High Speed 1

High Speed 1

High Speed 1 approaching the Medway Viaducts.
Overview
Type High-speed rail
Freight rail[1]
Status Operational
Locale United Kingdom (Greater London
South East England)
Termini London St Pancras
Channel Tunnel
Stations 4
Operation
Opened 2003 (Section 1)
2007 (Section 2)
Owner London & Continental Railways
Operator(s) Eurostar, Southeastern, DB Schenker
Rolling stock Class 395
Class 373/1
Class 92 (from 2010)[2]
British Rail MPV
Eurotunnel Class 0001
Technical
Line length 108 km (67 mi)
No. of tracks Double track throughout
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) Standard gauge
Loading gauge UIC GC[6]
Electrification 25 kV 50 Hz OHLE
Operating speed 300 km/h (186 mph)
230 km/h (143 mph)[3][4][5]

High Speed 1 (HS1), officially known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) and originally as the Continental Main Line (CML), is a 108-kilometre (67 mi) high-speed railway line running from London, through Kent to the British end of the Channel Tunnel.

The line was built to carry international passenger traffic from the United Kingdom to Continental Europe; additionally it carries domestic passenger traffic to and from towns and cities in Kent, and has the potential to carry Berne gauge freight traffic. The completed line, crossing over the River Medway and underneath the River Thames to London St Pancras railway station, opened on 14 November 2007.[7] The line allows speeds of 230 to 300 kilometres per hour (143 to 186 mph) and cost £5.2bn to build.[8] Intermediate stations exist at Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International.

International service is offered by Eurostar who provide journey times of London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord in 2 hours 15 minutes, and from St Pancras to Brussels-South in 1 hour 51 minutes.[9] These services are operated using a fleet of twenty-seven Class 373/1 multi-system trains capable of reaching 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph). Domestic high-speed commuter services serving the intermediate stations and beyond commenced on 13 December 2009. The fleet of twenty-nine Class 395 passenger trains are permitted to reach speeds of 225 kilometres per hour (140 mph).[10]

The CTRL project had been one of the United Kingdom's largest civil engineering projects, encompassing many new bridges and tunnels with a combined length nearly as long as the Channel Tunnel itself. During construction of the CTRL, significant archaeology research was undertaken.[11] In 2002, the CTRL project was awarded the "Major Project Award" at the British Construction Industry Awards.[12] The CTRL has seen periods of financial difficulties and the line was transferred to government ownership in 2009; with a 30-year concession for operation of the line being put up for sale in June 2010.[13]

Contents

Early history

A high-speed rail line, LGV Nord, has been in operation between the Channel Tunnel and the outskirts of Paris since the Tunnel's opening in 1994.[14] This has enabled Eurostar rail services to travel at 300 km/h (186 mph) for this part of their journey. A similar high-speed line from the French border to Brussels, HSL 1, opened in 1997.[15][16] However, in Britain Eurostar trains had to run at much lower speeds on existing tracks between London, Waterloo and the Channel Tunnel.[17] These tracks were shared with local traffic, limiting the number of services that could be run, as well as their timings. The elderly nature of some of this rail infrastructure caused a disproportionate number of delays, limiting the potential and appeal of the Eurostar service.[18] The case for a High Speed line of equal caliber to the continental part of the route was recognised by lawmakers and advised by industry,[19] and the construction of the line was authorised by Parliament with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996[20] which was amended by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Act 2008.[21][22]

The original plan for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link involved a tunnel reaching London from the south-east, and an underground terminus in the vicinity of Kings Cross station. However a late change in the plans, principally driven by the then deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine's desire for urban regeneration in east London, led to a change of route, with the new line approaching London from the east. This opened the possibility of reusing the underused St Pancras station as the terminus, with access via the North London Line that crosses the throat of the station.[23]

