High Speed Rail Plans Announced

By · March 11, 2010 at 13:30 pm · No comments · Latest News · Report an error ·

HS_train110310.jpg
Image by TurnipFarmer from the Londonist Flickr pool

Lord Adonis announced the government’s proposals for a new High Speed rail link between London and the North this morning; a £30bn project that would bring Birmingham, Manchester and Yorkshire within less than 90 minutes of the capital in a Y-shaped network, splitting at Birmingham.

There’s an interchange with Crossrail near Heathrow planned, allowing travellers easy access to the airport and nearly halving the current journey time between, say, Leeds and Canary Wharf. The other big implication for London is a wholescale rebuilding of Euston: 10 high speed platforms and 14 ‘normal’ platforms all below ground level will involve expansion west and south – which answers our question of where to find 6 spare acres – all of which would hopefully be achieved without having to open a temporary station (à la St Pancras) or long closures.

We’re so bloody excited about this we hate to mention that none of it’s set in stone yet. The London to Birmingham route won’t get the go ahead (if consultation goes well) until next year, and work won’t even start until after Crossrail’s finished. Still: meet you at the Bull Ring in 2026, eh?

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  • Jonn

    Typical. As if we didn’t have enough northerners in this town.

    Yes, I mean you!

  • http://twitter.com/bagelmouse RachelH

    I’m working on it… you know how you can divorce your parents – is there a similar procedure for birthplace?

  • http://undefined Jonn

    I personally am working on an evil plan to divorcee Essex by turning the River Lea into an inland sea. Bwahahaha.

  • http://undefined James

    The route is very clever. I like it. If only they’d make it four tracks to somewhere near Brackley, then diverge a fast line to the north-east via Nottingham.

    It’s a pity that the Conservatives are probably going to kill this plan.

  • http://undefined jamesu

    @James D – There’s actualy a good assessment on the case for four tracking made in the document, with the summary being

    A) 16 trains per hour (at 1,100 people capacity) will be sufficent on the core line for the foreseable future.

    B) There isn’t rooom for a single new 20 platform station to serve a four track line anywhere in london.

    C) If more capacity is needed in future it would be better and cheaper to build a line due north on a different alignment.

    We’ll be posting more on this later today!

  • http://undefined Kingpin

    Maybe if you lived in one of the areas this blight is going to be passing through and not benefitting, you might see things from their angle.

    The Chilterns will be spoiled with little benefit to Buckinghamshire, or the other counties it’ll be passing through. Bring on the Tory plans to scrap the proposal!

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