Fall 08 Final Report High Speed West – HST Group 3 Email:
[email protected] Web: mddp.matrixprojects.net High Speed West Final Report HST-Group 3 (MDDP 2010 – 2011) Executive Summary High Speed West (HSW) is a proposal for a new high speed rail line from London to the southwest of England and Wales. The line reduces current rail journey times between London, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, and Plymouth to at least 60% of the current duration. HSW is a wheel on rail system on which a Western Star train service runs. The train sets of Western Star are Siemens Velaro trains, which are made up of 8 cars and have a service capacity of approximately 600 people. Western Star trains will travel at a top service speed of 320 kph. In addition to the cities mentioned above, Western Star trains will also call at Exeter because the route travels through the city and there is sufficient demand to satisfy the creation of another station. The opening of the London to Bristol phase is scheduled for 2023, with Bristol to Plymouth and Bristol to Cardiff opening in 2033 and 2040 respectively. The route of HSW is 450 km long; 31 % of which is in tunnels and 4 % over bridges. With the exception of London, new stations are proposed to be built in each city. Southampton, Bristol and Exeter stations will be box stations while Cardiff Station consists of four bored tunnels, each with an internal diameter of 7.25 m. Platforms in the new stations will be below ground level, apart from the platforms at Plymouth Station which are at ground level.