The idea of using the North London line proved illusory, and it was rejected in 1994 by the then transport secretary, John MacGregor, as difficult to construct and environmentally damaging.[24] However the idea of using St Pancras station as the core of the new terminus was retained, albeit now linked by 20 km (12 miles) of specially built tunnels to Dagenham via Stratford.[23]

London and Continental Railways (LCR) was selected by the UK government in 1996 to undertake construction of the line, as well as the reconstruction of St Pancras station as its terminus, and to take over the British share of the Eurostar operation, Eurostar (UK). The original LCR consortium members were National Express Group, Virgin Group, S. G. Warburg & Co, Bechtel and London Electric.[25][26] Whilst the project was under development by British Rail it was managed by Union Railways, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of LCR. On 14 November 2006, LCR assigned High Speed 1 as the brand name for the completed railway.[27] Official legislation, documentation and line-side signage has continued to refer to "CTRL" however.

The project

The legal framework for the new railway line lies in the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996[20] providing construction powers that ran for the following 10 years. Originally the whole route was to be constructed as a single project. However extensive changes came when the British government had to put together a rescue plan. In 1998 serious financial difficulties had been encountered, the future looked uncertain for the project.[28] To reduce risk it was split into two separate phases,[29] to be managed by Union Railways (South) and Union Railways (North). A recovery programme was agreed whereby LCR sold government-backed bonds worth £1.6 billion to pay for the construction of section 1, with the future of section 2 still looking in doubt.

The original intention had been for the new railway, once completed, to be run by Union Railways as a separate line to the rest of the British railway network. However as part of the 1998 rescue plan it was agreed that, following completion, section 1 would be purchased by Railtrack, along with an option to purchase section 2. In return, Railtrack was committed to operate the whole route as well as St Pancras railway station which, unlike all other former British Rail stations, was transferred to LCR/Union Railways in 1996.[30]

In 2001, Railtrack announced that, due to its own financial problems, it would not undertake to purchase section 2 once it was completed.[31][32][33] This triggered a second restructuring.[34] The 2002 plan agreed that the two sections would have different infrastructure owners (Railtrack for section 1, LCR for section 2) but with common management by Railtrack. Following yet further financial problems at Railtrack[35] its interest in the CTRL was sold back to LCR who then sold the operating rights for the completed line to Network Rail, Railtrack's successor.[36] Under this arrangement LCR will become the sole owner of both sections of the CTRL and the St Pancras property, as per the original 1996 plan. Amendments were made in 2001 for the new station at Stratford International and through connections to the West Coast Main Line.

As a consequence of the project's restructuring the LCR consortium is, as of 2006, construction firms Arup, Bechtel, Halcrow and Systra (who form Rail Link Engineering (RLE)), transport operators National Express Group and SNCF (who operate the Eurostar (UK) share of the Eurostar service with the National Railway Company of Belgium and British Airways), electricity company EDF and UBS Investment Bank. On completion of section 1 by RLE, the line was handed over to Union Railways (South), who then handed it over to London & Continental Stations and Property (LCSP) who are the long term owners of the line. Once section 2 of the line had been completed it was handed over to Union Railways (North) who handed it over to LCSP. Management, operation and maintenance of the entire line, including St Pancras, is undertaken by Network Rail.

In February 2006 there were strong rumours that a 'third party' (believed to be a consortium headed by banker Sir Adrian Montague) had expressed an interest in buying out the present partners in the project.[37] LCR shareholders subsequently rejected the proposal,[38] and the government, who effectively could overrule shareholders' decisions as a result of LCR's reclassification as a state-owned body,[39] decided that discussions with shareholders would not take place imminently, effectively backing shareholders' views on the proposed takeover.[38]

By May 2009 LCR had become insolvent and the government received agreement to use state aid to purchase the line and to also open it up to competition to allow other services to use the line apart from the Eurostar.[40] On 12 October 2009 a proposal to sell £16 billion of state assets including the Channel Tunnel rail link in the following two years to cut UK public debt was announced.[41]

