Channel Tunnel Rail Link
Encyclopedia
High Speed 1 officially known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) and originally as the Continental Main Line (CML), is a 108 kilometres (67.1 mi) high-speed rail
way 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. The line allows speeds of 230 to 300 km/h (142.9 to 186.4 mph) and cost £5.8 billion to build. There are intermediate stations at , and .
International passenger services are currently provided by Eurostar
, with journey times of London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord
in 2 hours 15 minutes, and St Pancras to in 1 hour 51 minutes, using a fleet of 27 Class 373/1
multi-system trains capable of 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph). Other, competing, passenger operators are expected to use the line in future.
Domestic high-speed commuter services serving the intermediate stations and beyond began on 13 December 2009. The fleet of 29 Class 395
passenger trains are permitted to reach speeds of 225 kilometres per hour (139.8 mph).
DB Schenker
is planning to run intermodal freight trains. The first of five planned trials of a modified Class 92
locomotive hauling a loaded container train ran on 27 May 2011.
The CTRL project was 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 archaeological research
was undertaken. In 2002, the CTRL project was awarded the "Major Project Award" at the British Construction Industry Awards
. The CTRL has seen periods of financial difficulty, and the line was transferred to government ownership in 2009, with a 30-year concession for its operation being put up for sale in June 2010. The concession was awarded to a consortium of Borealis Infrastructure (part of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
in November 2010, but does not include the freehold or rights to any of the associated land.
, has been in operation between the Channel Tunnel and the outskirts of Paris since the Tunnel's opening in 1994. 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 in Belgium, from the French border to Brussels, HSL 1
, opened in 1997. However, in Britain, Eurostar trains had to run at a maximum of 100 mph (44.7 m/s) on existing tracks between London, Waterloo
and the Channel Tunnel. These tracks were shared with local traffic, limiting the number of services that could be run, and jeopardising reliability. The case for a high-speed line similar to the continental part of the route was recognised by policymakers, and the construction of the line was authorised by Parliament with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996
, which was amended by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Act 2008
.
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.
The idea of using the North London line proved illusory, and it was rejected in 1994 by the then Transport Secretary
, John MacGregor
, as too difficult to construct and environmentally damaging. However, the idea of using St Pancras station as the core of the new terminus was retained, albeit now linked by 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) of specially built tunnels to Dagenham
via Stratford
.
London and Continental Railways
(LCR) was chosen by the UK government in 1996 to build the line and to reconstruct 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. While 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 adopted High Speed 1 as the brand name
for the completed railway. Official legislation, documentation and line-side signage, however, have continued to refer to "CTRL".
The whole route was to have been built as a single project, but in 1998 serious financial difficulties arose, and extensive changes came with a British government rescue plan. To reduce risk, the line was split into two separate phases, 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 not settled.
The original intention had been for the new railway, once completed, to be run by Union Railways as a separate line from the rest of the British railway network. However, as part of the 1998 rescue it was agreed that, following completion, section 1 would be purchased by Railtrack
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.
In 2001, Railtrack announced that, due to its own financial problems, it would not undertake to purchase section 2, triggering a second restructuring. The 2002 plan agreed that the two sections would have different owners (Railtrack for section 1, LCR for section 2) but with common Railtrack management. Following further financial problems at Railtrack, its interest was sold back to LCR, who then sold the operating rights for the completed line to Network Rail
, Railtrack's successor. Under this arrangement LCR became 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 connections to the West Coast Main Line
.
As a consequence of the restructuring, in 2006 the LCR consortium consisted of 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), 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. The entire line, including St Pancras, is managed, operated and maintained by Network Rail.
In February 2006 there were 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. LCR shareholders rejected the proposal, and the government, who effectively could overrule shareholders' decisions as a result of LCR's reclassification as a state-owned body, decided that discussions with shareholders would not take place imminently, effectively backing shareholders' views on the proposed takeover.
By May 2009 LCR had become insolvent and the government received agreement to use state aid to purchase the line and also to open it up to competition to allow other services to use it apart from Eurostar. LCR's thitherto wholly owned subsidiary, HS1 Ltd, thus became the property of the Secretary of State for Transport. On 12 October 2009 a proposal was announced to sell £16 billion of state assets including HS1 Ltd in the following two years to cut UK public debt. The government announced on 5 November 2010 that a concession to operate the line for 30 years had been sold for £2.1 billion to a consortium of Canadian investors. Under the concession, HS1 Ltd has the rights to sell access to track and to the four international stations (St Pancras, Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford) on a commercial basis, under the scrutiny of the Office of Rail Regulation
. At the end of 30 years, ownership of the assets will revert to government.
in north Kent
. Its completion cut the London–Paris journey time by around 21 minutes, to 2 hours 35 minutes. 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 mi) 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. Much of the new line runs alongside the M2 and M20
motorways through Kent. After its 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. One occurred on 28 March 2003 near Folkestone
when a worker came into contact with the energised power supply. Another death occurred two months later, in May 2003, when a scaffolder fell seven metres at Thurrock, Essex. 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 £25,000, and Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft £25,000. 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 16 August 2005. The train shunter died at the scene and the train driver later died in hospital. It has been suggested that a large amount of blame for accidents throughout the project lay with individual behaviour, becoming such a problem that an internal programme was launched to tackle behaviour problems during the construction.
Unlike most 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. High Speed 1 approaches Ashford International from the north in a cut-and-cover "box"; the southbound 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.
Section 2 of the project opened on 14 November 2007 and is a 39.4 km (24.5 mi) 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 kilometres (1.6 mi) 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 kilometres (11.8 mi) tunnel (51°31′36.9"N 0°8′13.9"E), 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-kilometre 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. In testing, the first Eurostar train ran in St Pancras on 6 March 2007. All CTRL connections are fully grade-separated
. This is achieved through use of viaducts, bridges, cuttings and in one case, the tunnel portal itself.
stations in France, the through tracks for Ashford International railway station
are off to one side rather than going through. 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.
