YES to High Speed Rail

The First Step
HS2

The new High Speed 2 line is expected to open in 2026 allowing sustained speeds of up to 225 mph, in comparison to the UK’s current intercity services that run at 125 mph.
It will utilise 400m long European-sized trains, allowing up to 1100 seats on each vehicle. Initially the infrastructure will allow up to 14 trains to run each hour, although this is expected to ultimately rise to 18.

There are now more than 12,000 km worldwide of high speed rail, and all but three of the G20 countries are running, building or planning high speed projects. For example, China opened its first high speed line from Beijing to Tianjin in 2008. It now has 2,609 miles in operation, another 4,000 miles under construction and a further 1,800 miles in development.1

Once the full Y network is constructed, journey times across the country will be slashed: London to Birmingham will go from 1 hour 24 minutes to 45 minutes; London to Edinburgh from 4 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes; Birmingham to Leeds from 2 hours to 57 minutes.2

Useful Links

 

Join the campaign!

As we await the announcement of the route for the second phase of HS2 (to Leeds and Manchester), join us by clicking on the link below.

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Read More About HSR

You can read more about high-speed rail by exploring the following links:

Myth Busting

Many popular objections to the line are overstated.

  • Is there enough demand?
  • Doesn’t the internet mean we don’t need to travel so much?
  • Isn’t the UK too small to benefit?”

Read Our FAQ

The correct choice is obvious; we need to invest in a new high-speed rail network for Britain. Professor David Begg