Route

A Eurostar train on the CTRL, near Ashford

Section 1

Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, opened on 28 September 2003, is a 74 km (46 mile) section of high-speed track from the Channel Tunnel to Fawkham Junction in north Kent. The section's completion cut the London–Paris journey time by around 21 minutes, to 2h 35mn. The line includes the Medway Viaduct, a 1.2 km (¾ mile) bridge over the River Medway and the North Downs Tunnel, a 3.2 km (2 mile) long, 12 m (40 ft) diameter tunnel. In safety testing on the section prior to opening, a new UK rail speed record of 334.7 km/h (208.0 mph) was set.[42] Much of the new high-speed line runs alongside the M2 and M20 motorways through Kent. After completion, Eurostar trains continued to use suburban lines to enter London, arriving at Waterloo International.

There were a number of deaths of employees working on the CTRL over the construction period. A death occurred on Friday 28 March 2003 near Westernhanger, Folkestone where a worker came into contact with the energised power supply.[43] Another death occurred two months later, in May 2003, when a scaffolder fell seven metres at Thurrock, Essex.[44] This death resulted in three companies being found guilty of breaching health and safety legislation, omitting to provide barriers, which resulted in Deverson Direct Ltd being ordered to pay a fine of £50,000, J Murphy and Sons Ltd were fined £25,000, and Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft another £25,000.[44] Two more deaths relate to a fire onboard a train carrying wires, one mile inside a tunnel under the Thames between Swanscombe, Kent, and Thurrock, Essex on Tuesday 16 August 2005. The train shunter died at the scene[45] and the train driver later died in hospital on 20 August 2005.[46] It has been suggested that a large amount of blame for accidents throughout the project lay with individual behaviour, becoming such a problem an internal programme was launched to tackle behaviour problems during the construction.[47]

Section 2

Model showing the current redevelopment of the King's Cross area with the new extension to the barrel-vaulted St Pancras Station on the left

Section 2 of the project opened on 14 November 2007 and is a 39.4 km (24 mile) stretch of track from the newly built Ebbsfleet station in Kent to London St Pancras. Completion of the section cut journey times by a further 20 minutes (London–Paris in 2h 15m; London–Brussels in 1h 51m). The route starts with a 2.5 km (1.5 mile) tunnel which dives under the Thames on the edge of Swanscombe, then runs alongside the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway as far as Dagenham, where it enters a 19 km (12 mile) tunnel (), before emerging over the East Coast Main Line near St Pancras. The tunnels are divided into London East and London West sections, between which a 1 km stretch runs close to the surface to serve Stratford International and the Temple Mills Depot.

The new depot at Temple Mills, to the north of Stratford, replaced the North Pole depot in the west of London.[48] In testing, the first Eurostar train ran into St Pancras on 6 March 2007.[49] All CTRL connections are fully grade-separate. This is achieved through use of viaducts, bridges, cuttings and in one case, the tunnel portal itself. Along the route, several key and unique design features have emerged.

Unlike normal LGV stations in France, the through tracks for Ashford International railway station are off to one side rather than going through, partly due to Ashford International predating the line.[50] High Speed 1 approaches Ashford International from the north in a cut-and-cover "box"; the south-bound line rises out of this cutting and crosses over the main tracks to enter the station. The main tracks then rise out of the cutting and over a flyover. On leaving Ashford, southbound Eurostars return to the high speed line by travelling under this flyover and joining from the outside. The international platforms at Ashford are supplied with both overhead 25 kV and 3rd rail 750V, avoiding the need to switch power-supplies.

Stations

Ashford International

This station was rebuilt as Ashford International during the early 1990s for international services from mainland Europe; this included the addition of two platforms to the north of station (the original down island platform had been taken over by international services). Unlike normal LGV stations in France, the through tracks for Ashford International railway station are off to one side rather than going through.[50] The number of services was reduced after the opening of the Ebbsfleet station. A high-speed domestic service operated by Southeastern to London St Pancras began on 29 June 2009.