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. and is now Eurostar's main station in Kent. Two of the platforms are designed for international passenger trains and four for high-speed domestic services.
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, with a new security-sealed terminal area for Eurostar trains to continental Europe. 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. 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 built 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 in readiness for the forthcoming Thameslink Programme
.
Completed in April 2006, it opened on 30 November 2009 when the domestic preview Southeastern highspeed
services started calling there. An extension of the Docklands Light Railway
opened to Stratford International in August 2011. It forms part of the complex of railway stations for the main site where the 2012 Summer Olympics
will be held.
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.
) 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.
The track is cleared to a larger modern European GC loading gauge
enabling GC gauge freight as far as the yards at Barking
. The line is electrified entirely using overhead lines
with 25 kV AC railway electrification.
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 machine
s 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. The CTRL Section 2 construction works had caused considerable disruption around the Kings Cross area of London, however in their wake redevelopment was stimulated. 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. However it has been postulated that this development was actually suppressed by the construction project, and some of the affected districts are still in a poor state.
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. 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, so this connecting line is no longer used.
s for freight trains to stop while passenger trains passed by were specifically built at Lenham Heath and Singlewell.
Freight trains operated by EWS first ran over CTRL Section 1, on the consecutive evenings of 3–4 April 2004. five freight trains—that would have run via the classic lines—were diverted to run over the Channel Tunnel Rail Link instead: three southbound intermodal trains on 3 April 2004 and two northbound intermodal trains on 4 April 2004.
basis. Trains are operated by several different organisations all operating over the same track. HS1 Ltd. is the network manager for the line, stations, and other infrastructure.
on 26 September 2003 for £57 million to take over the assets of the CTRL renewal and maintenance operations. In respect of its duties, Network Rail (CTRL) operate a number of engineering, track maintenance machines, rescue locomotives, and infrastructure- and test trains. Eurotunnel's subsidiary Europorte 2
operates its Eurotunnel Class 0001
(Krupp/Mak 6400) rescue locomotives on the line when required.
Various track recording trains
run as necessary, including visits by the New Measurement Train. On the night of 4/5 May 2011 the SNCF TGV Iris 320
laboratory train took over, being hauled from Coquolles to St Pancras and back, towed by Eurotunnel Krupp locomotives numbers 4 and 5. The Iris 320 runs for Network Rail (CTRL) are an extension of the 100 km/h monitoring cycle already undertaken by SNCF International since December 2010 for Eurotunnel every two months.
The Eurostar service uses about 40% of the capacity of High Speed 1, which in November 2007 became the company's route for all its services. Eurostar trains are for international traffic only, passing along the high-speed line from London St Pancras railway station
to the Channel Tunnel, with the majority terminating at either Paris Gare de Nord in France or Brussels-South railway station in Belgium. Currently the trains operated by Eurostar are the only ones to make full use of the high speeds on 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. The British component of Eurostar is owned by London and Continental Railways
, which also owns High Speed 1 and the infrastructure on it.
On 4 September 2007, a train travelled from Paris Gare du Nord
to St. Pancras
in 2 hours 3 minutes and 39 seconds. On 19 September 2007, a train travelled from Brussels
South to St. Pancras
in 1 hour 43 minutes.
. Having been in planning since 2004, a preview service of the British Rail Class 395
trains, popularly known as Javelins, started in June 2009, and regular services began on 13 December 2009. The quickest journey time from Ashford to London St Pancras is 35 minutes, compared with 60 minutes for the service to London Charing Cross via Tonbridge. 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. Although the Class 395 has a maximum speed of 225 km/h (140 mph), for timetabling purposes a 10% lower speed is assumed. However, these trains have faster acceleration than the Eurostar units.
freight locomotives to run upon the line. On 25 March 2011 for the first time a modified class 92 locomotive travelled from Dollands Moor to Singlewell using the TVM430 signalling system. A loaded container train ran for the first time on 27 May 2011, to Novara
in Italy, and further trials with loaded wagons are planned until the end of June 2011.
, Germany's national train company, had applied to use the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1 into London.
This was denied by Deutsche Bahn, and the bi-national Channel Tunnel Safety Authority confirmed that it had not received such an application. The plan was delayed by safety regulations as Deutsche Bahn's fleet of ICE 3
M high-speed trains could not be divided in the tunnel in an emergency.
In December 2008, it was reported that Deutsche Bahn
(DB) was interested in buying the British share in Eurostar, 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, HS1 Ltd. 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".
SNCF claims to own 62% of the shares of Eurostar Group Ltd. Hartmut Mehdorn
, former CEO of Deutsche Bahn, confirmed DB's interest but insisted in a letter to Pépy that DB had only informally requested information and not made any official requests to Britain's Department for Transport
.
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. Under the deregulation of European railway service, high-speed lines were opened up to access by other operators 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.
In March 2010 Eurotunnel, HS1 Ltd, DB and other interested train operators formed a working group to discuss changes to the safety rules, including allowing 200-metre trains. The Intergovernmental Commission currently requires trains to be 400m long. Deutsche Bahn carried out evacuation trials in the tunnel on 17 October 2010 with two 200m-long ICE3 trains, and displayed one of them at St Pancras station on 19 October. The current Velaro ICE3 sets do not meet the fire safety requirements for passenger services through the tunnel, but the Siemens Velaro D sets on order include the necessary additional fire-proofing. In March 2011, the European Rail Agency decided to allow trains with distributed traction to operate in the Channel Tunnel. DB is planning three services a day to Frankfurt
(5h from London), Rotterdam
(3h) and Amsterdam
(4h) via Brussels from December 2013.
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.
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.
Spanish railway operator RENFE
has also shown an interest in running AVE
services from Spain to London via Paris, Lyon
, Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon (using the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line) once its AVE
network is connected to France via the Barcelona to Figueras and Perpignan to Figueras lines in 2012.
and Pas-de-Calais announced they were in talks to establish a frequent local rail service between the regional stations along the route. Trains would leave Lille and stop at Calais, Ashford and Stratford before reaching London St. Pancras. Currently, Ashford and Calais have an infrequent service and Eurostar 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.
