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#1 ·
Tilting Pendolino Train Crashes in UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6391633.stm

One dead in Cumbria train crash

Services between Preston and Carlisle were suspended
A passenger has died and dozens have been injured after a train derailed and some of its carriages slid down an embankment in Cumbria.
Ambulance crews said three were in a critical condition in hospital.

Nine carriages were left on their side after the crash at Grayrigg near Kendal, with passengers saying some were left "stuck up in the air".

The Virgin train, the 1715 from London Euston due to arrive at Glasgow Central at 2154 GMT, crashed at 2015 GMT.

Neither Virgin nor Network Rail have yet been able to say what might have caused the crash.

RAF helicopters, police and fire crews have been sent to the scene of collision, between Oxenholme and Tebay in the Lake District.

The train had about 180 people on board, the fire service said.

A spokesman for the University Hospitals Of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust said there had been one fatality.

He said five passengers with severe injuries had been taken to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

The Royal Preston Hospital said 12 passengers had so far been airlifted in. It has three casualties described as being in a "critical condition", and one serious.

All but one of the train's carriages had totally come off the tracks, a Cumbria Ambulance Service spokeswoman said.

Passengers coming off the train were assessed on the scene and any minor injuries would be treated there if possible, she added.

One of the passengers, BBC executive Caroline Thomson, said the train "did a sort of bump - and I was thinking don't worry this fine - but then the swaying became very dramatic.

"It suddenly appeared to hit something and then lurched very, very badly from side to side in a very dramatic way. This a very scary experience."

The Pendolino tilting trains have been introduced by Virgin over the last three years and have a top speed of 145 mph.

Network Rail said the line speed for the area where the crash took place was about 95 mph.

Virgin services between Preston and Carlisle have been suspended until further notice and alternative arrangements for customers, using road vehicles, are being made.

All Scotrail sleeper services to London have also been cancelled, with passengers being transferred to coach services.

Another passenger on the train, Ruth Colton, said: "I was just reading a book and it started to get really bumpy like we were being battered by heavy winds or something and then suddenly the carriage flipped over.

"We all had to climb out the top of one of ours... There's some carriages stuck up in the air and some are just lying on their side".

People worried about friends or relatives on the train are asked to ring a British Transport Police family liaison centre on 0800 40 50 40.

Passengers, meanwhile, are being advised to ring National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 before starting journeys.
 
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#841 ·
Today:

www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/dbs-london-frankfurt-plan-in-doubt-again.html

DB’s London – Frankfurt plan in doubt again
19 Feb 2014

EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn has cast further doubt on the introduction of direct high speed services between Germany and London, citing authorisation delays to its fleet of Class 407 Velaro D high speed trainsets now being delivered by Siemens.

At a press launch on February 18 marking the introduction of the Class 407 trains into traffic on domestic services in Germany, Andreas Busemann, Head of Production at DB Fernverkehr, told the Reuters news agency that ‘we have not entirely given up the goal of going to London. But for now we are concentrating on going to Brussels and Paris. Once that is done we will think about whether, how and when we will go to London.’

Busemann added that the process to approve the operation of the multi-system Class 407s in France and Belgium had proved much more difficult than anticipated, and ‘the business environment has changed’ with higher track access charges in France and ‘tough competition’.

A DB spokesman told Railway Gazette International that the company ‘is still planning to operate a service from Germany to London. Based on current Siemens estimates, we do not think that the trains will be ready for multiple working in Belgium and France before 2016. This is a prerequisite to move forward with our planning for the London service.’

DB displayed a Class 406 high speed trainset at London’s St Pancras International terminus in October 2010. At that time, DB Chairman Rüdiger Grube said that he expected Frankfurt – London services to launch in 2013. Since then the timescale has regularly slipped, and there has been no word on how DB might deal with the cost and complexity of the border controls required for operation to the UK.
 
#857 ·
Deutsche Bahn has cast further doubt on the introduction of direct high speed services between Germany and London, citing authorisation delays to its fleet of Class 407 Velaro D high speed trainsets now being delivered by Siemens.
Well, you never know what tomorrow will bring, DB International may get in through the back door. Problems are time wasted for issuing safety certificates and vehicle authorisations. Emu Velaro UK from Siemens is being further tested in since july 2013. I see this train every day at Brussels-Forest depot, between TGV France, Thalys and “old” Eurostar class 375. Last summer an other Velaro, class 407, was also in Belgium for one week to catenary test in 3kV DC. What is the situation with regard the certification ? I don’t know…

OK, it takes us away from HS2. And a question remain : Eurostar or DB International or not on HS2 in the future, to Birmingham or Manchester ? It’ will depend to the travel market (low-cost airliners…).
 
#842 ·
Published on Camden New Journal:

http://www.camdennewjournal.com/new...amden-town-link-stage-high-speed-rail-project

EXCLUSIVE: HS2 bosses set to abandon Camden Town 'link' stage of high speed rail project

Published: 20 February, 2014
BY TOM FOOT


A MAJOR railway development threatening to devastate Camden Town for more than a decade and to drive traders out of its world-famous markets is set to be dropped, the New Journal understands.

HS2 officials are refusing to deny that its plan to build a “link” through Camden Town to the Eurostar Paris line will be axed in a cost-cutting review next month.

A new design for Euston station is also thought to be included in a raft of significant changes to the £50billion scheme.

HS2 Ltd’s chairman David Higgins, who has been asked to slash the cost of the Euston-Birmingham high-speed rail project, is believed to have singled out the Camden Town section of the route as an unnecessary “luxury”.

The dramatic shift has become an open secret among those connected to the project but HS2 officials are dismissing the current speculation as “curiosity and conjecture”.

