Theology Ramblings: High Speed 2 slows down?

Tuesday, 5 June 2012

High Speed 2 slows down?

There are reports that the government is cooling towards HS2. It does seem to me be a lot of money to knock a few minutes off the travel time between Birmingham and London and I am not convinced of the financial case for the extensions to Manchester and Leeds.

Potential time savings are:

London to/from…	current (2012 report)	current (2012 timetable)	…after HS2→Birmingham)	…after HS2→Manchester & Leeds)
Birmingham	1:24	1:12^{[t 1]}	0:49	no change
Manchester	2:08	1:58^{[t 2]}	1:40	1:08
Liverpool	2:10	2:01^{[t 3]}	1:50	1:46
Leeds	2:20	1:59^{[t 4]}	no change	1:28
Sheffield	2:09	2:05^{[t 5]}	no change	1:10
Newcastle	3:09	2:37^{[t 6]}	no change	2:18
Edinburgh	4:30	4:00^{[t 7]}	no change	3:39
Glasgow	4:30	4:08^{[t 8]}	4:00	3:37

^ Birmingham: one train per day, in one direction only: 07:30 New Street–08:42 Euston
^ Manchester: one train per day, in one direction only: 07:00 Piccadilly–08:58 Euston
^ Liverpool: one train per day, in one direction only: 07:00 Lime Street–09:01 Euston
^ Leeds: one train per day, in one direction only: 07:00 Leeds–08:59 King's Cross
^ Sheffield: two trains per day, northbound: St Pancras–Sheffield
^ Newcastle: one train per day, in one direction only: 07:03 Newcastle Central–09:40 King's Cross
^ Edinburgh: one train per day, in one direction only: 05:40 Waverley–09:40 King's Cross
^ Glasgow: one train per day, in one direction only: 16:30 Euston–20:38 Glasgow Central