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
way line running from London through Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
to the British end of the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
.
The line was built to carry international passenger traffic from the United Kingdom to Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
; additionally it carries domestic passenger traffic to and from towns and cities in Kent, and has the potential to carry Berne gauge
Berne gauge
The Berne Gauge or Berne Convention Gauge is an informal but widely-used term for the railway loading gauge considered the standard gauge in continental Europe. The term arises from the international railway conference held and consequent convention signed in Berne, Switzerland in 1912...
freight traffic. The completed line, crossing over the River Medway
River Medway
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....
and underneath the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
to London St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
, opened on 14 November 2007. The line allows speeds of 230 to 300 km/h (142.9 to 186.4 mph) and cost £5.8 billion to build. There are intermediate stations at , and .
International passenger services are currently provided by Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
, with journey times of London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...
in 2 hours 15 minutes, and St Pancras to in 1 hour 51 minutes, using a fleet of 27 Class 373/1
British Rail Class 373
The British Rail Class 373 or TGV-TMST train is an electric multiple unit that operates Eurostar's high-speed rail service between Britain, France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel...
multi-system trains capable of 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph). Other, competing, passenger operators are expected to use the line in future.
Domestic high-speed commuter services serving the intermediate stations and beyond began on 13 December 2009. The fleet of 29 Class 395
British Rail Class 395
British Rail Class 395 is a dual-voltage electric multiple unit used by train operating company Southeastern for its services along High Speed 1 and onwards to the Kent coast. The trains were built in Japan by Hitachi and shipped to the United Kingdom to operate new high speed domestic services...
passenger trains are permitted to reach speeds of 225 kilometres per hour (139.8 mph).
DB Schenker
DB Schenker
DB Schenker is a logistics company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG. The company, created by reorganisation and rebranding of various Deutsche Bahn subsidiaries, comprises a logistics division encompassing air, land and sea freight, and a rail division made up from a variety of...
is planning to run intermodal freight trains. The first of five planned trials of a modified Class 92
British Rail Class 92
The British Rail Class 92 is a dual-voltage electric locomotive which can run on 25 kV AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from a third rail. It was designed specifically to operate services through the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France...
locomotive hauling a loaded container train ran on 27 May 2011.
The CTRL project was one of the United Kingdom's largest civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
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 archaeological research
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
was undertaken. In 2002, the CTRL project was awarded the "Major Project Award" at the British Construction Industry Awards
British Construction Industry Awards
The British Construction Industry Awards were launched by the New Civil Engineer magazine and Thomas Telford Ltd - both owned by the Institution of Civil Engineers - in 1998....
. The CTRL has seen periods of financial difficulty, and the line was transferred to government ownership in 2009, with a 30-year concession for its operation being put up for sale in June 2010. The concession was awarded to a consortium of Borealis Infrastructure (part of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan , commonly referred to as Teachers, is the organization responsible for administering pensions for public school teachers of the Canadian province of Ontario. The OTPP also invests the plan's pension fund, making it one of the largest and most powerful investment...
in November 2010, but does not include the freehold or rights to any of the associated land.
Early history
A high-speed rail line, LGV NordLGV Nord
The LGV Nord is a French 333-kilometre long high speed rail line, opened in 1993, that connects Paris to the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille....
, has been in operation between the Channel Tunnel and the outskirts of Paris since the Tunnel's opening in 1994. This has enabled Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
rail services to travel at 300 km/h (186 mph) for this part of their journey. A similar high-speed line in Belgium, from the French border to Brussels, HSL 1
HSL 1
The HSL 1 is a Belgian high speed rail line which connects Brussels with LGV Nord at the border with France. It is long with 71 km of dedicated high-speed tracks and 17 km of modernised lines. Service began on 14 December 1997....
, opened in 1997. However, in Britain, Eurostar trains had to run at a maximum of 100 mph (44.7 m/s) on existing tracks between London, Waterloo
Waterloo International railway station
Waterloo International station was the London terminus of the Eurostar international rail service from its opening on 14 November 1994 until 13 November 2007. It stands on the western side of Waterloo railway station, London...
and the Channel Tunnel. These tracks were shared with local traffic, limiting the number of services that could be run, and jeopardising reliability. The case for a high-speed line similar to the continental part of the route was recognised by policymakers, and the construction of the line was authorised by Parliament with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996
Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996
The Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. This act provides for construction, maintenance and operation of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link between St Pancras railway station and the entrance to the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone.-External links:* - Hansard...
, which was amended by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Act 2008
Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Act 2008
The Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 2008 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amends the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996...
.
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
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...
Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
'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
North London Line
The North London Line is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of north London, England. Its route is a rough semicircle from the south west to the north east, avoiding central London. The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail...
that crosses the throat of the station.
The idea of using the North London line proved illusory, and it was rejected in 1994 by the then Transport Secretary
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
, John MacGregor
John MacGregor
John Roddick Russell MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market, OBE PC FKC , is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was educated at Merchiston Castle School, then at the University of St Andrews and at King's College London...
, as too difficult to construct and environmentally damaging. However, the idea of using St Pancras station as the core of the new terminus was retained, albeit now linked by 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) of specially built tunnels to Dagenham
Dagenham
Dagenham is a large suburb in East London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and located east of Charing Cross. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began...
via Stratford
Stratford, London
Stratford is a place in the London Borough of Newham, England. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an agrarian settlement in the ancient parish of West Ham, which transformed into an industrial suburb...
.
London and Continental Railways
London and Continental Railways
-History:Created at the time of the privatisation of British Rail it bid for and won the contract from the UK government in 1996 to build and operate High Speed 1 between London and the Channel Tunnel...
(LCR) was chosen by the UK government in 1996 to build the line and to reconstruct St Pancras station as its terminus, and to take over the British share of the Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
operation, Eurostar (UK). The original LCR consortium members were National Express Group
National Express Group
National Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...
