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] Railway engineers Colin Elliff and Quentin Macdonald founded the group.[2]
The HSUK proposal is not officially approved or funded by government.[1] The scheme was launched in 2008, renamed in 2013 and received a parliamentary hearing in 2015.[3]
Proposed Routes
editAccording to the HSUK plan, there are 72 proposed services, as of August 2023.[4] The routes are categorised into 7 service groupings.[5]
| Service group | Name | No. of routes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| S01 | Crosscountry | 14 | [6] |
| S02 | Transpennine | 15 | [7] |
| S03 | North & Scotland | 17 | [8] |
| S04 | North-West Corridor | 9 | [9] |
| S05 | M1 Corridor | 9 | [10] |
| S06 | Great Western | -TBA- | [5] |
| S07 | Heathrow | 8 | [11] |
Comparison to HS2
editComparison to HS2
editThe group claims various benefits of their plan compared to the proposals for HS2.[12] This includes:
- The cost of HSUK is £20 billion less than current plans for HS2 and HS3.[13]
- 94% of journeys are improved.
- 40% less travel time on average.[14]
- 600 million tonnes of CO2 reduced.[15]
- The Chilterns are bypassed.[16]
- Most work involves improving existing infrastructure and restoring old lines, which is cheaper.
- The project is one that integrates new infrastructure with existing infrastructure.[17]
- All principal UK cities are connected.[18]
References
edit- ^ a b "About HSUK". High Speed UK. High Speed North Limited. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
- ^ Burn, Chris (14 December 2017). "Maverick railway engineers from Yorkshire hoping to stop HS2 in its tracks". The Yorkshire Post.
- ^ "The Economics of High Speed 2; Chapter 5: Alternatives to Provide Capacity". Parliament.UK. 2015.
- ^ "SERVICE DIAGRAMS". highspeeduk.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ a b Compendium of Services
- ^ S01
- ^ S02
- ^ S03
- ^ S04
- ^ S05
- ^ S07
- ^ "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.