OUR DESIGN

CHEAPER

£20bn less than existing plans for HS2 & HS3.

BETTER CONNECTED

Improves 94% of journeys and reduces journey time by an average of 40%.

CLEANER

Saves 600 million tonnes of CO2 and avoids the Chilterns AONB.

SMARTER

Improves regional rail across the UK and integrates with the existing rail infrastructure.

High Speed UK - Connecting the Nation

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The work of High Speed UK represents an unprecedented design for the UK rail network. No-one before has ever attempted to design the national rail network; it has simply evolved, in a vaguely Darwinian fashion, including the ‘mass-extinction’ event of the 1960s Beeching Cuts. But in the 21st Century, with the advent of the UK high speed rail initiative, a coherent, comprehensive and co-ordinated design for the national network is absolutely vital.

The HSUK design is represented on this website by the copious documentation in our Library. This documentation includes:

 Maps covering all aspects of the HSUK scheme (new-build, upgrades and restorations) from Gatwick Airport in the south to Aberdeen in the north.

 Regional integration strategies, demonstrating how HSUK will complement (and HS2 will conflict with) development of the local rail network in all regions served by HSUK and HS2.

 A strategy for complementary development of a parallel national railfreight network capable of accommodating larger-gauge UIC-C rolling stock.

 Proposals for enhanced intercity services covering most principal corridors of the national rail network (i.e. CrossCountry, TransPennine, East Coast, Midland, West Coast and Heathrow-centric).

 Detailed predictions of journey time reductions and improved connectivity for 32 principal hubs of the UK rail network.

 Bespoke solutions to transform capacity at all major hubs of the national network.

 Major reports fully documenting the successes of HSUK and the failures of HS2.

The HSUK design recognises the central illogicality of the HS2 project. The HS2 remit calls clearly for a stand-alone high speed line, which by its very nature can only link a few highly selective locations. Yet HS2’s objective of “hugely enhanced capacity and connectivity” between the UK’s major conurbations can only practicably be met through designing HS2’s new high speed lines to be fully integrated with existing main lines to form a single integrated network.

The objective of a single integrated national network in which all major communities can be directly interlinked has been central to the HSUK design, from the very start. This objective can only be achieved with a designed blend of:

 New high speed lines – every straight, transition and curve defined.

 Closely-spaced links to the existing network – over 60 connections required.

 Upgrading of existing routes – often this is a cheaper and better solution than new-build.

 Restoration of abandoned routes – Dr Beeching often got it wrong.

 Development of bespoke solutions to achieve step-change increases in capacity at all existing hubs of the national network.

The HSUK design includes:

 The design, to 1:25,000 scale, of detailed horizontal alignments for over 1,000km of new, upgraded and restored railway.

 The preparation of complementary vertical alignments.

 The development of a timetable to demonstrate how HSUK’s objective of comprehensive interconnectivity can be attained, and the step-change journey time reductions that can be achieved.

 The development of detailed comparative cost estimates which show equivalent elements of HSUK to be over £20 billion cheaper to construct than HS2.

Every aspect of the HSUK design exposes the total failure of HS2’s technical leadership to develop a railway fit to serve the people of the United Kingdom.

OUR DESIGN