, Virgin Group
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
, S. G. Warburg & Co, Bechtel
Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 5th-largest privately owned company in the U.S...
and London Electric. While the project was under development by British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
it was managed by Union Railways, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of LCR. On 14 November 2006, LCR adopted High Speed 1 as the brand name
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
for the completed railway. Official legislation, documentation and line-side signage, however, have continued to refer to "CTRL".
The project
As the 1987 Channel Tunnel Act made government funding for a Channel tunnel rail link unlawful, construction did not take place as it was not financially viable. Construction was delayed until passage of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 which provided construction powers that ran for the following 10 years.The whole route was to have been built as a single project, but in 1998 serious financial difficulties arose, and extensive changes came with a British government rescue plan. To reduce risk, the line was split into two separate phases, to be managed by Union Railways (South) and Union Railways (North). A recovery programme was agreed whereby LCR sold government-backed bonds
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
worth £1.6 billion to pay for the construction of section 1, with the future of section 2 still not settled.
The original intention had been for the new railway, once completed, to be run by Union Railways as a separate line from the rest of the British railway network. However, as part of the 1998 rescue it was agreed that, following completion, section 1 would be purchased by Railtrack
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
with an option to purchase section 2. In return, Railtrack was committed to operate the whole route as well as St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
, which, unlike all other former British Rail stations, was transferred to LCR/Union Railways in 1996.
In 2001, Railtrack announced that, due to its own financial problems, it would not undertake to purchase section 2, triggering a second restructuring. The 2002 plan agreed that the two sections would have different owners (Railtrack for section 1, LCR for section 2) but with common Railtrack management. Following further financial problems at Railtrack, its interest was sold back to LCR, who then sold the operating rights for the completed line to Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
, Railtrack's successor. Under this arrangement LCR became 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 connections to the West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
.
As a consequence of the restructuring, in 2006 the LCR consortium consisted of construction firms Arup
Arup
Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...
, Bechtel
Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 5th-largest privately owned company in the U.S...
, Halcrow
Halcrow Group Limited
Halcrow Group Limited is an engineering consultancy company, based in the United Kingdom.Halcrow is one of the UK's leading consultancies, with a pedigree stretching back to 1868. The UK-based consultancy specialises in the provision of planning, design and management services for infrastructure...
and Systra
Systra
SYSTRA is an international engineering and consulting group specializing in rail and public transport. SYSTRA is known worldwide for its work in transport modes that offer a sustainable alternative to cars and trucks...
(who form Rail Link Engineering (RLE)), transport operators National Express Group
National Express Group
National Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...
and SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
(who operate the Eurostar (UK) share of the Eurostar service with the National Railway Company of Belgium and British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
), electricity company EDF
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
and UBS Investment Bank
UBS AG
UBS AG is a Swiss global financial services company headquartered in Basel and Zürich, Switzerland, which provides investment banking, asset management, and wealth management services for private, corporate, and institutional clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland...
. 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), 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. The entire line, including St Pancras, is managed, operated and maintained by Network Rail.
In February 2006 there were 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. LCR shareholders rejected the proposal, and the government, who effectively could overrule shareholders' decisions as a result of LCR's reclassification as a state-owned body, decided that discussions with shareholders would not take place imminently, effectively backing shareholders' views on the proposed takeover.
By May 2009 LCR had become insolvent and the government received agreement to use state aid to purchase the line and also to open it up to competition to allow other services to use it apart from Eurostar. LCR's thitherto wholly owned subsidiary, HS1 Ltd, thus became the property of the Secretary of State for Transport. On 12 October 2009 a proposal was announced to sell £16 billion of state assets including HS1 Ltd in the following two years to cut UK public debt. The government announced on 5 November 2010 that a concession to operate the line for 30 years had been sold for £2.1 billion to a consortium of Canadian investors. Under the concession, HS1 Ltd has the rights to sell access to track and to the four international stations (St Pancras, Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford) on a commercial basis, under the scrutiny of the Office of Rail Regulation
Office of Rail Regulation
The Office of Rail Regulation is a statutory board which is the combined economic and safety regulatory authority for Great Britain's railway network. It was established on 5 July 2004 by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, replacing the Rail Regulator...
. At the end of 30 years, ownership of the assets will revert to government.
Route
Section 1
Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, opened on 28 September 2003, is a 74 kilometres (46 mi) section of high-speed track from the Channel Tunnel to Fawkham JunctionFawkham Junction
Fawkham Junction is a railway junction that currently connects High Speed 1 with the Kent Rail Network.Originally the Junction was part of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway's line to Gravesend West . The intermediate stations were: Longfield Halt, Southfleet, Rosherville Halt and Gravesend West...
in north Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Its completion cut the London–Paris journey time by around 21 minutes, to 2 hours 35 minutes. The line includes the Medway Viaduct
Medway Viaduct
There are three Medway Viaducts, two of which carry the two carriageways of the M2 motorway. The other viaduct carries High Speed 1 across the River Medway near Rochester in north Kent, England.-M2 Motorway viaduct :...
, a 1.2 km (¾ mile) bridge over the River Medway
River Medway
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....
and the North Downs Tunnel
North Downs Tunnel
The North Downs Tunnel is a railway tunnel that carries High Speed 1 through the North Downs, at Blue Bell Hill near Maidstone in Kent, south-east England....
, a 3.2 km (2 mi) long, 12 m (40 ft) diameter tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
. In safety testing on the section prior to opening, a new UK rail speed record
Land speed record for railed vehicles
Determination of the fastest rail vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of "rail".Official absolute world record for conventional train is held by the French TGV...
of 334.7 km/h (208.0 mph) was set. Much of the new line runs alongside the M2 and M20
M20 motorway
The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It runs from the M25 motorway to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is long...
motorways through Kent. After its 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. One occurred on 28 March 2003 near Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
when a worker came into contact with the energised power supply. Another death occurred two months later, in May 2003, when a scaffolder fell seven metres at Thurrock, Essex. 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 £25,000, and Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft £25,000. 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 16 August 2005. The train shunter died at the scene and the train driver later died in hospital. It has been suggested that a large amount of blame for accidents throughout the project lay with individual behaviour, becoming such a problem that an internal programme was launched to tackle behaviour problems during the construction.
