Innovation in Manchester to Paris night trains with existing rail resources - outline business case - Suggested Timetable Local times Paris Gare du Nord 18:28 (Brussels Midi-Zuid) 18:56 Lille Europe 19:29 Birmingham International*‡ 21:43 Manchester Piccadilly 22:58 Manchester Piccadilly 23:59 Birmingham International*† 01:14 Lille Europe 07:30 (Brussels Midi-Zuid) 08:04 Paris Gare du Nord 08:33 * option within business case † boarding only ‡ alighting only Eurostar set 3309/10 at Manchester Piccadilly, on a test run to Paris in January 1998. COVER PHOTOGRAPH: “North of London” Eurostar set 3309/10 at Manchester Piccadilly, on a test run to Paris in January 1998. Source: http://www.johndarm.clara.net/GBphots98.html Copyright © Tony Baldwinson 2012, except cover photograph. Tony Baldwinson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. ISBN 978-0-9572606-3-4 Reprinted 2013, 2014. TBR Consulting 26 Chapel Road, Manchester M33 7EG, UK [email protected] 2 OUTLINE BUSINESS CASE This is an outline of the business case for an overnight train service between Manchester and Paris using existing stock, routes and speeds. The benefits to passengers would be – to arrive at the centre of either Paris or Brussels before 9am local time to be able to stay in each city region until after 6pm local time to save money by avoiding any hotel costs for one or two nights, and to have a greener travel option to short-haul air. Passengers respond to benefits. The upgraded West Coast Main Line has made journey times from Manchester to London more attractive, where half of the passengers who previously travelled by air between Manchester and London have switched to rail. Similar benefits are now possible internationally for short-haul journeys, and as shown by the strong patronage of high speed rail services such as London – Paris / Brussels and similar Continental networks. Keeping moving forward It is as quick to travel by train from London to Brussels (2 hours 01 minutes) as it is to go from London to Manchester (2 hours 07 minutes). This will remain the case in the short to medium term because of the time it will take to build the much-needed high speed rail link between Manchester and London and beyond with the HS2 project (unless all in one phase) not due to be operational until during the 2020s. A first phase would allow high speed rail journeys south of Birmingham (or possibly north to Crewe) and connections into the ‘classic’ rail network for onward journeys to Manchester etc. To maintain pace, this proposal for an international night train – can be implemented in months, assists in Manchester’s international profile, helps promote Manchester’s green agenda, and complements the strength at Manchester International Airport in longer-haul journeys. Minimising Risk Following a growing trend in rail projects, this proposal is based on existing technologies and capacities, which reduces the project’s uncertainties and risk. Using existing rail technology and stock This service could make use of existing train stock, stations and routes. Manchester Piccadilly platform 1 is 242m which will fit most of a half-set Eurostar train or a Hitachi Javelin train. The much-needed refurbishment of Manchester Victoria could provide more station capacity as an option for consideration. The seven regional Eurostar trains originally cost £180 million, and although built specifically for use in the UK, Channel Tunnel and French rail networks; they are 3 currently used by SNCF on the Lille – Paris route and as spares. The preferred option is to extend the daytime use of just one of these regional train sets with this overnight service. Two other options are to use a UK Javelin train which is used in South East England during the day, and this will require permission for this type of train the use the Channel Tunnel, and from the French national rail safety authority EPSF to operate in France, or to use an unused half-set Regional Eurostar train reportedly stored in UK rail sidings (see Technical Notes 17 and 41). There is track capacity. Network Rail’s draft Rail Utilisation Strategy to the mid 2030s for the Channel Tunnel has low traffic projections and spare capacity. Increased single-line overnight repair working now on the West Coast Main Line means that there can be fewer night-time diversions due to total closures of a section of track during the week. An adjusted timetable may be required for Saturday / Sunday and for Sunday / Monday journeys where block closures still occur for safety reasons. The number of passenger trainsets potentially available for use through the Channel Tunnel is set to increase from 2011. The Javelin train (Hitachi built, 395-type, six cars, 200m) does run on both HS1 and UK classic rail but is not yet approved to run through the Channel Tunnel. (Please see Technical Note 47 for further details on internationally approved trains). There are also Class 92 locomotives which were “specially designed to pull freight trains in the UK and the Channel Tunnel. 46 such locomotives were produced. These locomotives were also designed to pull long-distance night trains between the North of Britain and Paris or Brussels ... which were never commissioned.” (source: Report of the Joint Economic Committee, InterGovernmental Commission, 5 October 2011, page 12). It is understood that the commercial aim is to fully utilise the Class 92 locomotives in pulling as many freight trains as possible. Using existing service models There have been successful overnight passenger services for some years now between London and Alpine ski resorts in southern France in the winter months. For Manchester, being an overnight service deals with the lack of a very-high speed connection to London and deals with the issues of daytime congestion around the Channel Tunnel and on the West Coast Main Line, especially south of Rugby. The majority of weekend passengers will probably be for leisure with some demand for premium services. By contrast, the in-week service has the prospect to add value in the business market by giving up to nine hours for a working day, all based on using just one train set. Through a connecting change at the Lille Europe station, there would be scope to include a Manchester – Brussels weekday service to allow for a comfortable arrival for 10:00 meetings in Brussels (09:00 UK time) which are very difficult to reach by same-day flights and require a hotel overnight stay currently, whether the journey from Manchester is by air or by train. An early morning arrival at Lille Europe would connect to the existing 07:30 high-speed weekday 4 service to Brussels Midi arriving at 08:04. The earliest arrival in Brussels Midi from London is currently 10:07 (departs 06:50), whereas the first arrival in London Mon-Weds from Brussels Midi is 07:57 (departs 06:56). Travel would be in pre-booked reclining seats in dimmed, quiet and staff-monitored carriages. Bright table-seated buffet carriages would be open all night for passengers to eat, talk or work, including wireless internet. Breakfast would be at-seat. If carriage layouts were to be purpose- built then the design could include call buttons as well as reading lights and charging sockets, with an ‘airline style’ seating layout without facing seats for more privacy. First class could include around-seat curtains. Optional stops Using the preferred route, there are the options of considering serving the additional UK stations of Birmingham International, and (b) London Stratford, next to the Olympic Park (but see Technical Note 51). If either or both options are taken forward, passengers would not be permitted to make UK-only journeys but instead would have to travel between that stop and either Lille or Paris. All seats are advance-booked, so passengers joining or leaving mid-route could be allocated seats in specific carriages to avoid wider disruption. Using existing security proposals UK Government policy requires main rail stations to be capable of screening domestic passengers and their luggage with portable screening equipment. A secure passenger handling area at Manchester Piccadilly could have a segregated passenger route from adjacent underused land with a border control point to platform 1. The screening systems used for political party conferences at Manchester Central are tested and robust. Platform 1 availability for domestic services between 07:00 and 21:30 is retained. The Gare du Nord station in Paris already has secure international passenger handling facilities. UK Government policy is for all inbound border controls to be enforced at the journey start train station on the Continent by British officials, rather than at the end of the journey into the UK. The UK Government has a TRANSEC group of officials within the Home Office who will appraise the Security Programme of a new operation, and whose agreement must be obtained prior to operations starting. More details are shown in Technical Note 49. Learning from previous projects There will be some critical appraisals of this proposal, which is reasonable considering the failure of previously proposed regional-continental rail projects, the so-called ‘North of London’ services. For completeness, this background is summarised in Appendix 3. Securing regulatory support It is understood that the Government’s position on a proposal such as this is that public funds are not available and the private sector should run this service as ‘open access’.