The plan has, since 2010, been to send high-speed trains on overground tracks through Camden Market over the Kentish Town viaduct onto the North London Line towards Agar Grove before “linking” up with the Eurostar line. The idea was to allow passengers an uninterrupted journey to the continent.

The “link” would have led to the demolition of the iconic Camden Lock and Camden Road bridges and gridlocked Camden Town, Kentish Town, Chalk Farm with road closures. The knock-on effect would have been “severe” in Hampstead, with hundreds of lorries jamming roads daily and spewing pollution onto the Heath. The cost of the work was budgeted at around £300million.

Market bosses have warned that building a railway through the heart of Camden Town would have forced traders to leave, with the loss of more than 9000 jobs. Independent campaign groups and Camden politicians from all four major parties have taken the fight to central government. It would represent a major campaign victory if the plan was overturned.

The £300million Hawley Wharf development and plans to build a new primary school would not be affected by HS2 if the “link” was scrapped. Camden Road and Camden High Street road closures would be abandoned.

Businesses such as Camden Boxframe, Ivy House Dental Practice and the parade of garages at 120-136 Camley Street would be saved from demolition.

Camden Town Unlimited chief executive Simon Pitkeathley said of the “link” axing: “If true, that would be an amazing result for Camden Town and the businesses who are seriously concerned about their livelihoods. We also thought that if they do the ‘link’ they should do it properly, not some Meccano version.”

Significantly, a top director at Transport for London – which launched a review of HS2 on behalf of Mayor of London Boris Johnson – came out against it at a major public meeting in Primrose Hill last month, saying that the authority was “opposed to the link”, “the business case is weak” and “we also have substantial issues with Euston station”.

But the HS2 project’s threat to the basements of Primrose Hill homes, the parade of houses in Park Village East and Morning ton Crescent, Drummond Street’s historic Indian restaurants and more than 200 homes on the Regent’s Park estate remains.

Camden Council has, since 2011, publicly opposed HS2. But it remains to be seen whether hostility will remain if the “link” is scrapped and major changes to the current plan for Euston station are unveiled in the soon-to-be-published Higgins review.

Council leader Sarah Hayward said: “If it was definitely announced that the ‘link’ was scrapped then obviously we would welcome it. They should invest the money in a better station design for Euston. But I simply don’t think this is tenable, that they think they can cook up plans for Euston and not involve the community in it. Actually, it is an offence to democracy.”

She added: “Our resolve would not wane whatever they come up with for over-station develop ment. Whether it delivers an affordable station and jobs, we will still oppose the impact on housing, open space, the vent shafts, regeneration projects. Whatever they do there will still be a massive cost to Camden.”

Ben Ruse, HS2 Ltd lead spokesman, said: “Given the significance of Sir David Higgins’ initial report, it is only natural there is curiosity and conjecture surrounding different aspects of the project. However, it is important to stress that any thoughts as to content is speculation.”

'WHAT ARE THE VESTED INTERESTS BEHIND DEMOLITION PLANS?'

A TOP expert in engineering has warned that “vested interests” may be driving a plan to terminate the HS2 line in Euston and has swung behind a new station design proposal that would save hundreds of homes from demolition.

Professor James Croll, professor of civil engineering at University College London, is backing the Double Deck Down (DDD) scheme drawn up by Jubilee Line extension engineer Jeff Travers and Euston railway planner Richard Percival.

With major changes to the current Euston station design plan expected to be announced next month, campaigners are turning their attention to the plight of residents on the Regent’s Park estate. More than 200 homes are being demolished to make way for the high-speed railway.

Professor Croll told the New Journal: “A carefully-thought-out phasing of the works could avoid almost entirely any disruption to those living and working in the Camden area. It would avoid almost entirely the need for any demolition of existing housing, recreation space and office buildings west of Euston and allow preservation of the hotels, schools, curry houses.”

Supporters say DDD would be quicker and cheaper to build, would allow HS2 rail work to finish earlier and provide space for “over-station development”. Professor Croll said the changes would preserve the “wonderful heritage bridges” in Mornington Crescent with “greatly reduced construction work” around Hampstead Road.

A potential stumbling block for the HS2 project in Euston has been that Network Rail, which operates the current railway, has said that trains coming out of Euston station cannot be disrupted by HS2 building work.

But Professor Croll said the DDD scheme would allow for the “smooth continuous running” of trains during construction”. He added: “One is left wondering what can be the possible vested interests that are driving what appears to be such an incredibly inefficient and disruptive plan to knock down and rebuild so much of Camden.”

Since 2010, more than £50million in design contracts have been handed out, with Arup already trousering £10million to draw up images of a new Euston station.

Those designs were scrapped in January 2009 after HS2 Ltd changed the scope of the development when costs spiralled from £1.2bn to £2bn. Now, the remit has changed once again and yet another design proposal is expected to be unveiled next month.

HS2 activist Peter Jones, who has set up a new campaign group, SOS Camden, said: “Double Deck Down is clearly better than HS2’s plan and it should be looked at. Let the people of Camden say what we are going to get at Euston.”

The Town Hall has not yet officially endorsed the DDD proposal, despite calling on HS2 to pay for it to employ experts to look at the plan in more detail. Costs of working up the plans could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds, according to council leader Sarah Hayward.

She added: “The issue with DDD is that we do not know if it is or is not deliverable. Whatever is built there, there will be construction blight.”

For more information, visit www.soscamden.org

'DDD WOULD SAVE HOMES'

THE Double Deck Down (DDD) scheme is essentially to layer high-speed tracks on top of each other, allowing for a narrower approach into Euston Station.

This would prevent the demolition of 200 homes on the Regent’s Park estate. The design would allow rubble to be taken away by train, which would mean far fewer lorries on roads.

DDD would create a large triangle of “over-station development”, where new homes and businesses could be built.
 
