High Speed UK (Advocacy Group) explained

High Speed UK (HSUK) is an advocacy group which proposes an alternative route to High Speed 2 that broadly incorporates the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail (High Speed 3) scheme. Railway engineers Colin Elliff and Quentin Macdonald founded the group.^[1]

The HSUK proposal is not officially approved or funded by government.^[2] The scheme was launched in 2008, renamed in 2013 and received a parliamentary hearing in 2015.^[3]

Proposed Routes

According to the HSUK plan, there are 72 proposed services, as of August 2023.^[4] The routes are categorised into 7 service groupings.^[5]

!Service group!Name!No. of routes!Source

S01	Crosscountry	14	^[6]
S02	Transpennine	15	^[7]
S03	North & Scotland	17	^[8]
S04	North-West Corridor	9	^[9]
S05	M1 Corridor	9	^[10]
S06	Great Western	-TBA-
S07	Heathrow	8	^[11]

Comparison to HS2

Comparison to HS2

The group claims various benefits of their plan compared to the proposals for HS2.^[12] This includes:

• The cost of HSUK is £20 billion less than current plans for HS2 and HS3.^[13]
• 94% of journeys are improved.
• 40% less travel time on average.^[14]
• 600 million tonnes of CO₂ reduced.^[15]
• The Chilterns are bypassed.^[16]
• Most work involves improving existing infrastructure and restoring old lines, which is cheaper.
• The project is one that integrates new infrastructure with existing infrastructure.^[17]
• All principal UK cities are connected.^[18]

External links

• HSUK official website

Notes and References

1. News: Maverick railway engineers from Yorkshire hoping to stop HS2 in its tracks . Burn . Chris . 14 December 2017 . The Yorkshire Post.
2. Web site: About HSUK. dead. High Speed UK. High Speed North Limited. 21 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150415135428/http://highspeeduk.co.uk/abouthsuk.html. 15 April 2015.
3. Web site: 2015. The Economics of High Speed 2; Chapter 5: Alternatives to Provide Capacity. Parliament.UK.
4. Web site: SERVICE DIAGRAMS . 2023-12-30 . highspeeduk.co.uk.
5. http://highspeeduk.co.uk/S08%20181023%20HSUK%20Service%20compendium-1.pdf Compendium of Services
6. http://highspeeduk.co.uk/S01%20181023%20HSUK%20Crosscountry%20Services.pdf S01
7. http://highspeeduk.co.uk/S02%20181023%20HSUK%20Transpennine%20Services.pdf S02
8. http://highspeeduk.co.uk/S03%20181023%20HSUK%20Northern%20&%20Scottish%20Services.pdf S03
9. http://highspeeduk.co.uk/S04%20181023%20HSUK%20North-West%20Corridor%20Services.pdf S04
10. http://highspeeduk.co.uk/S05%20181023%20HSUK%20M1%20Corridor%20&%20Midlands%20Ring%20Services.pdf S05
11. http://highspeeduk.co.uk/S07%20181023%20HSUK%20Heathrow%20Services.pdf S07
12. Web site: ABOUT HSUK . 2021-01-02 . www.highspeeduk.co.uk.
13. Web site: COST. 2021-01-02. www.highspeeduk.co.uk.
14. Web site: JOURNEY TIME. 2021-01-02. www.highspeeduk.co.uk.
15. Web site: CO2. 2021-01-02. www.highspeeduk.co.uk.
16. Web site: CHILTERNS. 2021-01-02. www.highspeeduk.co.uk.
17. Web site: NETWORK. 2021-01-02. www.highspeeduk.co.uk.
18. Web site: CONNECTIVITY. 2021-01-02. www.highspeeduk.co.uk.