Hey folks, welcome back to the channel, and welcome back to High Speed Rail Explained.
This video is on the UK means the channel will now have covered every Nation with a
major network of high speed rail and that’s cause for celebration! If you haven’t yet,
make sure to check out the other videos in the series!
I’ve had plans for this video since this series started, but I wanted to make things
just right so I enlisted help from two excellent creators from the UK - David Frankal - whose
videos of various systems in Europe and across the UK are really awesome and Gareth Dennis
who’s RailNatter series is a lot of fun, I’ll link their excellent channels below.
If you aren’t already, consider following on Twitter and Instagram and consider supporting
the channel on Patreon!
As with most stories about the UK and railways, this one spans a long period of time, as it
turns out the UK has a long and somewhat unusual history with fast trains, or should I say
trains which are capable of high speeds.
Mallard which debuted in the late 1930’s being roughly where the story starts for me.
Mallard is the world record holder for fastest steam locomotive and was created by LNER - London
& North Easten Railway. The locomotive has hit speeds over over 125 miles per hour, meaning
it is capable of speeds higher than the in service speeds of almost all trains in North
America to this day, despite being nearly 100 years old. I have a bit of a personal
connection with Mallard too, as I used to have a large poster of it hanging in my room
when I was a kid.
As you may or may not have imagined, this high speed rail explained is going to be somewhat
unconventional. As it turns out, the UK’s approach to high speed rail, for much of the
last century consisted of piecemeal upgrades to existing lines, largely limiting upgrades
to around 125 miles per hour.
Since the UK’s High Speed Rail is less defined by its corridors and more defined by its incredibly
varied rolling stock, this video will spend more time focusing on and explaining that;
which is why I started with Mallard. This fits in with the purpose of the series, in
that unlike many countries, the actual routes are the simple part of this story while the
rolling stock is the complex part; well except for Japan, gotta love Japan.
As it turns out the high speed rail we know in the UK today, which is largely dominated
by upgraded lines capable of roughly 125 mph, started in the early 1970’s with the upgrade
of the Great Western Main Line for service with the iconic HST, sometimes known as the
Intercity 125.
This was followed in the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s by similar upgrades to
the East Coast Mainline and then by upgrades to the Midland Main Line throughout the 1980’s.
As it turns out there were also further improvements made to the West Coast Main Line in the 2000’s
in order to adapt it for use by high speed tilting trains, which we will discuss later.
Of course the UK does have one modern purpose built high speed rail line in the form of
High speed 1. At the time of construction it was the first new mainline built in one
hundred years.
If the name confuses you, high speed 1 is also sometimes referred to as the channel
tunnel rail link, which as the name suggests, links the channel tunnel and Kent with London.
What you may not be familiar with is that the Channel Tunnel Rail link did not open
with the tunnel, and so Eurostar services originally went to London Waterloo on the
conventional network, rather than London St. Pancras.
Even with phase 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail link, trains still spent some time slowly
running along the conventional network to access Waterloo. As mentioned in a previous
video , the original Eurostar stock included third rail pickups, which is very unusual
for a high speed train.
The second section of high speed 1 which passes through Stratford and East London before arriving
at St. Pancras Station was opened in 2007.
All in all high speed 1 has 3 intermediate stations appended with International, though
only some of the intermediate “international” stations actually provide international services
from Eurostar. Those intermediate stations are served by Southeastern high speed commuter
rail services.
HS1 also carries freight trains, which is unusual for a purpose-built high speed railway.
And that’s what high speed rail looks like in the UK right now, a handful of upgraded
lines North from and North of London travelling across the country and High Speed 1 linking
London to Kent and the rest of Europe.
There is also major expansion to the UK’s High Speed Rail
network underway in the form of High Speed 2 which Reece covered in a previous Demystified
video. High Speed 2 is a new high speed rail line from London to Birmingham and then further
North to Manchester and Leeds. High Speed 2 would be a new purpose built high speed
railway much in the spirit of High Speed 1, but with higher top speeds.
Much like high speed 1, high speed 2 will be built in phases with the first phase from
London Euston to Birmingham already under construction with an opening projected for
around 2030. Phase 2A will take the line further northwest to Crewe, a major junction for trains
continuing north, while Phase 2B will extend the line from Crewe to Manchester while creating
a separate branch from Birmingham through the East Midlands to Leeds and York.
These sections are projected to open in roughly 2030 and 2035 respectively, but with those
dates so far out they could very easily slip, and by the time the UK has its major new High
Speed Network, Japan will probably be opening its first intercity maglev line.
The network will tie into existing lines at Wigan and York, allowing high speed trains
to serve destinations not on the high speed lines themselves, such as Liverpool, Newcastle,
Edinburgh and Glasgow , though the trains which will travel at speeds in excess of 200
mph on HS2 itself will need to slow down to the regular 125 mph speeds.