#843 ·
From Global Rail News:

http://www.globalrailnews.com/2014/02/24/osbourne-signals-support-for-euston-super-hub/

Osbourne signals support for Euston ‘super hub’
24 FEB, 2014


Photo: HS2

George Osbourne has hinted that plans to scale back the redevelopment of Euston Station could be reversed in order to construct a new ‘super hub’ for HS2.

The Chancellor said the UK should go “really big” with the Euston redevelopment in an interview with the London Evening Standard during a visit to the new West Kowloon high-speed rail terminal in Hong Kong.

Euston was due to be knocked down and redesigned for the arrival HS2 in original blueprints for the £42 billion railway, but in April 2013, the government published an alternative plans to renovate the existing 60s rail terminal. The proposals included modifying platforms 1-15 at their current level and building 11 new platforms for high-speed services.


MTR chief executive Jay Walder (centre) with George Osbourne (right). Photo: MTR

Osbourne’s comments, which came off the back of a tour of Hong Kong’s four-floor, 11-hectare underground station in West Kowloon, seem to support a rethink to last year’s U-turn.

Rail campaign group Railfuture has come out in support of Osbourne’s views, believing that the best option would be to put the HS2 platforms underground and connect Euston with HS1 at King’s Cross.

Bruce Williamson from Railfuture said: “The incorporation of the sub-surface Euston Cross means that the surface redevelopment of Euston would need almost no additional land-take and also means that more space is available for commercial and residential development thus increasing the value of the scheme”.

“Crucially, the Euston Cross proposal means that we won’t have to demolish half of Camden, because some of the high-speed trains will be approaching in tunnel from Old Oak Common, as well as giving us the ability to project through trains to the southeast. With the addition of subterranean pedestrian connections, we can create a fully integrated Euston-St Pancras-King’s Cross International super hub.”

Williamson added: “Basically, we need to think big, think out of the box and think ahead, just like the Victorians did. We’ve lost our way in terms of entrepreneurial endeavour in the last 100 years, but here we have the opportunity for a win-win-win.”

West Kowloon, which is due to open next year, will become the Hong Kong terminus of a new HKD $62.4 billion (US $8.05 billion) high-speed line to Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
 
#846 ·
Today:

http://www.globalrailnews.com/2014/02/27/birminghams-hs2-station-revealed/

Birmingham’s HS2 station revealed
27 FEB, 2014



Birmingham’s HS2 masterplan, which includes the revival of the original Curzon Street station entrance, has been unveiled by the city council.

The plans were accompanied by a spectacular image of the city’s future station, designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre, which would sit at the centre of a 141-hectare redevelopment.

City leaders have said the proposals could lead to the creation of more than 14,000 jobs and feed £1.3 billion back into the city’s economy each year.

The designs also incorporate the original entrance to Curzon Street station which was built in 1838.

The city’s plans for HS2 follow a series of other multi-million rail projects still be delivered in Birmingham, including the £600 million transformation of New Street Station and the extension of the tram network into the city centre.

Sir Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham Council, said: “We’re not waiting around for HS2 to get built before we get started. We’re announcing our plans today, and we’re ready to start building as soon as the new railway gets the green light.

“Up and down the length of HS2 there is huge potential for major regeneration and development and we must press forward with this project without delay.”

An eight-week consultation has now begun, with construction projected to start in 2017.
 
#858 ·
From Global Rail News:

http://www.globalrailnews.com/2014/03/12/southeastern-to-extend-high-speed-rail-services/

Southeastern to extend high-speed rail services
12 MAR, 2014


Photo: Go-Ahead

Southeastern has submitted plans to the Department for Transport (DfT) to create a new ‘coastal loop’ high-speed rail route.

The operator hopes to run additional services on a circular route between Faversham, Ramsgate and Dover Priory which will see high-speed trains stopping at Walmer, Martin Mill and Birchington-on-sea for the first time.

Southeastern has said it will add almost 700 seats from Ashford International during the morning peak and 349 seats from Ebbsfleet International.

New direct services between Maidstone East and Canterbury West will be added as well as additional services from Margate and Broadstairs, and one extra service from Margate and Canterbury West at the start of the off peak.

The plans will also see fewer trains being split in half at Ashford and Faversham, instead having full 12-car trains operating on the loop.

Southeastern said: “The plans are in response to significant growth in passenger numbers on high speed from Dover, Canterbury, Ashford and Ebbsfleet.

“We’re carrying 60 to 70 per cent more passengers to and from all of those stations now compared to the year before high speed was introduced. We’ve also seen an increase of 25 per cent in the number of passengers visiting Kent from London and further afield.”

A decision is expected within the next couple of weeks and the new services could be in place by December.
 
#859 ·
Published today:

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/northern-focus-needed-says-hs2-chairman.html

Northern focus needed, says HS2 Chairman
17 Mar 2014

UK: Deferral of the proposed link between High Speed 2 and High Speed 1 and extension of the first phase route from Lichfield north to Crewe are among the recommendations of a report issued on March 17 by HS2 Ltd Chairman Sir David Higgins outlining how the UK’s proposed high speed network should be taken forward.

Higgins, the former Network Rail Chief Executive who became Executive Chairman of the government’s project delivery body on March 1, was asked by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin to prepare a non-binding review of the costs and phasing of the programme. As currently envisaged, a 190 km first phase between London and Lichfield is to be built by 2026, followed by a second phase taking the line north to Leeds, Manchester and junctions with the East and West Coast main lines near York and Wigan by 2033.

On costs, Higgins believes that the timescales for parliamentary approval and project delivery are key to determining how and where any savings might be made. The budget for constructing both phases of the 540 km network is currently £28·2bn plus £14·4bn of contingency imposed by Treasury rules. Higgins eschews the chance to reduce this total, instead noting that ‘I am confident that the budget can be made to work. The key variable is the length of time for legislation.’

