East Midlands HS2 ideas

[po8crg]

This is my "budget, what's a budget?" option for HS2 in the East Midlands.

At East Midlands Airport, dig two twin-track tunnels.

Reroute MML between Loughborough and East Midlands Parkway to run through the airport.

Approaching the airport from the South, the down line (western, northbound) of MML crosses over HS2 before going into the tunnel, so one tunnel carries the two down lines and the other carries the two up lines.

At the tunnel exit, all four lines split, with a central pair of HS2 tracks as through-lines; going out from there, there are two island platforms with HS2 on one side and MML on the other, and then two side platforms at the outside edge of the station for the other two MML lines.

This means that an MML to Nottingham or Derby can be sitting at the island platform for a cross-platform transfer when an HS2 train comes in, and the same in reverse for trains up to London.

The MML down track then crosses under HS2 as HS2 heads up to the viaduct over Trent Junction, while the two MML tracks swing across the river to East Midlands Parkway.

The station (which will be a few hundred metres north of the Airport concourse) can be connected to the airport proper either by a travelator, or by an extension to NET (extending from Clifton after line two is built).

The MML routing might be a bit tight, and it could be easier to close East Midlands Parkway and route directly into Trent Junction from the new station.

It offers much better connections to Nottingham and Derby than Toton, it provides an excellent rail service to an airport that's currently very badly served by public transport - you might get a cost contribution from the airport that makes it affordable.

Also, the parking at the airport is definitely better than at Toton; in fact, the only people who I can see losing out are the residents of the Toton area proper.

Finally, you'd get a decent connection to Leicester, though I suspect that Leicester residents would only use the service to get to Birmingham.

The downside is, I suspect, that it's unrealistically expensive, and you probably end up knocking East Midlands Parkway down. It only makes sense if the airport is going to put up several hundred million to help pay for it, and I can't see that happening.

 

[edwin_m]

You could get much of this benefit by building the HS2 station on the viaduct where it is about 100 metres from the existing East Midlands Parkway. However the HS2 development process ruled this out in favour of Toton.

East Midlands is a very small airport. The fact it can't even sustain a bus from the Parkway shows how few passengers want to go there by rail.

 

[button_boxer]

East Midlands is a very small airport. The fact it can't even sustain a bus from the Parkway shows how few passengers want to go there by rail.

The reason it can't sustain a bus link to EMD is that there are perfectly good 24 hour bus links to both Derby and Nottingham. Pretty much anywhere you can get to from EMD you can also get to from one or both of those at least as frequently.

 

[edwin_m]

I agree, and would add Leicester and Loughborough too.

 

[alex17595]

There is through tickets available.

If the airport needs a rail link would it not be cheaper to re-instate the line from Derby to Melbourne and extend it to the airport.
The demand isn't there though and the time saving would be minimal if any.
What freight goes through EMA?

 

[edwin_m]

EMA is supposed to be one of the leading airports for freight. However the kind of freigth that comes in by air isn't usually the kind that is transported on by rail - low volumes and tight delivery deadlines.

 

[Wyvern]

The Melbourne Line ran through Rolls Royce with a level crossing over Wilmore Road, plus the A50 is now in the way plus the track has been lifted. You could however put a north facing curve at Stenson Junction.

As for the airport

East Midlands Airport plans to grow to serve 10 million people and handle 1.2m tonnes of cargo by 2030.

The airport, which is the largest pure cargo airport in the UK, currently serves about four million passengers and handles 300,000 tonnes of freight each year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-26514347

North West Leicestershire District Council granted planning permission for the construction of a 190m (625ft) extension to the runway, which would increase its current length to 3,083m (10,114ft).

Under the plans the passenger terminal could more than double in size.

They are also talking about restoring the bus link to EM Parkway

 

[Kettledrum]

The Melbourne Line ran through Rolls Royce with a level crossing over Wilmore Road, plus the A50 is now in the way plus the track has been lifted. You could however put a north facing curve at Stenson Junction.

Just South of where the A50 is now, The Melbourne Line joined the Castle Donnington line which is still in place and shared the track between Chellaston Junction and Chellaston East Junction where it split off from the Castle Donnington line and crossed the Trent and went on to Melbourne and Ashby.

Whilst it might be tricky to reconnect the Melbourne line into Derby, it would be much easier to re-instate the short stretch from Melbourne to the Castle Donnington line only, thereby opening a potential route to East Midlands Airport from Burton-on-Trent and Birmingham beyond. There are also the minor matters of a couple of miles of new track on a new alignment from Melbourne to the airport, and upgrading the freight only Castle Donnington line to carry passengers, but it could be done.

The airport would be at the end of a branch line, unless a couple of miles of track were laid at the other side of the airport to connect it to the existing East Midlands Parkway station. Perhaps this could be done at the same time as the high speed 2 line was built to save costs.

There's no way it's going to happen though.

 

[Wyvern]

Yes but a north facing curve at Stenson JUnction would be a whole lot more cost effective, given that the rest of the track is in place and working. Granted you'd need a connecting bus from, say,a reopened Castle Donington station, but that would be a whole lot better than from the EM Parkway negotiating the A453 and crossing the M1.

It would also be useful for events at Donington Park, and commuter stations could serve the new estates between Boulton and Sinfin and Hetherton Village, with access to both Derby and Nottingham.

 

[IKBrunel]

Given that EMA primarily serves the east midlands region. I would question whether there would be a better BCR by extending the Tram to the airport.
The tram will be anyway be extended to Toton for HS2 and probably at least as far as long Eaton town centre (council now in favour). Capex per mile on Tram much less than for heavy rail.

I don't see any merit in freight provision for EMA unless we're going for a high speed freight network (like TGV la poste) which would use EMA as a customs& handling node. I don't think there is any mention of HS freight in any HS2 docs. likewise things have gone very quiet again after the (long-winded) TGV la poste via HS1 trial. Maybe there isn't a strong business case for HS freight, shame since the carbon emissions are presumably significantly lower than by air.