HS2 has faced criticism from across the political spectrum, on grounds of its high cost and
the environmental impact of constructing the line, though significant measures have been
included within the plan to minimise these, such as the planting of 600Ha of new woodland
and the creation of one of Europe’s largest areas of chalk grassland.
Beyond HS2, planning is underway on a further high speed corridor known as HS3 or Northern
Powerhouse Rail, to better connect the North of England, including planned high speed routes
between Liverpool and Manchester and Manchester and Leeds. This will also double as an extension
of HS2 to Liverpool.
These plans are politically popular in the North of England, where major investment into
our transport links have been needed for a very long time, though we’re still yet to
see confirmation of funding or a timescale for this project.
As mentioned before, the most intriguing element of High Speed Rail in the UK is perhaps the
rolling stock, which has varied largely because of the number of different models used by
varying franchises in the last 20 years.
Of course, while things all started with Mallard, a locomotive largely limited by sub 100 mph
line speeds, perhaps the most significant developments in British High Speed rail technology
came in the late 20th century, inspired by the development of the Japanese Shinkansen
and the French TGV, train systems you can learn about in my other high speed rail explained
videos.
The next major development for high speed trains in Britain came in the 1970s with the
Advanced Passenger Train, or APT for short. The APT was meant to compete with the developing
fast trains in Japan and, later on, France, and included features such as hydrokinetic
brakes and active tilting to allow for higher speeds through curves.
The first version of the APT was the experimental APT-E, which was powered by a gas turbine
for its many thousands of miles of testing.
Following many years of development, the prototype APT-P came along, which after some deliberation
was specified to use overhead power. Diminishing interest from British Rail management meant
that APT-P’s development was mired in challenges and delays,
and whilst it did manage to set a number of records and spent a short time in revenue
service on the West Coast Main Line in the process, eventually the project was cancelled
and most of the futuristic looking trains were cut up for scrap. As we’ll see, though,
it wasn’t an entirely wasted effort.
In parallel with the development of the futuristic APT, another more conventional fast train
was working its way off the drawing board. This was the Intercity 125 or High Speed Train
Introduced in 1975. This train, formed of top-and-tailed diesel locomotives with a rake
of coaches in between, is able to operate in service at 125 miles per hour, though trains
have achieved speeds of nearly 150 mph out of service. Thanks to its immense power, innovative
brakes and relative design simplicity, the HST was the first modern high speed train
to operate commercially in the UK, and despite their advanced years can still be seen operating
services to this day.
Despite being called the InterCity 225, the next generation of British high speed train
actually owed a lineage to the APT rather than the diesel InterCity 125, relying on
several technical innovations from the development of that train. The 225, formed of a fixed
push-pull formation of coaches hauled by a Class 91 electric locomotive, was introduced
in 1988 alongside the electrification of the East Coast Main Line.
Unfortunately, despite the confusing nomenclature the Intercity 225 is capable of 225 kph rather
than miles per hour putting it roughly in line with the Intercity 125 with a top speed
of about 140mph though is limited to 125mph by signalling and line capacity constraints.
Though it was initially intended to be part of a larger order to match a larger programme
of electrification, the early 1990s recession put paid to that, and the fleet remained isolated
on the East Coast Main Line.
Though the Class 91 remains one of the most advanced passenger-only electric locomotives
in the world, it has already been largely replaced by newer Hitachi electric multiple
units. It’s still a glorious beast, though.
As it turns out, following the Intercity branded trains came a large number of different high
speed train models all capable of 125 mph as the UK transitioned into its franchised
rail model - which will be the subject of another video. These included the:
Adelante or Class 180 a DMU manufactured by Alstom and first introduced in 2000.
The Voyager or Class 220 a DEMU manufactured by Bombardier and first introduced in 2000.
The Super Voyager or Class 221 also manufactured by Bombardier and first introduced in 2001.
These trains feature active tilting, though the system has been disabled on some sets.
The Meridians or Class 222, another DEMU manufactured by Bombardier and first introduced in 2004.
The Pendolino or Class 390 a tilting electrical multiple unit which was manufactured by Alstom
and introduced in 2002. If you want to learn more about other Pendolino tilting trains
check out our video on Italian high speed rail in the top right corner.
The Nova 2 or Class 397 an electrical multiple unit manufactured by CAF introduced in 2017.
And the latest and greatest is the class 80X Intercity Express train. The IET consists
of three classes of trains, the 800 and 802 are bi-mode multiple units capable of operating
on diesel fuel or overhead wires, while the 801 is a more traditional electrical multiple
unit. The 80X series are all manufactured by Hitachi, who incorporated learnings from
the Japanese Shinkansen into the trains which have been ordered en masse to replace old
Intercity 125 and 225 trains.
Of course, beyond the 125 mile per hour national network, there is also High Speed 1, which
has its own unique set of rolling stock in order to make use of the line's 186 mph top
speed.