Ebbsfleet International

Ebbsfleet International railway station in the borough of Dartford, Kent is 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London and opened to the public on 19 November 2007.[51] and is now the main regional hub used by Eurostar.[52][53][54] Two of the platforms are designed to serve Eurostar's International trains and four platforms are available for high speed domestic services running upon the line.[55]

St Pancras International

Eurostar train at St Pancras International Railway Station

The terminus for the high speed line in London is St Pancras railway station. During the 2000s, towards the end of the construction of the CTRL, the entire station complex was renovated, expanded and rebranded as St Pancras International,[56][57] with a new security-sealed terminal area for Eurostar trains to continental Europe.[58] In addition it retained traditional domestic connections to the north and south of England. The new extension doubled the length of the central platforms now used for Eurostar services; new platforms have been provided for existing domestic East Midlands Trains and the Southeastern high-speed services that run along High Speed 1 to Kent.[59] New platforms on the Thameslink line across London were built beneath the western margins of the station and the station at King's Cross Thameslink was closed.

A complex junction has been constructed north of St Pancras with connections to the East Coast Main Line, North London Line (for West Coast Main Line) and Midland Main Line, allowing for a wide variety of potential destinations albeit on conventional rails. As part of the works, tunnels connecting the East Coast Main Line to the Thameslink route were also built.

Stratford International

Stratford International railway station was not part of the original government plans for the CTRL.[60] Completed in April 2006, it opened on the 30 November 2009 when the domestic preview Southeastern highspeed services started stopping here.[61] An extension of the Docklands Light Railway will open mid-2010. It will also be the railway station for the main site where the 2012 Summer Olympics will be held.[62]

Temple Mills Depot in Leyton is used for storage and servicing of Eurostar trains and off peak berthing of Class 395 Southeastern high speed trains.

Infrastructure

Track

Both track and signalling technology (TVM-430 + KVB) are based on or identical to the standards used on the French LGV high-speed lines. The areas around St Pancras and Gare du Nord use KVB signalling with the whole of the high-speed route to Paris (CTRL, Channel Tunnel, LGV Nord) using TVM-430. Signalling tests before opening were performed by the SNCF-owned "Lucie" test car.[63]

The track is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) Standard gauge[6] cleared to a larger modern European GC loading gauge[6] enabling GB+ gauge freight as far as the yards at Barking.[64][65] The line is electrified entirely using overhead lines with 25 kV AC railway electrification.

Tunnels

After local protests,[66][67] early plans were modified to put more of the route into tunnels up until a point approximately 1 mile (2 km) from St. Pancras, previously the CTRL was planned to run on an elevated section alongside the North London Line on approach into the line's terminus. The twin tunnels bored under London were driven from Stratford westwards towards St Pancras, eastwards towards Dagenham and from Dagenham westwards to connect with the tunnel from Stratford. The tunnel boring machines were 120 metres long and weighed 1,100 tonnes. The depth of the tunnels vary from a depth of 24 metres to 50 metres.

The construction works were complex and a large number of contractors were involved in delivering them.[68] The CTRL Section 2 construction works had caused considerable disruption around the Kings Cross area of London, however in their wake redevelopment was stimulated.[69][70] The huge redevelopment area includes the run-down areas of post-industrial and ex-railway land close to King's Cross and St Pancras, a conservation area with many listed buildings; this was promoted as one of the benefits for building the CTRL.[71] However it has been postulated that this development was actually suppressed by the construction project,[72] and some of the affected districts are still in a poor state.[73]

Connection line to Waterloo

A 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) connecting line providing access for Waterloo railway station leaves High Speed 1 at Southfleet Junction using a grade-separated junction; the main CTRL tracks continue uninterrupted through to CTRL Section 2 underneath the southbound flyover. The connection joins the Chatham Main Line at Fawkham Junction with a flat crossing. The retention of Eurostar services to Waterloo after the line to St Pancras opened was ruled out on cost grounds.[74] Waterloo International closed upon opening of the section two of the CTRL in November 2007; Eurostar now serves the refurbished St Pancras as its only London terminal.[75][76]

