High speed 1

London – Eurotunnel (–Calais)
Lines of the CTRL in Kent
Course book range :	415
Route length:	108 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	25 kV 50 Hz  ~
Top speed:	300 km / h
Dual track :	continuous
Legend 0 London St Pancras North London Line East Coast Main Line London West Tunnel (7.5 km) Temple Mills Depot 9 Stratford International Temple Mills Line London East Tunnel (10 km) 21st Ripple Lane connection (freight trains) Rainham Viaduct (0.5 km) 27 Aveley Viaduct (1 km) 30th Thurrock Viaduct (1.2 km) 32 Thames Tunnel (2.5 km) 37 Ebbsfleet International North Kent Line Limit phase 1 - phase 2 39 Southfleet Junction to Fawkham Junction Chatham Main Line to London Waterloo 50 Medway Viaduct (1.2 km) 54 North Downs Tunnel (2 miles) 88 Ashford Tunnel (1.5 km) South Eastern Main Line 89 90 Ashford International Kent Coast Line , Ashford – Ramsgate Line 91 Marshlink Line , South Eastern Main Line South Eastern Main Line South Eastern Main Line 106 Dollands Moor freight terminal M20 motorway 108 Crossing CTRL / Eurotunnel Cheriton Shuttle Terminal 109 Eurotunnel to LGV Nord

Route

High Speed ​​1 ( HS1 ), originally known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) , is a 108 km long high-speed line that connects London with the Eurotunnel under the English Channel and allows a speed of 300 km / h. The track is the first major new railway in the UK for over a hundred years and replaced the old route through the county Kent , on the Euro Star - high-speed trains with a maximum of 100 mph (160 km / h) were out.

On September 28, 2003, the first part of the line, from the Eurotunnel to Fawkham Junction , went into operation. This meant that the travel time between London and the Channel Tunnel was initially reduced by 20 minutes.

Section 2 to St Pancras station opened on November 14, 2007. Travel time on the London– Paris route has been reduced to 2 hours 15 minutes, while Brussels can be reached in 1 hour 51 minutes. On September 4, 2007, a Eurostar with passengers traveled the entire route for the first time and required 2 hours, 3 minutes and 39 seconds for London St. Pancras – Paris North.

Structure and course

Section 1 of the completely elevation-free CTRL is 74 km long and runs from the portal of the Eurotunnel north of Folkestone to the connection to the National Rail network with Fawkham Junction in northern Kent west of Longfield and east of Farningham Road station . The Eurostar trains ran until November 13, 2007 on the London suburban network to Waterloo International station . With the commissioning of this first part, travel times between London and Paris were reduced by 21 minutes to two hours and 35 minutes.

The first section includes major engineering structures such as the 1.2 km Medway Viaduct over the River Medway at Rochester and the 3.2 km tunnel through the North Downs range at Maidstone . The route was bundled with the M2 and M20 motorways . The normal operating speed is 300 km / h except on the connection from Southfleet Junction to Fawkham Junction, which is designed for a maximum speed of 165 km / h.

Section 2, which opened on November 14, 2007, is 39.4 km long and runs from Southfleet Junction to St Pancras Station in London . With the commissioning of this second part, travel times between London and Paris were reduced by a further 20 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes. A few kilometers north of the Southfleet Junction junction, the new Ebbsfleet International station has been built. The 2.5 km long tunnel under the Thames begins immediately north of this station ; north of the river the line to Dagenham runs alongside the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway . On the following route to the edge of central London there are two more tunnels of 10 (London East Tunnel ^▼ ) and 7.5 km (London West Tunnel) length and the new Stratford International station . The two tunnels can be viewed as a single one, exposed for one kilometer through Stratford International station. The London East Tunnel replaces the Severn Tunnel (7.008 km) as the longest railway tunnel in Great Britain.

The east side of St. Pancras station with platforms 5 to 13 has been adapted for the new line operation. Six tracks are available for international Eurostar traffic and three more for local train traffic.

history

planning

Eurostar at Ashford

Since the opening of the Eurotunnels, there has been a high-speed route on the French section of the Eurostar connection, the LGV Nord , which can be driven at 300 km / h. In 1997 the HSL 1 followed from the Belgian-French border to shortly before Brussels . In Great Britain, however, no line of this type was available, and the cross-border trains had to run on the existing old building network, at a correspondingly reduced speed. The poor condition of the UK railway infrastructure in general also caused regular and unpredictable delays, which also had a negative impact on the popularity of the Eurostar service. In addition, other standards were and are common in the English network (e.g. different clearance profile, conductor rail instead of overhead contact line), which made expensive custom-made trains necessary that were suitable for both standards.

