of the first section for the year 2026. The full commissioning of the Y solution is planned for the years 2032 and 2033.

Extension

The railway line to be built in standard gauge and designed for a design speed of up to 400 km / hr. At the beginning of the trains with 360 km / h should operate.

In about 11 percent of its length, the line will run in the tunnel. These include large parts of London and sections in the region Chiltern.

Costs

The construction costs are estimated at approximately £ 34 billion. Here, a possible link with the High Speed 1 is not miteinkalkuliert.

The project will, for the price level of 2009, over a period of 60 years to achieve a economic benefit -cost ratio between 1.6 and 2.0.

Travel time evolution

The journey time from London to Birmingham would be reduced from today 1:22 hours to 49 minutes. After completion of the sections to Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester, these cities would be attainable in 1:20 to 1:36 hours from London, 30 to 60 minutes faster than today. Trains from London to the two largest Scottish cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh would need for a full installation only 2:40 hours instead of 4:30 today.

Planned vehicles

It is planned with two different types of vehicles to drive on this stretch of railway:

With the narrower British loading gauge compatible vehicles, which can run on classic tracks.
Vehicles with larger gauge, possibly double-decker trains, but which can therefore operate only on the high-speed line.

The trains will be up to 362 km / h (225 mph) fast, 200 meters long and double traction capability.

Currently running with the Intercity Express Programme by the UK Department for Transport tenders for high-speed trains. These could be used, among other things, on this route.

Conjunction with the High Speed 1

In the current planning is not yet connected the track with the High Speed 1, which ends in St Pancras Station, included. However, the British government aims to connect their future high-speed network with Europe, but only at a reasonable cost. A study by the engineering firm Arup estimates the cost of a single-track line to 458 million pounds, a two-track connection would £ 812 million and a high-speed connection between two high-speed lines 3.6 billion pounds, the recommendation of the study is the two-tier connection.

Before the construction of this connection, the two lines will be connected only on indirect services, such as the London Underground or the planned S- Bahn connection Crossrail.

The Greengauge 21 study called for the HS2 routes including branches and the connection to HS1 has a total length of 240 km (150 miles).

Euston railway station Old Oak Common railway station Leeds railway station Manchester Piccadilly Station Glasgow Central station Grade (slope) Chiltern (District)

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