High speed trains in Great Britain

The British transport company, First, and Siemens Transportation Systems (TS) have agreed on a joint program for developing high speed trains for the British market. The objective is to bring in the new train as a replacement for the 'Intercity 125' high speed trains presently doing service in the railway network of the First Great Western operat-ing company and on other long-distance routes. Under the terms of the agreement, the new high speed train is to be ready for passenger service in only five years' time.
It will be based on the Venturio multiple-unit train concept developed by Siemens.

Around 100 'Intercity 125' trains were built in the late seventies and early eighties by British Rail, the national state-owned railway at the time. After that, the vehicles were repeatedly modernized and upgraded in line with the latest technical developments. Today, they are be-ing used by private railway operators such as First Great Western, Virgin Trains, Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) and Midland Mainline, with around half of all the vehicles doing duty in the railway network of First Great Western. First Great Western is also responsible for maintaining the Intercity 125 stock of Virgin Trains. Each of these trains travels a total of ap-proximately 320,000 kilometers every year. The successor train therefore has to be ready for service before the availability of the Intercity 125 becomes a problem.

The agreement with First initially calls for the development of several vehicle concepts based on the Venturio multiple-unit platform developed by Siemens. The final specification will not be drawn up until consultations have been completed with the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), the railway operators and the vehicle leasing companies involved. The concept for the new train is to be presented as early as the spring of 2003. This will be followed by an analysis of the economic efficiency of the new trains and how they can be financed. Their advantages for passengers and the future of the British rail industry will also be defined.

Dean Finch, Managing Director of First's UK rail division, said: "The UK's HST fleet has set high standards for fast, frequent, comfortable intercity rail travel and has served the country exceptionally well. They are still very popular with customers and are without doubt the most successful intercity train to have been developed during the British Rail era. However it is essential that we start now to plan for their replacement.

"The next generation of HSTs must set even higher standards for intercity rail travel in Britain. On the Great Western Main Line, the new trains would be diesel powered and have a mini-mum of eight coaches like the existing HSTs. The design will be very flexible so that they could also operate with power drawn from overhead cables, on electrified routes elsewhere. The new trains must deliver new levels of comfort, acceleration, safety and reliability.

"As the largest and most experienced users of the existing HSTs it is appropriate that we lead this investment in design, development and engineering, but the trains will be equally suitable for use by other operators for example GNER on the East Coast Main Line. This is the first step in that process. It will take time, commitment and investment from all areas of the rail industry for this plan to succeed."

Dietrich G. Möller, President of the Trains Division at TS, added: "We are very much looking forward to working with First on the development of the new generation of high speed trains for the British market on the basis of our Venturio. The Venturio UK will offer the advantages of European high speed rail services and, at the same time, will be so flexible that it can meet the special requirements of British railway operators."

Having built the ICE 3 trains for German Rail (Deutsche Bahn AG) and the Netherlands Rail-ways and completed an order for high speed trains for the Spanish railway company, Renfe, Siemens has extensive experience in the European high speed market. At the present time, Siemens is manufacturing 21 four-car multiple-unit trains of the type Desiro UK, which will be used in regional rail operations by First Great Eastern. The first of these units are to start revenue passenger service in spring 2003.