Unlike most LGV
LGV
LGV may stand for:* Large Goods Vehicle in Europe.* Lymphogranuloma venereum* Lignes à Grande Vitesse, French high-speed rail lines:** LGV Atlantique** LGV Est** LGV Interconnexion Est** LGV Nord** LGV Méditerranée** LGV Picardie** LGV Rhône-Alpes...
stations in France, the through tracks for Ashford International railway station
Ashford International railway station
Ashford International railway station serves Ashford in Kent, England. Services are provided by Southeastern, Southern and Eurostar.International services use platforms 3 & 4, whilst domestic trains use the original platforms 1 & 2, and a new island built when the Channel Tunnel opened...
are off to one side rather than going through, partly due to Ashford International predating the line. High Speed 1 approaches Ashford International from the north in a cut-and-cover "box"; the southbound 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.
Section 2
Ebbsfleet International railway station
Ebbsfleet International railway station is a railway station in Ebbsfleet Valley, in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London, England. It is near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. Ebbsfleet International...
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 kilometres (1.6 mi) tunnel which dives under the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
on the edge of Swanscombe
Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a small town, part of the Borough of Dartford on the north Kent coast in England. It is part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.-Prehistory:...
, then runs alongside the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
The London, Tilbury and Southend Railway is an English railway line linking Fenchurch Street railway station in the City of London with northeast London and the entire length of the northern Thames Gateway area of southern Essex. It is currently known as the Essex Thameside Route by Network Rail...
as far as Dagenham
Dagenham
Dagenham is a large suburb in East London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and located east of Charing Cross. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began...
, where it enters a 19 kilometres (11.8 mi) tunnel (51°31′36.9"N 0°8′13.9"E), before emerging over the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
near St Pancras. The tunnels are divided into London East and London West sections, between which a 1-kilometre stretch runs close to the surface to serve Stratford International and the Temple Mills Depot.
The new depot at Temple Mills
Temple Mills
Temple Mills is a northerly part of Stratford, south of Leyton, located within the London borough of Newham in east LondonToday, Temple Mills is surrounded at present by former railway tracks and works belonging to the Great Eastern Railway...
, to the north of Stratford, replaced the North Pole depot
North Pole depot
North Pole depot was the London depot for Eurostar from 1994 until 2007. It was used for maintaining and stabling the fleet of British Rail Class 373 trains...
in the west of London. In testing, the first Eurostar train ran in St Pancras on 6 March 2007. All CTRL connections are fully grade-separated
Grade separation
Grade separation is the method of aligning a junction of two or more transport axes at different heights so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other transit routes when they cross each other. The composition of such transport axes does not have to be uniform; it can consist of a...
. This is achieved through use of viaducts, bridges, cuttings and in one case, the tunnel portal itself.
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 LGVLGV Nord
The LGV Nord is a French 333-kilometre long high speed rail line, opened in 1993, that connects Paris to the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille....
stations in France, the through tracks for Ashford International railway station
Ashford International railway station
Ashford International railway station serves Ashford in Kent, England. Services are provided by Southeastern, Southern and Eurostar.International services use platforms 3 & 4, whilst domestic trains use the original platforms 1 & 2, and a new island built when the Channel Tunnel opened...
are off to one side rather than going through. The number of services was reduced after the opening of the Ebbsfleet station
Ebbsfleet International railway station
Ebbsfleet International railway station is a railway station in Ebbsfleet Valley, in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London, England. It is near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. Ebbsfleet International...
. A high-speed domestic service operated by Southeastern to London St Pancras began on 29 June 2009.
Ebbsfleet International
Ebbsfleet International railway stationEbbsfleet International railway station
Ebbsfleet International railway station is a railway station in Ebbsfleet Valley, in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London, England. It is near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. Ebbsfleet International...
in the borough of Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
is 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
and opened to the public on 19 November 2007. and is now Eurostar's main station in Kent. Two of the platforms are designed for international passenger trains and four for high-speed domestic services.
St Pancras International
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
. 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, with a new security-sealed terminal area for Eurostar trains to continental Europe. 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
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...
and the Southeastern
Southeastern (train operating company)
London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...
high-speed services that run along High Speed 1 to Kent. New platforms on the Thameslink
Thameslink
Thameslink is a fifty-station main-line route in the British railway system running north to south through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both London Gatwick Airport and London Luton Airport. It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than...
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 built north of St Pancras with connections to the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
, North London Line
North London Line
The North London Line is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of north London, England. Its route is a rough semicircle from the south west to the north east, avoiding central London. The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail...
(for West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
) and Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
, 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
Thameslink
Thameslink is a fifty-station main-line route in the British railway system running north to south through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both London Gatwick Airport and London Luton Airport. It opened as a through service in 1988 and by 1998 was severely overcrowded, carrying more than...
route were also built in readiness for the forthcoming Thameslink Programme
Thameslink Programme
The Thameslink Programme, originally Thameslink 2000, is a £6 billion project in south-east England to upgrade and expand the Thameslink rail network to provide new and longer trains between a wider range of stations to the north and to the south of London without requiring passengers to change...
.
Stratford International
Stratford International railway station was not part of the original government plans for the CTRL.Completed in April 2006, it opened on 30 November 2009 when the domestic preview Southeastern highspeed
Southeastern (train operating company)
London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...
services started calling there. An extension of the Docklands Light Railway
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
opened to Stratford International in August 2011. It forms part of the complex of railway stations for the main site where the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
will be held.
Temple Mills Depot in Leyton
Leyton
Leyton is an area of north-east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, located north east of Charing Cross. It borders Walthamstow and Leytonstone; Stratford in Newham; and Homerton and Lower Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney....
is used for storage and servicing of Eurostar trains and off peak berthing of Class 395 Southeastern high-speed trains.
