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The construction of HS2, a high speed rail link between London and the north of England, has been approved. The announcement was made by Boris Johnson yesterday. Phase 1, due for completion in 2028 at the earliest, will be between London and Birmingham; Phase 2, due in 2035 at the earliest, will be two separate lines onwards to Manchester and Leeds.
The trains will travel at up to 250 mph. They will otherwise be conventional, and will take electrical power from overhead catenary. The line will have connections with existing ones, enabling some trains to continue at lower speeds to further destinations, such as Liverpool and Scotland.
The routes will be broadly parallel with existing ones, which are generally running at full capacity. Rail passenger travel in the UK has greatly increased in recent years and this, rather than the reduction in journey times, is the main driver for the project.
Note : It is called HS2 because it is the second high speed line in the UK, HS1 being the link from St. Pancras International railway station in central London to the Channel Tunnel.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Friday February 14 2020, @05:40PM (1 child)
That sounds a lot like catching a plane.
More seriously, in the UK context, the only time you'll be subjected to any significant security checks is if you're travelling through the channel tunnel [eurostar.com]. That also includes passport checks, because the UK's never been part of the Shengen travel zone. Any other train, and you just get on board (having possibly shown your ticket as you step onto the platform).
You have to get tickets and travel on the railway's schedule, yes. But many important routes have two, three, or more trains an hour. The cheapest tickets will tie you to a particular train, but standard tickets are flexible, and you can travel on any train you like. Had a day's business in London, and heading home to Manchester? No need to worry what time the train leaves, as there'll be another one twenty minutes later. Just enough time for another drink before heading off.
You'll have to lug your gear to the station, but the train isn't going to be able to lose it for you: you stick it in a luggage rack or on a shelf in the same carriage as you are.
The only trains where you'll even find a first class cabin is on sleeper trains (and some of those have on-board showers now). There's only two routes that still have sleeper trains in the UK now, partially because the UK's small enough that you often don't have to travel overnight to get to where you need to be in the morning. Current daytime trains will take you from London to Glasgow in less than five hours, and the planned high speed rail will bring that below four, approaching three: that's not enough time to fall asleep!
For routes/flows with a lot of travellers, definitely. If you've got a few thousand people travelling to London for the day, where would you park all those self-driving cars? Better for them to share a train, and then you can send the train back the way it came to move some more people.
Granted, the state of play on a big continent like North America is very different. But TFA is about UK High Speed Rail...
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday February 14 2020, @08:18PM
That's a good question, too. I've read some think self-driving cars could be sent home again (if we're talking about commuters) or they could run around as ride-share vehicles while you're at work to earn you, the car owner, extra income.
Washington DC delenda est.