As early as July 1988, British Rail had submitted a report on possible routes for trains between the Channel Tunnel and London. Studies for a corresponding high-speed line from the London area via Kent to the Channel Tunnel followed, which were not approved for cost reasons. In the spring of 1991 a modified variant was presented, which followed the existing route through the North Downs and contained four variants for integration into the London node. In October 1991, the British government endorsed this plan, but rejected the introduction via south-east London and suggested a more eastern route via Ebbsfleet to St. Pancras.

From 1992 the “Union Railways” business unit worked on the project. In response to a political request, the new line was also designed for freight traffic. In March 1994, the government launched a competition to find a private partner to implement the CTRL project. In March 1996, London and Continental Railways (LCR) emerged as the winner of this competition.

LCR also acquired the shares of Eurostar (UK) . The original members of the LCR consortium were National Express Group , Virgin Group , SBC Warburg , Bechtel and London Electric . When the now dissolved state railway British Rail still existed, the project management was with Union Railways , which then became a subsidiary of LCR.

Originally, the entire route was to be built as part of a single project. In 1998, serious financial problems forced those responsible to split the project into two sections. As part of a redevelopment program, LCR issued £ 1.6 billion in  bonds to fund Section 1; Section 2 was seriously in question at this point. It was originally planned to transfer the operation of the route to Union Railways after completion . The contracting parties agreed to sell the completed Section 1 to the rail infrastructure company Railtrack , which also received the option to purchase Section 2. Railtrack, however, undertook to operate both the entire route and St Pancras station (the latter had been transferred to LCR in 1996, unlike all other UK stations).

construction

With the award of the first two construction contracts (valued at around £ 250 million), the second phase of construction on the line began in January 2001; the start of construction was planned for July 2001. The second and final round of awards for the section (over £ 600 million) was scheduled for late February 2001.

In 2001, Railtrack announced that due to its own financial problems it would not be able to acquire Section 2 after completion. This announcement triggered a second restructuring. A plan agreed in 2002 stipulated that Section 1 would remain in the possession of Railtrack, but LCR Section 2 would not be sold (however, the administration for both sections would be with Railtrack). The increasing financial problems forced Railtrack to sell back its stake in CTRL to LCR. LCR in turn sold the operating rights for the entire route to Network Rail , the successor to the ultimately bankrupt Railtrack company. LCR was again in possession of both sections, as in 1996.

As a result of the restructuring of the project, the LCR consortium has consisted since 2006 of the construction groups Arup , Bechtel, Halcrow and Systra , the transport companies National Express Group and SNCF , the energy company Électricité de France and the UBS Investment Bank. Once completed, the entire line will be transferred to the new long-term owner, London & Continental Stations and Property , while Network Rail will be responsible for administration, operation and maintenance.

In November 2006, L&CR renamed the line from Channel Tunnel Rail Link to High Speed ​​1 ( HS1 for short ). This was also to express that it is no longer just a question of connecting London to the Channel Tunnel, but of laying the foundation for a number of high-speed lines in Great Britain.

business

During a test drive on July 30, 2003, a new British speed record on rails was achieved with 334.7 km / h. The Eurostar unit 3313/3314 surpassed the record of 259.5 km / h that a tilting train had reached in 1979.

During a test run on March 6, 2007, the Waterloo International station, which can no longer be used after the opening of Section 2, was reached via this route for the first time.

After the commissioning of the second new building section, Eurostar's sales rose by 20 percent within six weeks. The train connections achieve a market share of around 70 percent.

In mid-2009 the British government took control of the operating company London & Continental Railways Ltd. Taken for £ 5.16 billion. This was a further step towards the sale of the operating license for the HS1. With the proceeds, the construction costs are to be partially brought in again. At the same time, the train path prices for the route are to be reduced by relieving the operating company and ensuring a long-term stable financial basis. The government is expected to sell an operating license for the route over a period of approximately 40 years. The route should get along without public grants. In November 2010, a Canadian consortium won the bidding competition. The purchase price is 2.1 billion pounds and includes a 30-year operating license.

On June 29, 2009, regional traffic with 29 multiple units of the 395 class began, six months before the start of the transport contract. Since December 2009, internal English high-speed traffic has also been processed via the CTRL. At this point in time, the Class 395 trains were in full operation between London and south-east England.