Track
Both track and signalling technology (TVM-430 + KVBContrôle de vitesse par balises
KVB or Contrôle de Vitesse par Balises is a train protection system used on the French railways and in London St Pancras station...
) are based on or identical to the standards used on the French LGV
LGV
LGV may stand for:* Large Goods Vehicle in Europe.* Lymphogranuloma venereum* Lignes à Grande Vitesse, French high-speed rail lines:** LGV Atlantique** LGV Est** LGV Interconnexion Est** LGV Nord** LGV Méditerranée** LGV Picardie** LGV Rhône-Alpes...
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
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
-owned "Lucie" test car.
The track is cleared to a larger modern European GC loading gauge
Loading gauge
A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
enabling GC gauge freight as far as the yards at Barking
Barking
Barking is a suburban town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in East London, England. A retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough, it lies east of Charing Cross. Barking was in the historic county of Essex until it was absorbed by Greater London. The area is...
. The line is electrified entirely using overhead lines
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
with 25 kV AC railway electrification.
Tunnels
After local protests, early plans were modified to put more of the route into tunnels up until a point approximately 1 miles (2 km) from St. Pancras, previously the CTRL was planned to run on an elevated section alongside the North London LineNorth London Line
The North London Line is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of north London, England. Its route is a rough semicircle from the south west to the north east, avoiding central London. The line is owned and maintained by Network Rail...
on approach into the line's terminus. The twin tunnels bored under London were driven from Stratford
Stratford, London
Stratford is a place in the London Borough of Newham, England. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an agrarian settlement in the ancient parish of West Ham, which transformed into an industrial suburb...
westwards towards St Pancras, eastwards towards Dagenham
Dagenham
Dagenham is a large suburb in East London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and located east of Charing Cross. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began...
and from Dagenham westwards to connect with the tunnel from Stratford. The tunnel boring machine
Tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through anything from hard rock to sand. Tunnel diameters can range from a metre to almost 16 metres to date...
s 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. The CTRL Section 2 construction works had caused considerable disruption around the Kings Cross area of London, however in their wake redevelopment was stimulated. 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. However it has been postulated that this development was actually suppressed by the construction project, and some of the affected districts are still in a poor state.
Connection line to Waterloo
A 4 kilometres (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 LineChatham Main Line
The Chatham Main Line is a British railway line that runs from either London Victoria to Dover Priory / Ramsgate or London St Pancras to Faversham, with both services travelling via Medway...
at Fawkham Junction
Fawkham Junction
Fawkham Junction is a railway junction that currently connects High Speed 1 with the Kent Rail Network.Originally the Junction was part of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway's line to Gravesend West . The intermediate stations were: Longfield Halt, Southfleet, Rosherville Halt and Gravesend West...
with a flat crossing. The retention of Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
services to Waterloo after the line to St Pancras opened was ruled out on cost grounds. Waterloo International
Waterloo International railway station
Waterloo International station was the London terminus of the Eurostar international rail service from its opening on 14 November 1994 until 13 November 2007. It stands on the western side of Waterloo railway station, London...
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, so this connecting line is no longer used.
Services
High Speed 1 was built to allow eight trains per hour through to the Channel Tunnel. As of December 2010, Eurostar runs one or two trains per hour through to the Channel Tunnel. Southeastern has in the high peak eight trains per hour between London and Ebbsfleet, two of these continuing on to Ashford. During the 2012 Olympic Games Southeastern are to provide the Olympic Javelin service with up to twelve trains per hour from Stratford into London.Freight
The route was built with freight provision from the beginning. The route has spurs leading from the freight terminal at Dollands Moor (Folkestone), and to the freight depot at Ripplelane (north of the River Thames). Long passing loopPassing loop
A passing loop is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at a station, where trains or trams in opposing directions can pass each other. Trains/trams in the same direction can also overtake, providing that the signalling arrangement allows it...
s for freight trains to stop while passenger trains passed by were specifically built at Lenham Heath and Singlewell.
Freight trains operated by EWS first ran over CTRL Section 1, on the consecutive evenings of 3–4 April 2004. five freight trains—that would have run via the classic lines—were diverted to run over the Channel Tunnel Rail Link instead: three southbound intermodal trains on 3 April 2004 and two northbound intermodal trains on 4 April 2004.
Operators
The railway is operated on an open accessOpen Access (Infrastructure)
In the context of infrastructure, open access involves physical infrastructure such as railways and physical telecommunications network plant being made available to clients other than the owners, for a fee....
basis. Trains are operated by several different organisations all operating over the same track. HS1 Ltd. is the network manager for the line, stations, and other infrastructure.
Network Rail (CTRL)
HS1 Ltd is responsible for overall managing and running of the line—along with the international railway stations at St Pancras, Stratford, Ashford and Ebbsfleet—with responsibility for the infrastructure itself sub-contracted to Network Rail (CTRL) Ltd acting as the controller and infrastructure manager. Network Rail (CTRL) Limited was created as a subsidiary of Network RailNetwork Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
on 26 September 2003 for £57 million to take over the assets of the CTRL renewal and maintenance operations. In respect of its duties, Network Rail (CTRL) operate a number of engineering, track maintenance machines, rescue locomotives, and infrastructure- and test trains. Eurotunnel's subsidiary Europorte 2
Europorte 2
Europorte is a European rail freight company, a subsidiary of Eurotunnel; operating in France and through the Channel Tunnel.The company was formed in 2009 as an entity encompassing the previous operations of Europorte 2 and the France based businesses of Veolia Cargo...
operates its Eurotunnel Class 0001
Eurotunnel Class 0001
The Eurotunnel Class 0001 Bo-Bo diesel locomotives were built by Maschinenbau Kiel between 1991 and 1992. They are very similar to the NS 6400 Class....
(Krupp/Mak 6400) rescue locomotives on the line when required.
