UK London-Birmingham high-speed train planned

The United Kingdom is going to witness a major change in the passenger-aviation sector with the country planning to replace short-haul flights with high-speed trains. The high-tech, multi-billion-pound project will include a route from London to Birmingham, the second biggest city in the United Kingdom.

The plan for the London-Birmingham rail link will be published by the end of 2009, according to Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis.

The London-Birmingham route – estimated to cost 7 billion pounds (8.2 billion euros, or $11.8 billion) is likely to be funded with public-private partnership, Adonis added.

While the grand high-speed train project, aimed at replacing short-haul flights, will include a north-south line that could be extended to Scotland, some high-speed trains are to run on existing rail networks, The Guardian newspaper quoted Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis as saying.

“In order to reduce carbon as well as for wider environmental benefits,” Adonis added, “it is manifestly in the public interest that we systematically replace short-haul flights with high-speed rail.”

The Guardian also quoted Andrew Adonis as saying that he would like to have some of the existing short-haul flights between the United Kingdom and Europe “progressively replaced” by a super-fast rail network.

The move to replace short-haul flights with high-speed trains is a part of the pledge by the Government of the United Kingdom, headed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, to cut emissions of greenhouse-gases by 80% by the year 2050.

It may be noted that short-haul flights dominate the short-distance travel sector in the country, and low-fare carriers like Ryanair and easyJet are making good profits with short-haul flights.

While British Airways, the flag-carrier airline of the United Kingdom, is losing revenues because of the declining demand for long-haul travel, Ryanair and easyJet – two of the biggest short-haul carriers in the country – are currently on an expansion spree both in the United Kingdom and continental Europe.

According to data, there are 1.9 million domestic flights and European flights to and from the United Kingdom each year – with these flights carrying a total of 169 million passengers.

Of the 169 million air passengers, about 45 per cent are either domestic passengers or passengers on short-haul flights to and from France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

According to some aviation analysts, despite a high-speed rail network with a Europe-wide network, destinations like Barcelona in Spain and Vienna in Austria may still have to use flights.

The aviation sector is the biggest emitter of greenhouse-gases in the UK (after the energy industry), accounting for 21% of domestic emissions.

And, within the UK’s transport sector itself, domestic aviation is responsible for about 1.6% of the total emissions of greenhouse-gases.