High Speed UK (Advocacy Group)
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High Speed UK (HSUK) is an advocacy group which proposes an alternative route to High Speed 2 that broadly incorporates the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail (High Speed 3) scheme.[1]
The HSUK proposal is not officially approved or funded by government.[1] The scheme received a parliamentary hearing in 2015.[2]
Proposed Routes
Dedicated High Speed Rail Corridors
HSUK comprises 3 primary corridors of new high speed line construction:
- Following the corridor of the M1 motorway[3] [4] [5] from London via Leicester and Sheffield to Leeds, with links en route to Luton, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Birmingham and the West Midlands, Nottingham and Derby.
- Following the corridor of the abandoned Woodhead line and the M62 motorway [5] [6] from Sheffield and Leeds to Manchester and Liverpool, with links en route to Stockport, Manchester Airport, Bolton, Preston, Blackpool, Warrington, Chester and North Wales.
- Following the corridor of the A1 and the East Coast Main Line [5] [7] via York, Darlington, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow,[7] with links en route to Teesside, Durham, Sunderland, Northumberland coast, Borders region, Edinburgh Airport and northern Scottish cities via the Forth Bridge and restoration/reconstruction of the abandoned Glenfarg and Strathmore routes.
West Midlands Upgrades focused upon Birmingham New Street
The new build routes listed above will be complemented by upgrade/4-tracking of all major radial routes into Birmingham New Street [4] i.e. Rugby-Coventry-Birmingham, Derby-Birmingham and Wolverhampton-Birmingham.
No new high speed line is proposed to directly link the West Midlands and the North-West. As the example of HS2 demonstrates, such a line would bypass all major communities between Birmingham and Manchester, including Wolverhampton, Stoke and Stockport. HSUK has developed an alternative upgrade strategy focused upon Stoke and the wider Potteries region[4][6] that will offer Birmingham-Stoke-Manchester services with a sub-1 hour journey time.
Here is a map of the proposed route (dedicated High-Speed Rail corridor only):[8]
Comparison to HS2
Comparison to HS2[9]
The group highlights various points that they believe make it better than proposals for HS2. This includes:
- The cost of HSUK is £20 billion less than current plans for HS2 and HS3.[10]
- 94% of journeys are improved.
- 40% less travel time on average.[11]
- 600 million tonnes of CO2 reduced.[12]
- The Chilterns are avoided.[13]
- Most work involves improving current infrastructure and restoring old lines, which is cheaper.
- The project is one that integrates new infrastructure with existing infrastructure.[14]
- All principal UK cities are connected.[15]
References
- ^ a b "About HSUK". High Speed UK. High Speed North Limited. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
- ^ "The Economics of High Speed 2; Chapter 5: Alternatives to Provide Capacity". Parliament.UK. 2015.
- ^ "London & the SE". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ a b c "Midlands". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ a b c "Yorks & NE". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ a b "The North West". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Scotland". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Home". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "ABOUT HSUK". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "COST". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "JOURNEY TIME". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "CO2". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "CHILTERNS". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "NETWORK". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "CONNECTIVITY". www.highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.