Various track recording trains
Track geometry car
A track geometry car is an automated track inspection vehicle on a rail transport system used to test several geometric parameters of the track without obstructing normal railroad operations. Some of the parameters generally measured include position, curvature, alignment of the track, smoothness,...
run as necessary, including visits by the New Measurement Train. On the night of 4/5 May 2011 the SNCF TGV Iris 320
SNCF TGV Iris 320
Iris 320 is a modified TGV train operated by SNCF International as a dedicated track recording train for high-speed railways. The train can run at 320 kilometres-per-hour and consists of two power cars and eight trailers coaches providing 160 metres of laboratory space...
laboratory train took over, being hauled from Coquolles to St Pancras and back, towed by Eurotunnel Krupp locomotives numbers 4 and 5. The Iris 320 runs for Network Rail (CTRL) are an extension of the 100 km/h monitoring cycle already undertaken by SNCF International since December 2010 for Eurotunnel every two months.
Eurostar
The Eurostar service uses about 40% of the capacity of High Speed 1, which in November 2007 became the company's route for all its services. Eurostar trains are for international traffic only, passing along the high-speed line from London St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
to the Channel Tunnel, with the majority terminating at either Paris Gare de Nord in France or Brussels-South railway station in Belgium. Currently the trains operated by Eurostar are the only ones to make full use of the high speeds on the line; a Eurostar train was used to set a new British rail speed record
Land speed record for railed vehicles
Determination of the fastest rail vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of "rail".Official absolute world record for conventional train is held by the French TGV...
of 334.7 km/h (208 mph) on 30 July 2003. The British component of Eurostar is owned by London and Continental Railways
London and Continental Railways
-History:Created at the time of the privatisation of British Rail it bid for and won the contract from the UK government in 1996 to build and operate High Speed 1 between London and the Channel Tunnel...
, which also owns High Speed 1 and the infrastructure on it.
On 4 September 2007, a train travelled from Paris Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...
to St. Pancras
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
in 2 hours 3 minutes and 39 seconds. On 19 September 2007, a train travelled from Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
South to St. Pancras
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
in 1 hour 43 minutes.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 373 Eurostar British Rail Class 373 The British Rail Class 373 or TGV-TMST train is an electric multiple unit that operates Eurostar's high-speed rail service between Britain, France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel... |
|
Electric multiple unit Electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages... |
186 | 300 | 28 | London St Pancras railway station St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the... –Paris Gare du Nord Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER... London–Brussels London–Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy London–Avignon Centre Avignon Centre The Gare d'Avignon-Centre is a train station serving the city of Avignon, in Vaucluse, France. It is situated on the Paris–Marseille railway.- The building :... London–Bourg Saint Maurice |
1992 |
Southeastern
Domestic high-speed services on High Speed 1 are operated by SoutheasternSoutheastern (train operating company)
London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...
. Having been in planning since 2004, a preview service of the British Rail Class 395
British Rail Class 395
British Rail Class 395 is a dual-voltage electric multiple unit used by train operating company Southeastern for its services along High Speed 1 and onwards to the Kent coast. The trains were built in Japan by Hitachi and shipped to the United Kingdom to operate new high speed domestic services...
trains, popularly known as Javelins, started in June 2009, and regular services began on 13 December 2009. The quickest journey time from Ashford to London St Pancras is 35 minutes, compared with 60 minutes for the service to London Charing Cross via Tonbridge. 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
Olympic Park
An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics complex in the case of the summer games, or the main...
at Stratford to the London terminus at St Pancras. Although the Class 395 has a maximum speed of 225 km/h (140 mph), for timetabling purposes a 10% lower speed is assumed. However, these trains have faster acceleration than the Eurostar units.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 395 Javelin British Rail Class 395 British Rail Class 395 is a dual-voltage electric multiple unit used by train operating company Southeastern for its services along High Speed 1 and onwards to the Kent coast. The trains were built in Japan by Hitachi and shipped to the United Kingdom to operate new high speed domestic services... |
 |
Electric multiple unit Electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages... |
140 | 225 | 29 | St Pancras St Pancras railway station St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the... –Stratford International- Ebbsfleet International Ebbsfleet International railway station Ebbsfleet International railway station is a railway station in Ebbsfleet Valley, in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London, England. It is near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. Ebbsfleet International... -Ashford International Ashford International railway station Ashford International railway station serves Ashford in Kent, England. Services are provided by Southeastern, Southern and Eurostar.International services use platforms 3 & 4, whilst domestic trains use the original platforms 1 & 2, and a new island built when the Channel Tunnel opened... -Ramsgate Ramsgate railway station Ramsgate railway station serves the town of Ramsgate in Thanet in Kent, England, and is located about 10 minutes away on foot from the town centre. The station lies on the Chatham Main Line 127 km east of London Victoria, the Kent Coast Line, and the Ashford to Ramsgate line... / Dover Priory Dover Priory railway station Dover Priory railway station is the main station in Dover in Kent, with the other station being Kearsney situated on the outskirts of Dover. . All train services are provided by Southeastern... . --- |
2007 |
DB Schenker
DB Schenker is a global freight operator with a large interest in freight over rail in Europe. While High Speed 1 was constructed with freight loops, no freight traffic had run upon the line since opening in 2003. 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 92British Rail Class 92
The British Rail Class 92 is a dual-voltage electric locomotive which can run on 25 kV AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from a third rail. It was designed specifically to operate services through the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France...
freight locomotives to run upon the line. On 25 March 2011 for the first time a modified class 92 locomotive travelled from Dollands Moor to Singlewell using the TVM430 signalling system. A loaded container train ran for the first time on 27 May 2011, to Novara
Novara
Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...
in Italy, and further trials with loaded wagons are planned until the end of June 2011.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Built | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 92 British Rail Class 92 The British Rail Class 92 is a dual-voltage electric locomotive which can run on 25 kV AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from a third rail. It was designed specifically to operate services through the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France... |
 |
Electric locomotive Electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device... |
87 | 140 | 46 | 1993 | 92009 first to be converted for Channel Tunnel Rail Link Channel Tunnel Rail Link High Speed 1 , officially known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and originally as the Continental Main Line , is a 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... usage with the necessary TVM modifications |
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
In November 2007, it was reported that Deutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
, Germany's national train company, had applied to use the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1 into London.