DB Cargo UK has been operating freight trains on HS1 since 2012. These trains are pulled by modified class 92 locomotives .

With train path prices of around 40 euros per train-kilometer in high-speed passenger traffic, the line is the most expensive high-speed line in Europe to use (as of 2010), according to Deutsche Bahn.

A connection to High Speed ​​2 was considered, but no longer pursued after review from the end of 2015. Instead, a pedestrian link is being examined to connect the two terminus stations (St Pancras and Euston), which are about a kilometer away.

technology

As in the Eurotunnel, the CTRL is supplied with electricity via alternating current - contact lines with 25 kV 50 Hz instead of the busbars with 750 V direct current that are common in southern England .

TVM 430 and KVB are installed as train protection .

The clearance profile corresponds to the UIC GC profile used on the European mainland . At Ashford International station, which Network Rail owns and does not own High Speed ​​1, tracks 3 and 4, where some Eurostar trains stop, have the GB + profile. There the overhead line hangs 4.68 m high, while it hangs over 5 m high on the HS1. The connection from Southfleet Junction on HS1 to Fawkham Junction with the Chatham Main Line (towards Waterloo) has only a British gauge W6 / W6A.

ETCS was to be introduced on the line in the course of the 2010s . Current plans do not plan to launch until 2032.

costs

The construction cost was £ 5.7 billion.

The cost of the first phase of construction in 2003 was estimated at £ 1.9 billion. The estimated cost of the entire project was £ 5.2 billion.

The variable costs or train path prices (track access charges) are given as 42 euros per train kilometer.

owner

HS1 was sold for £ 2.1 billion to two Canadian pension funds that have operated the route since Nov 2010. In 2017 it was announced the resale for £ 3 billion to funds operated by InfraRed Capital Partners Ltd. and Equitix Investment Management Ltd. to be advised; Involved are u. a. HICL Infrastructure and the National Pension Fund of South Korea.

See also

• List of railway lines in Great Britain
• Rail transport in Great Britain
• Eurostar Group
• High speed 2

Web links

Commons : High Speed ​​1  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Homepage
• London and Continental Railways
• Infrastructure of the CTRL

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} "Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL)" . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 11/2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , pp. 489–491.
2. ↑ Eurostar has set a new speed record Spiegel-Online
3. ^ Spiro N. Pollalis: Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Risk Transfer and Innovation in Project Delivery. Contribution by the Harvard Design School (PDF; 1.5 MB)
4. ^ Announcement of progress towards London . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 3/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 130.
5. ↑ Announcement For the first time more than 300 km / h in Great Britain . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 10/2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 452.
6. ↑ ICE and TGV are speeding up against the planes . In: Handelsblatt , March 18, 2008.
7. ↑ ^{a b} Message HS1 sell-off planned after £ 5billion write-off for LCR . In: Modern Railways . Issue 730, July 2009, ISSN  0026-8356 , p. 6.
8. ↑ HS1 rail line goes to Canadian consortium for GBP 2.1 billion ( Memento of November 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). News from November 5, 2010.
9. ↑ James Abbott: Domestic services on High Speed ​​1 . In: Modern Railways . Vol. 68, No. 748, 2011, ISSN  0026-8356 , pp. 44-49.
10. ↑ Freight trains to use High Speed ​​1 from 2010 ( Memento from October 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). News from the Railway Gazette International dated April 16, 2009, accessed April 24, 2009.
11. ↑ First rail freight service on High Speed ​​1 will be launched by DB Schenker ( Memento from July 29, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ). Report from DB Schenker dated May 9, 2012, accessed on July 23, 2014.
12. ^ Keith Fender: DB unveils plans for London services . In: Modern Railways . Vol. 67, No. 747, 2010, ISSN  0026-8356 , p. 68 f.
13. ↑ Link dropped . In: Railway Gazette International . tape 172 , no. 2 , 2016, ISSN  0373-5346 , p. 26 f .
14. ↑ Starting with a blank sheet . In: Railway Gazette International . tape 167 , no. 5 , 2011, ISSN  0373-5346 , p. 74 f .
15. ^ Clive Kessell: Upgrading the continental connection. Rail Engineer, September 10, 2018, accessed March 10, 2020 . 
16. ^ Richard Brown: Lessons from Europe . In: Modern Railways . Vol. 68, No. 759, 2011, ISSN  0026-8356 , pp. 42-45.
17. ↑ HS1 concession sold on . In: Railway Gazette .