Some savings should accrue from postponement of the proposed link between HS2 and HS1 through north London which would have shared part of the alignment of the heavily-used North London Line. Instead, Higgins recommends ‘a more comprehensive redevelopment of London Euston’ on a ‘level deck design’ to better connect the residential areas on both sides of the station, and ensure the hub stands comparison with the nearby stations at St Pancras and King’s Cross.

To accelerate the transport and wider economic benefits to northern England, the reports recommends construction of a ‘regional transport hub’ at Crewe by 2027. This ‘would bring together road and rail services for the region as a whole, allowing faster services sooner to Manchester, the rest of the northwest and to Scotland’. The Phase I route would be extended north by 69 km from the planned junction with the WCML at Handsacre near Lichfield.

On the second phase, Higgins suggests ‘more work needs to be done’ to integrate HS2 into the existing rail network, to ensure that it plays a greater role in improving journeys between regional cities, as well as between northern England and London. This ‘need not be a hugely lengthy or costly process’, he says, but ‘the aim should be to develop the second phase alongside NR’s Strategic Business Plan for the five-year control period starting in 2019’.

The report urges greater involvement for ‘civic and business leaders’ in developing the remainder of the network, rather than a ‘local or bilateral’ approach focused solely on the route of the railway itself. Higgins cites Network Rail’s national electrification programme and enhancements to the ECML as factors which, while not directly in HS2’s remit, are ‘hugely relevant’ to the final decisions about the project.
 
#860 ·
Public needs to be persuaded if HS2 uncertainty is to be banished

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/opinio...uncertainty-is-to-be-banished/1018232.article

The Engineer - 19 March 2014 - By Stephen Harris

By stressing that HS2 will only deliver its full benefits to the North of England (and indeed most of the rest of Britain) if it is part of a more ntegrated infrastructure plan, Higgins has in one sense admitted what many critics of the scheme have long argued: that the scheme as it stands fails to deliver the necessary connectivity that the North so needs.

But hindsight is a wonderful thing. Sure, there are plenty of things the infrastructure planners and politicians “should have” done. Not delaying preparations for the northern phase of the network until so long after the London-to-Birmingham line is probably one. Looking at the wider picture of connectivity in the North earlier in the process is another. And sorting out the country’s airport problem sooner in order to produce a properly integrated transport strategy would have been very welcome.

On this basis, HS2 is, as Higgins described the now almost certainly scrapped connection with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (HS1), ‘an imperfect compromise’. But what proposal wouldn’t be: A maglev system at tremendous financial cost? Yet more upgrades leading to years of disruption with even less benefit? Britain’s original Victorian network was hardly a triumph of efficient planning, built at inflated cost due to speculation and leading to much duplication of routes, while benefiting from a country that was much less densely populated – and democratic – than it is today. With a 21st century railway, there was never going to be an easy answer.

HS2 does at least provide a solution to some key problems with the current network: capacity and north-south connectivity. Scrapping it now and going back to the drawing board would only lead to yet more wrangling and years of uncertainty as our existing infrastructure creaks ever louder, constraining economic growth and condemning millions of us to even more cramped, unpleasant and slow journeys.

We also need to be careful of a “what about me?” attitude. Manchester might benefit more from HS2 but that doesn’t mean Liverpool will necessarily suffer. Government-commissioned figures (only released after a freedom of information request) found that HS2 could make more than 50 places around the country worse off, depending on circumstances. However, over three-quarters of the counties and cities of the UK will likely be better off. This is an argument not for scrapping HS2 but for asking what else can we do to ensure the whole UK benefits - precisely what Higgins has proposed. In this vein, the North needs to come together to demand investment for the region as a whole, not squabble over scraps while a united South East happily binges.

And there are already plans for huge additional investment in the rest of the railways. Network rail has just been awarded £38bn for the next five years – almost as much as HS2 will cost over the next 20. The precise spending plan has yet to be agreed but the organisation’s business plan says £4bn a year will go on upgrades. By 2019 there will be an estimated 30 per cent more freight on the rails than today, while the £600m Northern Hub project improving links across the North of England is set to provide space for 44 million extra passengers a year within the same timeframe. Yet several surveys have revealed the public still thinks it’s an either-or situation, with upgrades favoured over HS2.

This highlights what remains the project’s biggest problem. The only way to bring about the political certainty that Higgins says will speed HS2 along and bring down costs is to persuade the public of its necessity and its benefits. In perhaps the biggest “should have” of them all, the government and HS2 Ltd itself have so far failed to win the argument that there even is a capacity problem on the railways, never mind that HS2 is the best way to deal with it, or that reduced journey times really will make a difference. It’s an issue The Engineer has been banging on about for far too long now.

Higgins is focused on delivering HS2 as efficiently and cheaply as possible. In the foreword to Network Rail’s strategy document, he says: ‘The question is not “why build High Speed 2?” but “how quickly can we build it?”’ But without answering that first question he won’t be able to address the second. When The Engineer asked him how he intended to overcome this problem, he said the public need to understand the consequences of failing to invest adequately in infrastructure. What he and the politicians need to understand is that it is up to them to demonstrate this - and at the moment they are failing.


END
 
#861 ·
Hitachi moving headquarters of lucrative rail business to Britain in pre-emptive bid to build trains for HS2 line

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...chi-moving-rail-business-Britain-HS2-bid.html

This is Money - 20th march 2014 - by RAY MASSEY, TRANSPORT EDITOR

Japanese giant Hitachi is to move the headquarters of its lucrative rail business to Britain in what is seen as a pre-emptive bid to build the 180mph trains for the Government’s controversial £50billion HS2 line. Its corporate headquarters will switch from Tokyo to London – with a British executive rather than a Japanese national as global boss - in what minsters hailed today as 'an incredible vote of confidence' in the UK. Hitachi Rail was previously at the centre of a furious 'British jobs for British workers' row when it clinched a major rail contract for intercity trains ahead of UK-based but Canadian-owned rival Bombardier in Derby.