Operators

Eurostar

A Eurostar train passing Strood, on approach to the Medway bridge

The Eurostar service uses about 40% of the capacity of High Speed 1,[77] which in November 2007 became the company's route for all their services.[78] Trains run by Eurostar are for international traffic only, passing along the high speed line from London St Pancras railway station to the Channel Tunnel, terminating at either Paris Gare de Nord in France or Brussels Midi-Zuid in Belgium.[79][80] Currently the trains operated by Eurostar are the only ones to make full use of the high speeds upon the line; a Eurostar train was used to set a new British rail speed record of 334.7 km/h (208 mph) on 30 July 2003.[81][82] The British component of Eurostar is owned by London and Continental Railways, which also owns High Speed 1 and the infrastructure upon it.[83]

On 4 September 2007, a train travelled from Paris Gare du Nord to St. Pancras in 2 hours 3 minutes and 39 seconds.[84] On 19 September 2007, a train travelled from Brussels South to St. Pancras in 1 hour 43 minutes.[85]

 Class  Image  Type   Top speed   Number   Routes operated   Built 
 mph   km/h 
Class 373 Eurostar Eurostar at St Pancras railway station.jpg Electric multiple unit 186 300 28 London–Paris
London–Brussels
London–Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy
London–Avignon Centre
London–Bourg Saint Maurice
1992

Southeastern

A Southeastern Class 395 train departing from London St Pancras railway station on a preview domestic service

The domestic high speed services upon High Speed 1 are provided by the operator Southeastern. Having been in planning since 2004,[86] a preview service of the British Rail Class 395 trains, popularly known Javelins, started in June 2009,[55] and a regular service commenced on 13 December 2009. The quickest journey time from Ashford to London St Pancras is 35 minutes[87] compared with 60 minutes for the service to London Charing Cross via Tonbridge.[88] This service on Section 2 of the CTRL, known previously as CTRL-DS, was a factor in London's successful 2012 Olympic Bid, promising a seven-minute journey time from the Olympic Park at Stratford to the London terminus at St Pancras.[89] Although much of the train's route upon High Speed 1 is capable of 300 km/h (186 mph), the maximum operating speed of the train is limited to 225 km/h (140 mph). However the Class 395 trains have a faster acceleration than the Eurostar trains.[90]

 Class  Image  Type   Top speed   Number   Routes operated   Built 
 mph   km/h 
Class 395 Javelin Class 395 Javelin STP 001.jpg Electric multiple unit 140 225 29 St Pancras–Stratford International-
Ebbsfleet International-Ashford International-Ramsgate/ Dover Priory.[91]
2007

DB Schenker

CTRL North Downs Tunnel, country portal under Blue Bell Hill

DB Schenker is a global freight operator with a large interest in freight over rail in Europe.[92] While High Speed 1 was constructed with passing loops for freight usage, no freight traffic had run upon the line since opening in 2003.[93] On 16 April 2009 DB Schenker signed an agreement with HS1 Ltd, the owner of High Speed 1, for a partnership to develop TVM modifications for class 92 freight locomotives to run upon the line.[94] Freight services are expected to begin early in 2010, after the signalling technology is made available to all potential operators,[94] and the necessary logistics and support infrastructure to serve freight operations.[95]

 Class  Image  Type   Top speed   Number   Built 
 mph   km/h 
Class 92 92027 George Eliot at Stafford.jpg Electric locomotive 87 140 46 1993

Future operations

At present, only Deutsche Bahn has applied for use of the line and in 2009 regulations were relaxed to allow its trains to use the tunnel. Other proposals are yet to be formalised.