This was denied by Deutsche Bahn, and the bi-national Channel Tunnel Safety Authority confirmed that it had not received such an application. The plan was delayed by safety regulations as Deutsche Bahn's fleet of ICE 3
ICE 3
ICE 3 is a family of high-speed EMUs of Deutsche Bahn. It includes classes 403 and 406, which are known as ICE 3 and ICE 3M respectively...
M high-speed trains could not be divided in the tunnel in an emergency.
In December 2008, it was reported that Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
(DB) was interested in buying the British share in Eurostar, which in practice means buying Eurostar (U.K.) Ltd., the 100% subsidiary of London and Continental Railways
London and Continental Railways
-History:Created at the time of the privatisation of British Rail it bid for and won the contract from the UK government in 1996 to build and operate High Speed 1 between London and the Channel Tunnel...
(LCR), which the British government intends to break up and sell just as it does the other rail-related subsidiary of L&CR, HS1 Ltd. 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
Guillaume Pépy
Guillaume Pepy is a high-ranking French civil servant and is, since February 2008, president of SNCF, the French national rail authority. He is also Chairman of Eurostar and Deputy-Chairman of the Keolis Group.The President of the Republic appointed him to run the state-owned enterprise on 27...
, the president of SNCF, who held a press conference the same day, described DB's interest as "premature, presumptuous and arrogant".
SNCF claims to own 62% of the shares of Eurostar Group Ltd. Hartmut Mehdorn
Hartmut Mehdorn
Hartmut Mehdorn is a German manager and current in the supervisory board of Air Berlin, until May 2009: CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG.-Biography:...
, former CEO of Deutsche Bahn, confirmed DB's interest but insisted in a letter to Pépy that DB had only informally requested information and not made any official requests to Britain's Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
.
In 2009, Eurotunnel
Eurotunnel
Groupe Eurotunnel S.A. manages and operates the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France. The Company operates the car shuttle services and earns revenue on other trains passing through the tunnel...
(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. Under the deregulation of European railway service, high-speed lines were opened up to access by other operators 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.
In March 2010 Eurotunnel, HS1 Ltd, DB and other interested train operators formed a working group to discuss changes to the safety rules, including allowing 200-metre trains. The Intergovernmental Commission currently requires trains to be 400m long. Deutsche Bahn carried out evacuation trials in the tunnel on 17 October 2010 with two 200m-long ICE3 trains, and displayed one of them at St Pancras station on 19 October. The current Velaro ICE3 sets do not meet the fire safety requirements for passenger services through the tunnel, but the Siemens Velaro D sets on order include the necessary additional fire-proofing. In March 2011, the European Rail Agency decided to allow trains with distributed traction to operate in the Channel Tunnel. DB is planning three services a day to Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
(5h from London), Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
(3h) and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
(4h) via Brussels from December 2013.
Veolia
In September 2008, Air France-KLMAir France-KLM
Air France-KLM is a European airline holding company incorporated under French law with its headquarters at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in Tremblay-en-France, Paris...
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
Automotrice à grande vitesse
The Automotrice à grande vitesse ' is an Alstom train intended as the successor to France’s TGV high-speed trains; the name stands for automotrice à grande vitesse, or ‘high-speed self-propelled carriage’...
multiple units currently being tested.
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
Trenitalia
Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. Trenitalia is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato, itself owned by the Italian Government. It was created in 2000 following the EU directive on the deregulation of rail transport.-Passenger transport:...
to run services from Paris to Strasbourg, London and Brussels.
Renfe
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
has also shown an interest in running AVE
AVE
Alta Velocidad Española is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . The name is literally translated from Spanish as "Spanish High Speed", but also a play on the word , meaning "bird".AVE trains run on a network of...
services from Spain to London via Paris, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon (using the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line) once its AVE
AVE
Alta Velocidad Española is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . The name is literally translated from Spanish as "Spanish High Speed", but also a play on the word , meaning "bird".AVE trains run on a network of...
network is connected to France via the Barcelona to Figueras and Perpignan to Figueras lines in 2012.
Transmanche Metro
In February 2010, local councillors from KentKent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and Pas-de-Calais announced they were in talks to establish a frequent local rail service between the regional stations along the route. Trains would leave Lille and stop at Calais, Ashford and Stratford before reaching London St. Pancras. Currently, Ashford and Calais have an infrequent service and Eurostar 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.
See also
- MegaprojectMegaprojectA megaproject is an extremely large-scale investment project. Megaprojects are typically defined as costing more than US$1 billion and attracting a lot of public attention because of substantial impacts on communities, environment, and budgets. Megaprojects can also be defined as "initiatives that...
- Rail transport in the United KingdomRail transport in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and previously consisted of Great Britain and the whole of Ireland. Rail transport systems developed independently on the two islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and most of the railway construction in the Republic of Ireland was...
- Transport in LondonTransport in LondonLondon's transport forms the hub of the road, rail and air networks in the United Kingdom. It has its own dense and extensive internal private and public transport networks, as well as providing a focal point for the national road and railway networks...
- Shortlands railway stationShortlands railway stationShortlands railway station is in Shortlands, in the London Borough of Bromley in south London. It serves the southwest part of Bromley, and is 10 miles from London Victoria....
(dive-under at Shortlands Junction built in conjunction with HS1) - High Speed 2High Speed 2High Speed 2 is a proposed high-speed railway between London and the Midlands, the North of England, and potentially at a later stage the central belt of Scotland. The project is being developed by High Speed Two Ltd, a company established by the British government...
External links
- Highspeed 1 Website
- Eurostar Website
- Southeastern Website
- Eurotunnel Website
- Rail Link Engineering (Arup, Bechtel, Halcrow Systra) Website
- Trade article
- Rail enthusiast's site
- Marco Polo Excite (European X-Channel Intermodal Transport Enhancement)