Hitachi Rail was worth just under £1billion in 2012 before it won the £1.2bn order to build the intercity trains last year. Moving its corporate headquarters to Britain – closer to its factory at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham which is currently being constructed - is seen as a way of defusing such criticism when, as expected, it bids for the £7billion contact to build trains for the controversial £50billion HS2 line from London to Manchester and the North. Earlier this year Hitachi Rail Europe said their factory in Newton Aycliffe will act as their European hub for train manufacturing and exports.

A Hitachi Rail source said: 'This scotches once and all any criticism Hitachi Rail is not British enough. The trains parts are made in Britain, using parts sourced across the UK, the staff are British and now the headquarters of the entire global company is based in Britain – that’s a lot more British than a Canadian firm with its headquarters based in Germany.' Hitachi Rail Global is growing from a business employing 2,500 people today to 4,000 people in the next two and a half years. Turnover is £1.67bn today with the aim of growing to £2.5bn in the next few years. The relocated firm will be headed by Alistair Dormer, currently executive chairman of Hitachi Rail Europe, who will take over as Global CEO of the rail systems business.

Mr Dormer said: 'Today’s announcement is a significant sign of intent by Hitachi to grow its business in the rail market and I am excited by the level of trust placed in me to lead our growing business in this next phase of expansion.' He said: 'Both the UK and Japan remain important as markets for Hitachi Rail, and with our train factory in the North East of England now under construction, we will work to realise our export potential from the UK, expanding into Europe and emergent markets.'

He added: 'We will continue to deliver excellent service to our customer base whilst seeking new markets and opportunities for expansion.' Hitachi Rail said: 'The management team will boost the growth of the business in the UK and Europe and will oversee the rapid capability expansion through establishing a manufacturing base in the UK and nationwide maintenance facilities to support the Class 800 series trains and anticipated new orders.' Hitachi Rail Europe is currently contracted to provide new rolling stock for the £5.8billion Intercity Express Programme (ICE). The Department for Transport (DfT) is procuring them to replace the Intercity 125 and 225 fleets on the East Coast and Great Western Main Lines with electric and 'bi-mode' trains.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: 'This is an incredible vote of confidence in a growing Britain that is exporting more and making great things once again. 'Nothing says that better than the company that built the first bullet train putting its HQ here to sell abroad, alongside a new factory and new jobs in northern England. 'This is just the sort of growth we want to see more of as we invest in rail and build HS2.'

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: 'This move demonstrates a huge vote of confidence in Britain, its workers and its rail industry from one of Japan’s biggest businesses. It follows the company's announcement last year of 750 new jobs at their factory in Newton Aycliffe. 'It’s further testament to the Government’s industrial strategy which is giving companies of Hitachi's stature the confidence to invest in the UK, creating new jobs and increasing exports that will help sustain long-term economic growth.'

One Hitachi insider said: 'This is an unprecedented move for the Japanese conglomerate, as it will see all decisions about the global development of the rail business being made in the UK. It highlights the faith the company's leaders have in the skills and experience of the UK management team.'

 
#862 ·
^^
Interesting about the possible designs on the HS2 line. It is already known that Hitachi Rail is planning on bidding on ScotRail contracts as well as in Merseyside. There is also talk of bidding on a DB contract (S-Bahn stock?), though I reckon the chances of winning that would be slim or none, and slim has left the building...
 
#864 ·
DB buys whatever suits their demands best. If Siemens or Bombardier offer the best proposition the order goes to them, but in the past plenty of orders have gone to Alstom and more recently also to CAF and Pesa. :)

It's a smart move of Hitachi to move their rail business to London. I am curious to see if this means that they will start to participate in EU wide tenders and if they do, if they can keep up their quality standards.
 
#868 ·
Could the HS2 rail link revive Birmingham’s property market?

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/cfd4f96a-a940-11e3-b87c-00144feab7de.html#axzz2wihrQSgE

The Financial Time - 22th march 2014 - by Graham Norwood

Birmingham’s housing market recovery may be lagging behind many other parts of the country but the city’s estate agents are pinning their hopes for a renaissance on one specific infrastructure improvement – the HS2 rail project.

The project is still in its early stages and is vulnerable to a change in political sentiment. However, should it go ahead, from 2026, Birmingham would be the first stop – and for some years, the only stop – on northbound HS2 services from London, and the current 85-minute train journey would be slashed to 50 minutes.

The £50bn line could eventually run to Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds, too, but many claim Birmingham is already the biggest winner, 12 years before the first train is due to arrive. The rail service operator, HS2 Ltd, is holding seminars in the city this spring asking residential and commercial builders how the project can “raise awareness and understanding of the development opportunities and maximise local benefits”.
Some estate agents believe that the two-and-a-half hour car journey from central Birmingham to central London deters people from living in the West Midlands city, while the prospect of a mere 50 minutes on a train may reverse that trend.

“HS2 is already having a positive effect. The Hive development [of low-cost flats] is located very close to the anticipated terminal and has been the best-selling new-build scheme in the city over the last two years,” says Mark Evans of Knight Frank. His hope is that HS2 would revive Birmingham and especially its city centre as a place to live. At present only 2,500 people out of the total 1.1m population live within the centre and while average property prices across Birmingham have risen 3 per cent over the past year, slightly below the UK average, they remain 9 per cent down on 2007 levels.

For Birmingham, Britain’s second city with the largest population and GDP outside London, things looked very different seven years ago, before the downturn in the UK housing market. Then the city’s inner core was filled with flamboyant schemes, such as The Mailbox, a revamped old postal centre, and The Cube, an aluminium-clad 25-storey block, where asking prices were more than £500 per sq ft. The penthouse in a 24-storey tower was on sale for £1.65m and there were plans for a 50-storey project, which aimed to do the same for Birmingham that the Sears Tower did for Chicago.

Birmingham house prices
Today the city centre market looks more modest. Property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle says most new-build schemes in Birmingham are priced at £220 to £250 per sq ft with a few in prime sites at £300. There is only a small pipeline of new schemes. “There were far too many apartments of all shapes and sizes built in the city centre and the market was completely flooded. These have now dropped significantly in price,” says Sue Bennett of Hadleigh estate agency. Now high-end buyers look not to the centre but instead at two affluent suburbs with good schools – Edgbaston and Harborne – plus easily accessible areas outside the city. Edgbaston has 20,000 residents living in a range of Georgian, Victorian and interwar family houses. The area was spared the substantial industrial and commercial developments seen in much of the rest of Birmingham thanks to a ban on the construction of factories and warehouses in the 19th century. As a result, the area is leafy, quiet and regarded as one of the prime city addresses, yet less than two miles southwest of the centre. There are a number of houses in Edgbaston with substantial grounds, such as Aldorham, an eight-bedroom Victorian house set 200ft back from the road with 1.2 acres of grounds. The property is on sale through Fine & Country for £2.75m. Close by is a Georgian house with seven bedrooms, priced at £2.3m with Bowkett Briggs.

Harborne, a suburb just east of Edgbaston, consists mostly of 1930s houses with large gardens. Among the larger homes is an eight-bedroom house with 5,100 sq ft of living space, extensive parking and garaging, priced at £2.5m through Ribchester. Purchasers in these locations include those working at the city’s four universities, returning expats and long-term visitors from overseas posted to major employers in the city such as Jaguar Land Rover and Cadbury Trebor Bassett. Buyers looking further afield might wish to consider Solihull, nine miles from the centre and a 15-minute drive to Birmingham airport, or Sutton Coldfield, a town described as “Birmingham’s answer to Ascot” by James Way of Knight Frank because of its glut of high-end gated houses.“The market hasn’t been strong for £1m-plus homes in the past year with very few active buyers but towards the end of last year we started to see signs of improvement,” says Way.
Local agents say some buyers considering Sutton Coldfield are being deterred by a proposal in the latest draft of the Birmingham Development Plan, which is the blueprint for building 80,000 new homes for an additional 150,000 city residents by 2031. The draft calls for up to 6,000 properties to be built on greenbelt land in the Sutton Coldfield area. Local Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell claims the Sutton proposal is unnecessary as there is existing planning consent for 17,000 new homes within Birmingham, plus more than 11,000 empty existing homes. He says: “Everyone can accept that we need to build more but brownfield sites and existing permissions already granted should bear the brunt.”

Birmingham city council recognises it needs to do more to find sites for new homes and its current level of 1,300 new homes a year is well behind its own targets of 2,500 by 2016 and more than 3,000 annually from 2021.
With buyer numbers on the rise it may turn out that it is this longstanding shortage of homes, rather than a new train line to London, that lies behind a renaissance in Birmingham’s property prices in the near future.
 
#870 ·
From Railway Gazette:

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/...w/view/hs2-signs-up-japanese-consultants.html

HS2 signs up Japanese consultants
03 Apr 2014



UK: HS2 Ltd has signed a contract for consultancy services with Japan International Consultants for Transportation, a company owned 53% by East Japan Railway. The contract with an undisclosed value began on January 31 and runs for four months to May 31.

Areas covered by the deal include ways of reducing pantograph noise, methods of cutting micro-pressure waves in tunnels, reliability analysis of operations and maintenance, comparisons between slab and ballasted track designs, asset management and station management. An interim report on pantograph noise has already been submitted to HS2 Ltd.

The announcement on April 3 foreshadows JR East’s opening of a London office on April 15. According to JR East Vice-Chairman Masaki Ogata, the London office has been established to foster information exchange, carry out market research, conduct public relations activity and develop partnerships with UK companies, including suppliers. ‘JR East has a vision to develop its business globally, and we plan to share our expertise not just in the UK but worldwide’, he said.

Asked if JR East planned to bid for franchises in the UK, Ogata said ‘it is not determined yet, but we are very interested in franchises. We must do further analysis and investigate the market further’. JICT sent a fact-finding mission to the UK in March which is drawing up a report on business opportunities in the UK for Japanese operators.

Prof Andrew McNaughton, Technical Director of HS2 Ltd, said that ‘we have much to learn from our Japanese friends operating high speed railways in a densely-populated urban environment’. Noting that ‘in Japan you can see how cities have regenerated on the back of investment in high speed rail’, he said that HS2 needed to operate ‘utterly safely’ and ‘with Japanese reliability. When it opens, it has to work, and it has to work fabulously for many decades’, he asserted.

The agreement with JICT and JR East ‘gives us access to deep knowledge’ of high speed rail, he continued, including integration with the conventional network. This was a reference to JR East’s mini-Shinkansen services which operate over regauged routes to reach cities off the high speed network such as Akita and Yamagata in northern Japan. These are comparable to HS2’s proposed services to cities not on the HS2 route using ‘classic-compatible’ trains.
 
#872 ·
From Camden New Journal:

http://www.camdennewjournal.com/new...nment-build-hs2-link-tunnel-under-camden-town

Exclusive: Boris Johnson asks government to build HS2 link tunnel under Camden Town
16 April, 2014, by TOM FOOT

MAYOR of London Boris Johnson will call for a giant tunnel to be built under Camden to replace the abandoned HS1/HS2 link line as part of a formal objection to High Speed 2 next month.

In a letter to Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin obtained by the New Journal, the London Mayor adopts a new, more combative and oppositionist tone on the £50billion project.

The letter, dated March 10, outlines a list of concerns about the scheme and demands that a “segregated tunnel” is built to link HS2 trains with the Eurostar railway in a move that would help HS2 “meet the longer term needs of the UK”.

Work could begin during phase 2 of the project, when the line is extended to Manchester and Leeds, which is not expected to start until 2020.

Mr Johnson warns Mr McLoughlin that he is “disappointed” with some elements of the HS2 scheme and says he will object when a parliamentary process begins next month.

His letter suggests that a “full-scale rebuilding” of Euston station could include creating 3,000 homes and 13,000 jobs and that other schemes such as Pan Camden Alliance’s double-deck down proposal should be “fully explored”.



Mr Johnson has supported plans for a wide-scale redevelopment of Euston but the concept of the tunnel, which could impact on the foundations of homes across Camden, has not yet been made public.

Last week, the London Mayor’s chief of staff Sir Eddie Lister contacted the London Assembly about Mr Johnson’s “concerns”, requesting that they joined forces to “lodge a petition against HS2” before May 16.

It added that the “Mayor’s concerns about the current HS2 Bill focus on the development and regeneration issues in two particular areas: Euston and Old Oak Common.

London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said: “For some reason they see the need to join up with the London Assembly.

“We have been approached and it shows intent from the Mayor’s office. It may be bureaucratic language, but it is a formal approach and I think that’s intriguing.”

The Leader of the House of Commons, Andrew Lansley, announced on Thursday that the second reading of the HS2 Bill will begin on April 28.

Local authorities and businesses have until May 16 to respond to the Bill, while individuals have a further week until May 23.

Camden Council has been lobbying against the £20 cost of lodging a petition against HS2
 
#873 ·
High speed rail will leave North East residents 'lesser citizens', warns MP

Firstly I would mention that Simon Burns (Conservative) made a notable remark in yesterdays Commons debate on HS2, that he was looking forward to HS3 when the rail link will advance to Glasgow and across to Edinburgh - so is the North East coast not to be involved in HS3?

From today's Journal Live, copyright NCJMedia Ltd @ http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/high-speed-rail-leave-north-7044405

High speed rail will leave North East residents 'lesser citizens', warns MP
Apr 29, 2014 08:30 By Jonathan Walker-JOU



A high speed rail line approved by the House of Commons could mean North East residents are treated as second class citizens, an MP has warned.

Gateshead Labour MP Ian Mearns said the region had to challenge both the Government and Labour to explain how they would ensure the North East got a fair deal.

MPs have backed legislation authorising the construction of the first phase of the £50 billion High Speed Two (HS2) project, running from London to Birmingham, while a second stretch of line is planned to run from Birmingham to Manchester and to Yorkshire. But there are no firm plans to extend the line to the North East, although high speed trains will transfer on to the East Coast Main Line and continue to Newcastle.

Newcastle City Council hopes to use the project to boost the local economy, and city council leader Nick Forbes has written to Treasury Minister Lord Deighton calling for Government support for upgrading Newcastle Central station to ensure it is ready to become a terminus for high-speed trains.

But Mr Mearns said that without action to back the region, the North East would find itself sandwiched between Scotland, which enjoys high levels of devolution and could become an independent country in a referendum this year, and cities served by the new line. He said: “We could be in a situation where Scotland has a greater deal of autonomy through more devolution, if they haven’t gone independent, and they carry on doing economic development. Then you have these honey-pots being created in West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, so where will the North East of England lie in terms of competition for inward investment and competition for growth finds when £50 billion is being earmarked for HS2 itself?” He added: “I think we have to pose the question, are we being treated as lesser citizens in the UK context? And I think at the moment unfortunately we are, so we’ve got to be asking the leaders of all the political parties, including my own, how are we going to redress that balance?”

Read more @ http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/high-speed-rail-leave-north-7044405
 
#874 ·
From The Scotsman:

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/scotland-would-beat-uk-to-high-speed-rail-salmond-1-3386646

Scotland would beat UK to high speed rail - Salmond
24 April 2014, by SCOTT MACNAB

Ambitious proposals which could see a Scottish high speed rail (HSR) link built and operating decades before the current UK plans were unveiled by Alex Salmond last night

The First Minister said that the Scottish Government would “not wait 30 years for high speed rail” to be delivered by Westminster and pledged to commission a feasibility study on work on HSR beginning from the north heading south, if Scotland becomes independent.

The announcement follows recent reports that the proposed third phase of the current high speed two (HS2) scheme from either Leeds or Manchester to Glasgow and Edinburgh would be ditched after a Yes vote.

Mr Salmond was addressing a St George’s Day audience in Carlisle last night as he set out plans for closer economic ties between Scotland and the north of England after independence.

“Under Westminster control, high speed rail won’t come to Carlisle for decades,” he said.

“An independent Scotland could do more. Rather than paying our share of the borrowing costs for high speed rail, as we wait decades for it to spread up from the south, we can use that money to build high speed rail from the north instead.

“It’s time to take positive action. I can confirm today that the Scottish Government will build on the joint work we are undertaking with the UK government.

“We will establish a feasibility study to explore in detail the options for building high speed rail from Scotland to England. In doing so, we will work closely with partners across the UK, 
especially in the north of England. Of course we can’t determine the route until we undertake the feasibility study. But it is a statement of intent.”

The UK’s only high speed rail service at the moment is the Eurostar from London to Paris via the Channel Tunnel. HS2 would see a first phase from London to Birmingham.

It would split from there to both Manchester and Leeds in phase 2. Intermediate stations in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire are also planned. If phase 3 to Scotland goes ahead, it would take more than an hour off journeys between London and Edinburgh or Glasgow –which currently take between 4 hours 15 minutes and 5 hours.

But it would add billions to the £40bn scheme which is 
already attracting criticism.

HS2 would see the introduction of 400m-long (1,300ft) trains with up to 1,100 seats. It would operate at speeds of up to 250mph – Eurostar, TGV and Thalys services in Europe currently hit around 185mph – and would travel up to 14 times per hour in each direction. The London-West Midlands section is expected to open in 2026 and the onwards legs to Manchester and Leeds by 2032-33.

An unnamed UK cabinet minister claimed earlier this month the extra link north of the Border was almost inconceivable in the event of a Yes vote for independence, amid concerns over the extra public investment.

Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said last night: “By removing Scotland from the UK [Salmond] removes Scotland of any influence over acceleration of high speed rail. HSR is not an argument for independence, it’s an argument for working together.”

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Alex Johnstone said: “The only viable way to ensure an interconnected high speed rail between the Central Belt and England is by remaining part of the UK. If Scotland was to separate from Britain there would be no reason for the UK to move beyond the current plan of Leeds and Manchester.”
 
#875 ·
High speed rail plans may end up slowing the North East down

From today's Journal Live, copyright NCJMedia Ltd @ http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/high-speed-rail-plans-slow-7073695

High speed rail plans may end up slowing the North East down
May 06, 2014 06:30 By Adrian Pearson



High speed rail will slow down services from the North East to Scotland and reduce London journeys by just 11 minutes, the region is today warned.

A series of route documents have shown how the North will be increasingly isolated if the £42bn railway project is completed.

After a trickle of concerns at the plans for a new railway emerged over the last year, the final picture increasingly shows a high speed network in which Newcastle actually loses services.

Consultation documents put out by HS2 and Network Rail show:

* From 2033, Newcastle’s direct trains to and from Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow are replaced by a stopping service calling at small towns throughout the line, hugely adding to journey times;
* All London to Scotland services will go up the West Coast;
* High speed rail will replace, not add, to all existing East Coast London to Newcastle routes in order to free up capacity south of York;
* Under High speed plans, Durham would lose out on direct links, while Darlington moves from two trains an hour to London to one train;
* Total journey saving times to London when Durham’s Hitachi trains are built are just 11 minutes.

Read more @ http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/high-speed-rail-plans-slow-7073695
 
#876 ·
From Ham & High:

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/eusto...ance_as_overseas_developers_move_in_1_3595957

Euston station plans hang in the balance as overseas developers move in
Monday, May 12, 2014


One of the proposed designs for Euston station that has surfaced

The future of Euston station continues to hang in the balance amid concerns from campaigners that the interests of private developers and property speculators are winning over senior political figures.

Campaigners and architects promoting what they say is a community-backed proposal for the redesign of the proposed London terminus for High Speed 2 rail link say their plans have not been given a fair hearing, and that senior officials seem intent on a design that could “wreck” the surrounding community.

It comes as Camden Council said it would be calling for Old Oak Common – a proposed HS2 station to the north – to be used as a temporary terminus for HS2 to allow more time to be given to the design and construction of Euston.

The call follows senior ministers and officials within HS2 Ltd issuing their support for a “really big” development on the site.

Concerned over the impact it could have on the community, Camden campaigners have called for any redevelopment to be done within the existing footprint of the station, known as the Double Deck Down 2 (DDD2) design.

They claim that the lure of overseas developers to London and skyscraper-style developments has meant views of Camden residents risk being ignored – and could mean hundreds of homes and businesses being demolished.

Jeff Travers, a railway architect behind DDD2, said: “I fear there’s a hidden agenda with what is happening at Euston – and that’s a private land grab at the expense of the local community.

“It’s obviously in the interests of private developers that the land is snapped up on the cheap using compulsory purchase orders and given to them as one big slab to develop.

“And the fear is that senior political figures may have been won over by the interests of large developers. But there’s an alternative to this.

“Not only is our DDD2 station design community-backed, but it also works well within the footprint of the existing station.

“It will also allow for incremental (lower risk) development on sites surrounding the station – which is much more community focused and controlled.”

The experience of the campaigners comes as another London MP, a supporter of HS2, expressed his concerns that a similar scenario is unfolding in his constituency.

Andy Slaughter, Labour MP for Hammersmith, warned the government that his community had been “intimidated and threatened” over the regeneration of Old Oak Common station in Hammersmith and Fulham.

The station is set to be a stop on the HS2 line and the area earmarked for regeneration.

Mr Slaughter complained that original estimates over job numbers had been almost halved, and that this was an example of “another land grab”.

He pleaded for the area to be “controlled by the local people” instead.

Outside influence in Euston has been spurred by the eagerness of senior government members and the head of HS2 Ltd.

Euston landowner Sydney and London Properties has already mocked up a Euston Visionary Masterplan for Euston station – an enormous above-station redevelopment with skyscrapers and shops – as well as announced a partnership with US real estate giant Related Companies, a developer building an above-station development in New York.

Camden Council, the Greater London Authority and HS2 Ltd are all involved in talks over the future of the area.

Cllr Sarah Hayward, leader of the council, said: “I’m concerned that government ministers have a plan to use Euston as a cash cow for HS2.

“It’s too early to say whether we’re getting a fair say in the talks.

“I’d say we’re making baby steps in the right direction –but I remain sceptical.

“The plan that is agreed upon could stay with us for 100 years – so we need to get it right and make sure it benefits Camden residents.

“We need it to provide jobs and housing for local people.”
 
#877 ·
The main issue I can see with the DDD proposal for Euston is: how would you build it? At first glance it is an attractive proposition in that it reduces the local impact, but trying to build a double-deck station whilst keeping the existing station working would be well-nigh impossible. The backers of the scheme seem to be strangely silent on this aspect, probably because they haven't been able to come up with a credible proposition either.
 
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