Government decision on ‘slower’ HS2 due by July

They were envisioned to be the fastest conventional high-speed trains in the world, but perhaps no longer.

Cost-saving plans put forward as part of a reset of the HS2 programme this week could see the top speed of trains on the line between Birmingham and London fall below the planned 360kph (223 mph), a move which transport secretary Heidi Alexander says could bring the service in use sooner.

The move is expected to save a sum “in the low billions” by reducing risk in the delivery of the programme and its testing, however economic impacts may be felt elsewhere if travel time between Birmingham and London increases as a result.

The service was originally forecast to take 49 minutes to travel between Curzon Street and Old Oak Common.

As part of her biannual report to parliament, she said project chief executive Mark Wild had been ordered to prepare a report on how much cash could be saved by running a slower service, which still met the definition of high-speed rail, which is a minimum of 250kph.

Currently, the maximum speed of the country’s conventional rail network is 200kph. Most European high-speed services, such as the French TGV or Italian Freccia, run at around 300kph.

“On current specification, HS2 trains will run at 360 kilometres per hour (kph), which would make them the fastest conventional high-speed trains anywhere in the world,” she wrote.

“This means that the project would have to wait for HS2 tracks to be built before testing any trains – an approach which could increase costs and delay the completion of the project. The alternative would have been to send trains abroad to test on an existing track running at that speed.”

Alexander says the railway could now adopt a lower specification, potentially more in line with existing European standards, which she says would rely on already-proven technology.

Mark Wild’s report is due before parliament’s summer recess on 16 July.