Deutsche Bahn

A Deutsche Bahn high-speed train

In November 2007, it was reported that Deutsche Bahn, Germany's national train company, had applied to use the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1 rail line into St Pancras International.[96] This was swiftly denied by Deutsche Bahn, and the bi-national Channel Tunnel Safety Authority confirmed that it had not received such an application.[97] The plan was delayed by preexisting safety regulations as Deutsche Bahn's fleet of ICE 3M high-speed trains would not permit division in the tunnel.[98]

In December 2008, it was reported that Deutsche Bahn (DB) was interested in buying the British share in Eurostar,[99] which in practice means buying Eurostar (U.K.) Ltd., the 100% subsidiary of London and Continental Railways (LCR) which the British government intends to break up and sell just as it does the other rail-related subsidiary of L&CR, High Speed 1.[100][101] The buyer of EUKL would become the owner of the 11 British "Three Capitals" Class 373 trainsets plus all seven "North of London" sets, and would also be responsible for the operations of Eurostar traffic within Britain once the management contract with ICRR expires in 2010. Guillaume Pépy, the president of SNCF, who held a press conference the same day, described DB's interest as "premature, presumptuous and arrogant".[102] SNCF claims to own 62% of the shares of Eurostar Group Ltd. Hartmut Mehdorn, former CEO of Deutsche Bahn, confirmed DB's interest in conversations with journalists, but insisted in a letter to Pépy a few days later that DB had only informally requested information and not made any official requests to Britain's Department for Transport.[103]

In 2009, Eurotunnel (the owners of the Channel Tunnel) announced that it was prepared to start relaxing the fire safety regulations, in order to permit other operators, such as Deutsche Bahn, to transport passengers via the Tunnel using other forms of rolling stock.[104] Under the deregulation of European railway service, high-speed lines were opened up to open access on 1 January 2010; the Inter-Governmental Commission on the Channel Tunnel (IGC) announced that it was considering relaxing the safety requirements concerning train splitting. LCR suggested that high-speed rail services between London and Cologne could commence before the 2012 Olympics.[105] As of March 2010 Eurotunnel, High Speed 1, DB and other interested train operators formed a working group to discuss changes to the safety rules, including allowing DB's 200-metre trains through the tunnel on a Frankfurt to London service.[106]

Deutsche Bahn hope to run an ICE 3 train through the Channel Tunnel on 19 October 2010,[107][108] in preparation for possible future operations.[109] The current Velaro ICE3 sets do not meet the fire safety requirements necessary for the carriage of passengers through the Channel Tunnel, but the Siemens Velaro D sets on order include the necessary additional fire-proofing.[109]

Veolia's planned use of the AGV train would cut journey times to London

Veolia

In September 2008, Air France-KLM indicated a desire to take advantage of the change in the law and apply to run rail services, in cooperation with Veolia, from London to Paris and from Paris to Amsterdam in competition with Eurostar and Thalys, respectively, with the intention of purchasing or leasing a number of the new AGV multiple units currently being tested.[110][111] However in October 2009, Air France withdrew its interest. This led to Veolia looking for new partners, with the announcement that it would begin working on new proposals in cooperation with Trenitalia to run services from Paris to Strasbourg, London and Brussels.[112]

Renfe

Spanish AVE train

Spanish railway operator RENFE has also shown an interest in running AVE services from Spain to London[113] via Paris, Lyon, Barcelona and Madrid once its AVE network is connected to France via the Barcelona to Figueras and Perpignan to Figueras lines in 2012.[114]

Transmanche Metro

In February 2010, local councillors from Kent and Pas-de-Calais announced they were in talks to establish a frequent metro service connection between the regional stations along the route. The service would leave Lille and stop at Calais, Ashford and Stratford before reaching London St. Pancras. Currently, Ashford and Calais have an infrequent service and trains do not call at Stratford. The initiative is part of Calais' branding as part of the UK in order to benefit from the 2012 London Olympics but is supported on both sides of the channel to bring in more commuters.[115]

See also

References

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Bibliography

Further reading

External links