British Rail - High Speed Train

"The Completion of the electrification of the West Coast Main Line from London to Manchester and Liverpool in 1967 established a fast, comfortable, and reliable service on that route. British Rail anticipated that this would result in an increase in passengers carried , but the response far exceeded expectation. This factor and a number of detailed Market Research studies have established very clearly the fact that the travelling public will respond dramatically to shorter journey times.

The long term strategy developed by B.R. has resulted in the work now progressing on the Advanced Passenger Train which is designed to travel at speeds of up t o 250 km/h, traversing curves 25 to 40% faster than existing trains. However, a project such as this which involves new technology requires a very considerable development period, and it became obvious to British Rail that there was need t o provide a high speed service in advance of the completion of the A.P.T. the first series of which will be electric trains for the London-Glasgow service.

Authority for the construction of a prototype High Speed Train (HST) was therefore given in mid-1970. The first prototype train was designed and manufactured in record time, being completed by 1972. The prototype train underwent a comprehensive testing programme during which a world speed record of 230 km/h was attained. The information obtained from the trials and subsequent service experience was taken into account in the design of the production HST. The power required to reach high speed increases exponentially and thus the power demands of the HST, operating at its maximum design speed of 200 km/h are considerable. Aircraft and industrial type Gas Turbines were examined as possible prime movers, but discarded due to high first cost, high maintenance costs and high fuel consumption. A medium speed diesel engine was selected but in order to achieve the power, two engines were required."

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