A response to Beyond HS2 – a plan for a National Rail Strategy

See: http://www.greengauge21.net/publications/beyond-hs2-a-plan-for-a-national-rail-strategy/#more-3362

1. Bedford-Northampton, would link West Midlands/West Coast Main Line south of Rugby with Thameslink/Midland Main Line and East-West Rail Central Section and vice versa. That's potentially Felixstowe-Cambridge-Bedford-Northampton via Brackmills, DIRFT to Rugby and yonder, clearing 35 paths per day into, across and out of London on existing lines. Just 50 miles of new build conventional rail for passenger and freight (Cambridge-Bedford-Northampton) would allow this. Whilst East-West Rail Company deals with the Bedford-Cambridge section, we are desperate for courting support for / backers to see the strategic benefit of a new modern Bedford-Northampton rebuild and would appeal to you to help us via whatever offices you may consider reasonable in the objective interest please as with development threats abounds, especially around Olney, the theatre is diminishing year on year. We're talking £500 million at 2008 sort of prices.

2. A14-Rugby - a HS line for fast passenger and freight alongside the A14 corridor with links with ECML (Huntingdon), Kettering (MML) and Rugby (WCML) - a key market un-tapped. 

3. Heathrow. We want the curve from the Tonbridge-Redhill line to link with the Brighton Main Line into Gatwick (expand, not tunnel) and reopen Guildford-Horsham-Brighton for Brighton ML relief, Brighton-Oxford via Guildford and Reading, Brighton-Heathrow via Guildford and Woking and on the back enables access to Gatwick from the south via Three Bridges. Cheaper than HS, could foster an external M25 oribital freight route as well as extensive passenger operations. Could there be some compromise there? It is vital that any and all rails from the Guildford-Waterloo platform line link into Heathrow subsurface station and go on to link/tunnel also with old Oak Common and the Chiltern Main Line. Otherwise a gap exists and again, we must cater for freight and it's renaissance - start up costs/outlay and nurture more - not necessarily more of the same but regional recycling centres by rail in and out, Piggyback north-south/east-west and much more. We must have small load ability to grow to block load, rather than one size will be the limit of what rail endeavours to provide and serve.

4. Taunton-North Devon, London-Newquay direct commute/Atlantic Coast trajectory, could link with your HS from West Midlands to South West.

5. Woodhead - Hull-Liverpool land bridge.

6. Dumfries-Stranraer for Northern Ireland Brexit or not

7. The Thames Tunnel idea is laudable but you need portal to inland rail links cross country to link to existing lines and inland ports and hubs. So Bedford-Cambridge, A14 paralel railway, Hull-Liverpool via Woodhead (new tunnel + Piggyback spinal routes), March-Spalding for Doncaster-East Anglia (new), maybe a new East Lincs with tunnel under the Humber for new Eastern flank link targeting York/Wensleydale/Carlisle for example. Whilst Thames Tunnel links Chunnel-Kent-East Anglia to US air bases converted to freight hubs, you still need the east-west radial routes for passenger and freight.

8. Great Central Calvert-Leicester/Nuneaton link with link to WCML, for passenger corridor - new commutes to London, Old Oak Common, Heathrow from Leicester. Also feeds to/from East-West Rail so Oxford link. All depends if we can identify a portal to link with EWRL and the Aylesbury line at Calvert - can HS crew assist please in design terms? These cases need working up, but freight could use the corridor and via Knighton-Burton for Derby, Derby-Buxton/Chinley for the North West and bring Brackley/A43/Silverstone orbit, Daventry/Southam and Willoughby areas onto the rail commuting passenger map.

richard.erta@gmail.com