Plans to change the size of HS2 trains to maximise capacity are likely to inflate costs and mean fewer seats and slower services north of Birmingham, a senior government and rail industry figure has warned.
The £2bn order for 54 high-speed trains, to be built in Britain by a joint venture of Alstom and Hitachi, is under review as HS2 Ltd seeks to cut costs and renegotiate contracts.
The order was placed by the government in 2021 before the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 by Rishi Sunak in 2023. The 200-metre, eight-carriage units were expected to double into 16-carriage trains, the size of a Eurostar. But that will now only be possible on the new line between London and Birmingham, as existing stations such as Manchester Piccadilly are unable to accommodate a 400-metre train.
Limited to eight carriages, HS2 services will reduce capacity on the conventional railway line north of Birmingham, where the Pendolino trains currently operating are faster and longer – a situation the Department for Transport (DfT) and HS2 Ltd officials are seeking to avoid, potentially by ordering longer trains.
An option under consideration at HS2 is to order about 43 longer trains at 250 metres, which could run to most stations.
However, Chris Gibb, a non-executive director of DfT Operator, the state-owned rail operating company, has broken ranks to warn against varying the train order, which he said could pile on extra costs and still leave HS2 unable to match west coast main line fleets.
The Hitachi-Alstom trains would not be able to tilt like the Pendolinos used by Avanti West Coast, limiting their speed on curved conventional tracks, Gibb said.
He told politicians and industry representatives at the all-party parliamentary rail group in Westminster that despite his role and being a “keen advocate of HS2” for 18 years, he was speaking out in a personal capacity “because I feel obliged to offer leadership by example and to act in the public interest”.
Gibb said there could be “no doubt that if HS2 opened by replacing 11-coach Pendolinos with eight-coach trains these would be full and leave people behind on day one”.
But to change the contract, he said, would cost time and money – and each of the potential contract variations had downsides, including wasting work already done on HS2 stations and depots.
Gibb said the government should instead retain the original train order with Alstom and Hitachi, avoiding contractual penalties and delays. But it should also plan to replace the current Pendolino fleet with longer, faster, modern versions, ready for when HS2 services start running to the north around 2040.
He said this would “give a significant increase in capacity, revenue and a reduction in journey times on all routes, with no further railway construction needed for now”.
Lord McLoughlin, who was transport secretary when HS2 was voted into law, said “it’s a tragedy where we are now”, but questioned whether Gibb’s plan would also incur significant cost. Gibb said that he would “anticipate it’s a cost saving” as the railway would require fewer Pendolinos overall.
Lord Berkeley, a long-term HS2 sceptic, backed Gibb’s idea, saying: “It could be 2040 or 2050 [when services began]. Let’s have one consistent type of rolling stock so you can keep using them in any circumstances.”
Gibb said he did not know if the order would be varied. But there is widespread speculation that the contract could be amended at the long-awaited “reset” of HS2’s schedule and budget by chief executive, Mark Wild, which is now under discussion with ministers.
A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: “The Hitachi-Alstom joint venture is contracted to deliver a fleet of 54 new trains for HS2. No changes have been made to the original order.”
HS2 said they were still working closely with the manufacturer and the DfT to finalise train designs. The trains will be built in Derby and Newton Aycliffe.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “No changes have been made to the original order with Hitachi-Alstom. Following years of mismanagement, we are resetting HS2 to get the programme under the control and deliver remaining works at the lowest reasonable cost.”