The first train is the original Eurostar Class 373 from Alstom, based on TGV technology,
the 373 is a locomotive hauled train with a top in service speed of 186 mph. Of course
as mentioned earlier the 373 had to be outfitted with third rail pickup shoes in order to run
on the third rail electrified network between Waterloo and the Channel Tunnel.
Notably the class 373’s are designed with a more limited profile to comply with the
more restrictive loading gauge of the UK National network. Seven so-called “North of London”
sets were originally built for regional Eurostar services to Manchester and Leeds, which never
actually launched.
Between 2000 and 2005, some of these trains were used to provide domestic services on
the East Coast Mainline, the so-called White Rose services from London King’s Cross to
Leeds and York.
The next is the replacement for the Class 373, Eurostars Class 374 or Eurostar e320
is a Siemens Velaro high speed multiple unit train with a top speed of 200 mph or 320 kph,
hence its name. Unlike the previous class 373 units, the class 374 did away with the
third rail shoes from day one and feature a larger profile limiting them to operations
on high speed 1 only within the UK. These trains are virtually identical to the ICE
3 Class 407 trains operating in Germany, though are twice the length.
Finally, there are the class 395 Javelin trains which are high speed multiple units based
on the same series of trains from Hitachi as the IET with a top speed of 140mph when
on high speed 1. The Javelins like the class 373s have a national network compatible profile
and third rail shoes in order to provide high speed commuter services in the Southeast of
England on a mixture of conventional lines and high speed 1.
Of course, there’s also the rolling stock which will be used on HS2. While final decisions
have not been made yet, HS2 rolling stock will be capable of 220 mph or 360 kph top
speeds in the same vein as California High Speed Rail and most of the well known global
rolling stock manufacturers submitted bids to provide the stock. Much like with the Javelin
trains operating on HS1, HS2 will host “classic compatible” trains capable of extending
onto the conventional national rail network.
Of course, as with every high speed rail explained video, I need to address the unique features
of the British High Speed Rail network and services.
Perhaps the most unique aspect of the British High Speed Rail network is the soon-to-be-defunct
franchise system where various routes and services are operated by different private
operators. This means one year you could be riding Company A’s train and the next year
you could be riding Company B’s on the same route. This is soon to come to an end, though,
as a new organisation called Great British Railways will be taking control of the whole
railway network over the next few years as part of widespread industry changes.
Of course we shouldn’t forget that the network is linked to mainland Europe via the Channel
Tunnel as well, still a marvel of engineering. Of course, it still hasn’t really been used
to its full potential. As Europe’s high speed and conventional rail networks continue
to expand and develop, incredible opportunities are still presented by the channel tunnel
to connect the UK to the rest of the continent.
Another element worth pointing out with regard to the UK’s rail network, in this case as
a whole, is the very restrictive loading gauges in many locations and along many lines. This
is due to the railways early and decentralized development. The restrictive loading gauge
of the railways presents a further challenge for high speed rail development.
Now, of course, I virtually always finish things with coverage of countries successes,
and sometimes failures at exporting their high speed rail technology, and as you might
expect the UK has been less than successful in exporting whole trains.
As it turns out, there has really only been one major export of British HSR rolling stock,
and that’s in the form of the New South Wales XPT or express passenger train, a modified
version of the Intercity 125 with modifications made for operation in Australia.
It’s me again!
As it turns out, the research and development that led to the Advanced Passenger Train wasn’t
entirely wasted… In fact, in his efforts to reduce hunting at high speeds, the project’s
lead engineer, Alan Wickens, developed the modern yaw damper, which alleviated hunting
for high speed passenger trains and freed steel-on-steel trains across the globe to
go faster and faster. It’s not an exaggeration to say that every high speed train in the
world owes a legacy to Wickens and the work of the British Rail Research Division.
You can find out more about this in my video on maglev!
While the UK is often rightly criticized for it’s generally slow and geographically limited
high speed rail network when compared to other European countries, on the whole the UK has
succeeded on delivering some level of high speed service to a fairly large portion of
the country and I think this does demonstrate some of the benefits of a “legacy” upgrade
approach to your railway network. You don’t get the same top speeds, but you get to use
what are frequently better alignments and station locations when compared to new build
lines.
As it turns out Great Britain long had the highest average passenger train speeds in
the world thanks to the ubiquity of fast regional and rural services. Of course the UK is also
getting a more European style HSR network in the form of HS2, and that will leave it
with a respectable two tier network with a very high speed backbone, and many redundant
high speed lines for connecting trips.
I hope you enjoyed this latest episode of High Speed Rail Explained - If you learned
something from this video, make sure to like and subscribe, and comment down below to let
me know what you want to see in the next episode of the series, and whether there’s any topics
in this video you’d like me to dive deeper into.
As with my Italian high speed rail network video, I’ll be letting my viewers vote on
the next episode of the series via a YouTube community poll! So what will it be: the Netherlands,
Morocco, or the United States?
Thanks again for watching and I’ll see you in the next one!