HS1 Signs

[_Henry_]

Hello All,

I am curious about the HS1 route and its signs. In particular, I am thinking about modelling a section of tunnel and wanted to print out some of the signs used.

Does HS1 use the same signs like everywhere else on Network Rail? (I know HS1 is separate from Network Rail and obviously has faster trains than anywhere else in the UK so I suspected they might have their own signs). Is there a catalogue of these available online to look at? In particular, I was hoping to find a linear marker sign which shows the chainage (or I guess they would call it 'kilometrage' as HS1 uses metric if I remember correctly) so track workers can see where they are.


Here's a nice photo of a train near the UK entrance to the tunnel (CC BY-SA 4.0 Kabelleger / David Gubler) showing how long and straight the track can be.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[TFN]

Have a look in section 12, section 25, and the kilometre signs are in section 28.

 

[_Henry_]

Thanks @TFN. That is very useful and RailSigns.uk has provided a nice photograph of a kilometarge marker which is nice and simple (see screenshot below from their website). Do you know what they do in tunnels? Do they stick the plate flat onto the tunnel wall (so you can't really see it from a train) or does it somehow stick out so it's perpendicular to the track (so you can see it from a train)?

I wonder if these are official European railway signs? (As this is the CTRL I assume it is not following any NR signage at all and is instead all built to a European railway standard / document).

Screenshot from photo from (C)Railsigns.uk (link: https://www.railsigns.uk/photos/p_distance2.html#pic_erstvm)

 

[Wandering Pom]

I wonder if these are official European railway signs? (As this is the CTRL I assume it is not following any NR signage at all and is instead all built to a European railway standard / document).

There isn't a Europe-wide standard - each country does its railway signs and signalling differently. HS1 signs might be similar to standard French practice, since the railway was designed largely following French high-speed line principles, or they might have done their own separate designs.

 

[martin2345uk]

Thanks @TFN. That is very useful and RailSigns.uk has provided a nice photograph of a kilometarge marker which is nice and simple (see screenshot below from their website). Do you know what they do in tunnels? Do they stick the plate flat onto the tunnel wall (so you can't really see it from a train) or does it somehow stick out so it's perpendicular to the track (so you can see it from a train)?

I wonder if these are official European railway signs? (As this is the CTRL I assume it is not following any NR signage at all and is instead all built to a European railway standard / document).

View attachment 206958Screenshot from photo from (C)Railsigns.uk (link: https://www.railsigns.uk/photos/p_distance2.html#pic_erstvm)

The main KM marker boards are yellow on HS1. The above, like it says, indicates an Emergency Replacement Switch. In tunnels they are just the same as outside the tunnels.

 

[_Henry_]

Hi @martin2345uk - thanks for that. But can I confirm something, you mention "In tunnels they are just the same as outside the tunnels."

But surely the signs have to be different in tunnels? If they were the same signs, on a post in the walkway in the tunnel, wouldn't they block people from using the walkways? Likewise, if they were simply stuck/bolted on to the tunnel walls then the drivers / maintenance staff wouldn't really be able to see them as the signs would mounted in the same direction as the track - making it difficult to see. So presumably, they have some special / unique way of putting up these signs inside tunnels?

 

[rmHawk765]

Railsigns.uk has some non-NR signs covered - for example the TVM signalling black markers here: http://www.railsigns.uk/sect12page2.html

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Jul 2026 ==

I wonder if these are official European railway signs?

Essentially HS1 is an extension of the French LGV Nord, the LGV Super-Nord if you will, so I'd imagine almost all of it is built to French standards.

 

[zwk500]

Hi @martin2345uk - thanks for that. But can I confirm something, you mention "In tunnels they are just the same as outside the tunnels."

But surely the signs have to be different in tunnels? If they were the same signs, on a post in the walkway in the tunnel, wouldn't they block people from using the walkways? Likewise, if they were simply stuck/bolted on to the tunnel walls then the drivers / maintenance staff wouldn't really be able to see them as the signs would mounted in the same direction as the track - making it difficult to see. So presumably, they have some special / unique way of putting up these signs inside tunnels?

Or the signs could be mounted to a horizontal post that is fixed perpendicular to the tunnel wall, above head height on the walkway.

This image is probably the best I've got of a HS1 tunnel (or equivalent, it's a google image result so might be a different tunnel): https://www.booth-industries.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1751376884662.jpg. You can see some sort of target/marker sign on the right hand side wall.

 

[martin2345uk]

Hi @martin2345uk - thanks for that. But can I confirm something, you mention "In tunnels they are just the same as outside the tunnels."

But surely the signs have to be different in tunnels? If they were the same signs, on a post in the walkway in the tunnel, wouldn't they block people from using the walkways? Likewise, if they were simply stuck/bolted on to the tunnel walls then the drivers / maintenance staff wouldn't really be able to see them as the signs would mounted in the same direction as the track - making it difficult to see. So presumably, they have some special / unique way of putting up these signs inside tunnels?

I'll be honest I'm generally going past them a bit too fast to see exactly how they are attached but I am pretty sure they are just bolted to the wall but with the sign still perpendicular to the wall so we can see it very clearly.

 

[_Henry_]

Great - many thanks that is helpful!