High Five to HS2: Frost & Sullivan Comments on High Speed Rail in the UK

Jan. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- On Tuesday, the Department of Transportation in the United Kingdom (UK) gave the green light for the start of the HS2 High Speed Rail Project. The first phase, London to Birmingham, is expected be operational by 2026. The proposed route is a trunk from London to West Midlands (Phase 1), with spurs breaking off to the West to Manchester, and East Midlands to Leeds (Phase 2).

HS2 is intended for passenger services, and in the long run will reduce journey times between London and Northern destinations, such as Newcastle and Edinburgh. The estimated modal shift of passengers from other modes of transportations, such as cars and planes to high speed rail is expected to reach around 16 per cent. Long arrivals and departures on weekdays are expected to be close to 145,000 (of which 39,300 will be new generated traffic).

One of the main factors for the proposal of HS2 is the congested passenger and freight services on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). Annually, it carries about 75 million passenger journeys and up to 43 per cent of all of UK’s rail freight traffic. A separation of passenger and freight traffic however, is key to a profitable railway network. Running both services on the same line causes congestion and delays. Apart from carrying passengers, the new high speed rail can be utilised for post, cargo and courier services. HS2 will also help to ease airport congestion in Heathrow and give way for Birmingham to be the next hot spot for international and regional air travel.

Having already been identified as “priority project 14” in the Trans-European Transport Networks Program (TEN-t), the WCML modernisation was completed as of 2009. Significant funding for the upgrade of the WCML came from the EU cohesion fund for TEN-t Projects. The TEN-t Executive Agency plans to develop road, rail, air and water transport systems to serve the European Union. Its objective is to establish a single multi modal network that allows people and goods to travel easily.

The TEN-t “priority project 2” involves integrating high speed rail operations between Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Amsterdam and London. Integrating HS2 into this high speed axis will open up a robust communication, information, economic and transportation channel from mainland Europe to the UK, and Scotland in the future.

HS2 faced stiff opposition in its run-up until the go-ahead was announced. There is a strong need to examine concerns raised by the opposition over the economic case of the HS2. The UK already ranks in the top 4 costliest nations for construction of civil projects in the European Union. Concerns are that the project could overrun its estimated costs of 32 billion GBP by up to 15 per cent. Analysts and opposition groups have catalogued many inconsistencies in the government’s analysis.

Other concerns are that ticket prices will be too expensive for the common traveller and that HS2 may fail to deliver the job creation it promises. Analysts have calculated four job losses for every one created.

Rail, however, is the cleanest and most efficient mode of transport. In a single gallon of diesel, a freight locomotive can haul one ton of payload a distance of 246 miles while today’s most fuel efficient truck will take that same payload a distance of 88 miles. Transport is responsible for 25 per cent of all emissions and is the biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK. Rail, however, accounts for only 2 per cent of emissions. An intercity High Speed passenger train is three times as energy efficient as commercial air, and six times as efficient as a car travelling with one occupant.

The biggest environmental concern of HS2 is the impact it will have in the Chilterns. To address this issue, tunnelling has been included in certain critical areas along the planned track. Tunnelling the entire width of the Chilterns is expected to cost 1.2 billion GBP.  The UK government stated, that stretches were identified involving less deep cutting, removal of spoil thereby costing 250 to 300 million GBP less.

All in all, today’s roadways are failing to meet the demand and transport agencies and countries around the world are looking at integrated multi modal transportation solutions to reduce congestion and speed up services. France, Spain, Germany and Japan are standing testimony for the safe and effective use of high speed rail networks. According to a recent Frost & Sullivan analysis, Europe will be the biggest investor regarding the development of HSR across the continent over the next 10 years with an investment of $338 billion on infrastructure and $35 billion on rolling stock.

Rail transport is not just an option, but the strongest measure to reduce pollution and congestion associated to road and air traffic. The organisational structure of UK’s railway has a high level of bureaucratic redundancy. Adoption of best practices from nations with a successful rail network will help reduce operating costs. The economic benefits of a railway line may not always be immediate, yet the commitment to high speed rail is necessary.

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