Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how long they expect journey times to be for HS2 trains between London and (1) Crewe, (2) Edinburgh, and (3) Glasgow, when Phases 1 and 2A are completed, compared with the present Pendolino services, and whether they have estimated the time saving that would be gained if the HS2 trains incorporated a tilting mechanism and so could be used on the West Coast Main Line North of Crewe; and if so, what is that time saving.

The proposed HS2 rolling stock tender specification does not preclude a bidder offering a tilting train solution. However, no tilting trains currently operate faster than 250km/h. HS2 Ltd assumes that tilting rolling stock could achieve a maximum operating speed on the high speed network of 300km/h rather than 360km/h for non-tilting rolling stock. This lower maximum operating speed would increase journey times on the dedicated HS2 network and could reduce network capacity. HS2 Ltd has assumed a number of minor line speed improvements on the northern West Coast Main Line for non-tilting rolling stock.

HS2 will not serve Edinburgh until Phase 2B opens. Existing and projected estimated journey times from London Euston are as follows: