Silverstone rail link - spur off of HS2?

[Bletchleyite]

Silverstone is a decent distance from the M25, it would be a slog up the busiest section of the M1.

M40-A43 surely?

 

[zwk500]

M40-A43 surely?

Also famously not the quietest stretches of road in the world.

 

[Bald Rick]

With regard to HS2 this is one good example of something an M25 Parkway might have been good for, in conjunction with a large fleet of coaches and through bookings?

Just as simple to use Kings Langley and straight up the M1.

 

[YorksLad12]

It really doesn't.

A line to Buckingham etc needs to be viable for the 362 days a year when the F1 circus is not at Silverstone.

I do feel the need to point out that MotoGP also runs races there. There were 99,000 this year (May), though it's usually help in August/September; last year 118,000 attendees across the weekend. Not as many as the 500,000 who attended the F1 race weekend, but many of those would have been camping or in campervans anyway.

Silverstone never had much in the way of railway lines in the area, even fewer now. It's a nice idea but I don't see it happening.

 

[birchesgreen]

Silverstone is used for events and staff all year around so there would be some kind of demand throughout, though obviously the peak this time of year would be massive.

 

[zwk500]

Silverstone is used for events and staff all year around so there would be some kind of demand throughout, though obviously the peak this time of year would be massive.

But the issue is it's the level of demand for all but 7-8 days of the year that would struggle to justify a wayside station on an existing line, let alone an entirely new line.

 

[birchesgreen]

But the issue is it's the level of demand for all but 7-8 days of the year that would struggle to justify a wayside station on an existing line, let alone an entirely new line.

I know but i am just saying there would be some demand, whether it would be enough is the question. And probably not.

 

[Zomboid]

Silverstone of course tends to attract people who are into cars and bikes and the like. Who on average might be less inclined to take the train in any case compared to the population in general.

 

[zwk500]

I know but i am just saying there would be some demand, whether it would be enough is the question. And probably not.

Not unless it was conditional on a substantial expansion of Silverstone village, I expect.

 

[frankmoh]

I think the only "race track" in the UK with a direct rail connection is the ExCel Centre when it's hosting a Formula E race.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Just as simple to use Kings Langley and straight up the M1.

Though not as easy to get 400m shuttles going on the WCML...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jul 2025 ==

Silverstone of course tends to attract people who are into cars and bikes and the like. Who on average might be less inclined to take the train in any case compared to the population in general.

The queues down the street for trains at MKC last weekend (this never happens otherwise, not even during MK Bowl events) suggest otherwise.

 

[Bald Rick]

Though not as easy to get 400m shuttles going on the WCML...

True, but I would imagine a 10 car 730 has as much passenger capacity as a 400m HS2 train.

My point is that if an ‘M25’ train plus coach solution was a goer for Silverstone, it would have happened already. As you rightly point out, MK (or Northampton) are far more suitable.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

I think the only "race track" in the UK with a direct rail connection is the ExCel Centre when it's hosting a Formula E race.

And with the state FE is in, I wouldn't bet on too many more of those!

 

[Bletchleyite]

True, but I would imagine a 10 car 730 has as much passenger capacity as a 400m HS2 train.

Fair point. You might even beat that with 9 car 730/0 formations in the peak extra paths...

 

[Bald Rick]

Fair point. You might even beat that with 9 car 730/0 formations in the peak extra paths...

Also don’t forget that demand to/from Silverstone is going to be inbound 0600-1000 (especially Sat / Sun) and outbound 1700-2100. Most of those times the network is pretty quiet.

 

[Zomboid]

The queues down the street for trains at MKC last weekend (this never happens otherwise, not even during MK Bowl events) suggest otherwise.

Fair enough, though the F1 is a somewhat unique event. Almost nobody goes to watch the amateur motorbike racing that I saw my brother in law doing at Silverstone, and of those, I wouldn't expect anyone to consider the train if it did exist.

 

[AlastairFraser]

If Silverstone or F1 were willing to bankroll it, a rail branch or unguided busway on the trackbed of the former rail alignment from Banbury to a parkway station on the western outskirts of Brackley may make sense, running shuttle buses (or continued buses from the busway) towards Silverstone, with commuter leisure traffic from Brackley making it viable when there is no event at Silverstone.
But if Silverstone/F1 organisers/other motoring industry organisations are expecting public investment, no chance.

 

[WibbleWobble]

Agreed

No, but F1 is. And the BRDC is in a lot better position to be funding multi-million pound investment than, say, a county council. The British GP alone makes up about half of the BRDC's revenue each year, and the current F1 contract has a £30m/yr race fee paid by the BRDC to F1 for the next 10 years, so it's clearly worth a lot to them.

Formula One won't spend a single penny on any track or associated infrastructure. They make money by selling the rights to host races, it would be down to BDRC to pay for it or lobby government to do it instead. Part of the terms for securing a hosting contract would be suitable facilities, and transport would be one of them.

If not, then F1 / Liberty Media (their owners) would just give the contract to somewhere who would pay the cash. That's why the likes of the Gulf States have now four races between them - they just throw money at F1!

 

[Bald Rick]

If Silverstone or F1 were willing to bankroll it

But this is the issue: why would they be willign to bankroll it?
I can’t think of a single reason.

 

[mike57]

As a rail enthusiast, it may sound somewhat strange, but for the sort of occasional but busy event where there is no direct rail connection coaches are the right approach. I am not sure how current arrangements work, but I would have a virtual station created for the duration of the event, with through bookings like any other station. Charge a reasonable, but not excessive additional fare, which can be added on to any ticket type. Designate one or more stations as transfer stations and run the shuttle coach services from there to the event.

Because people travelling from further afield will probably be using advance tickets you will be able to begin gauge needs well in advance, obviously with an uplift to cover people who buy open tickets on the day. Even on the day data could be fed through, the likes of '90 people just boarded at Birmingham N S for Silverstone F1', so that those organising could see in real time what requirements were going to be in the next 30-60 minutes

For the return journey specifically for those with advance tickets, have a 'check in time' at the return pick up point, as long as you scan your ticket or validate your phone ticket by that time then your onward travel is guaranteed, in the same way as it would if you were on normal rail travel. Problems happen, road accidents etc, and people will be angry of they are left high and dry. Make sure that time is clearly stated on the ticket "To maintain onward connections without being liable for extra fares you must check in at 'point a' by xx:xx"

The whole operation should be seamless to the passengers. Make sure they are well marshalled at the each end, you dont want shouters, but a good presence helps, even just to answer questions like is this the queue for station A?

If public transport is easy to use, reliable and integrated, with resiliance or alternatives offered in the event of problems people will use it, and probably will not even moan about fares as long as they are not in gouging territory.

This is another area where a proper GBR operation could add value. Minimal additional investment is needed, it uses what we already have, and for a few really busy events ensure that other line closures are minimised on the day by forward planning with those who organise engineering work so that usual rail replacement operators can be deployed on the shuttle services to ensure that enough capacity is available.

 

[Falcon1200]

As a rail enthusiast, it may sound somewhat strange, but for the sort of occasional but busy event where there is no direct rail connection coaches are the right approach.

Agree. The road coach solution has flexibility, in that the resources used for Silverstone can be deployed elsewhere at other times of sporadic need, for example at Glastonbury. A rail link OTOH is by its nature inflexible and therefore needs a regular and sufficient level of use to justify it (and pay for it).

 

[AlastairFraser]

But this is the issue: why would they be willign to bankroll it?
I can’t think of a single reason.

Perhaps they may apply for planning permission to expand soon and improved transport links could be made a condition of approval.

 

[BerkshireRails]

Agree. The road coach solution has flexibility, in that the resources used for Silverstone can be deployed elsewhere at other times of sporadic need, for example at Glastonbury. A rail link OTOH is by its nature inflexible and therefore needs a regular and sufficient level of use to justify it (and pay for it).

Glastonbury makes sense as it has a population of 10k and there are settlements around it of a similar size, which could all benefit from a branch off the mainline from Somerton.

 

[Brubulus]

[

Perhaps they may apply for planning permission to expand soon and improved transport links could be made a condition of approval.

It's a ridiculous idea. However if there was a plan to improve rail links for the wider area (Brackley, Buckingham and Towcester) there is a case for a station at Silverstone.

 

[Technologist]

There is a pretty obvious solution to Silverstone and any other similar event that is held infrequently in the countryside, eVTOL.

Silverstone is an airfield surrounded by farmland you essentially have unlimited landing space and an incredible amount of "routes" in if you define corridors in and out by horizontal and vertical separation. A single vehicle with 15 seats (2nd gen model) could deliver ~90 people per hour as a shuttle to a park and ride or station within a 10 mile radius. Cost would be in the £50-100 range.

The ground infrastructure is essentially a pad which is slightly larger than the vehicle which it then taxis off immediately after landing to let its passenger get out whilst another plane lands, to get around 20,000 people per hour into the venue you would be looking at a space of about 6 acres or about 120 parking spaces.

The infrastructure on site is relatively pack away beyond the need for some hardstanding and you can start with the service just being a much cheaper version of the helicopter taxi and build infrastructure with demand. The vehicles are then just a swarm of bees that spend all summer taking people to events like this. The vehicle is expensive but the prices become affordable by using it intensively.

This sort of use is what will grow the eVTOL business model precisely because it is relatively price insensitive for the initial use case. The LA Olympics will be a very high profile test of this mode of operations.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

@Technologist Never has there been a more appropriate username.

 

[Technologist]

@Technologist Never has there been a more appropriate username.

Archer at the 2028 Olympics.

LA 2028 Olympics plans air taxi service for spectators

The aircraft still aren't commercially approved but could offer a way around Los Angeles' notoriously poor traffic.

www.bbc.co.uk

There was meant to be an eVTOL at Paris but it wasn't certified in time (different manufacturer, now bankrupt), Archer is currently flying low rate production aircraft with people on board, they expect to be certified this year before flying passengers in 2026 in Dubai and 2027 in the US so the service for LA2028 should happen. I have a decent amount of money invested in Archer and Joby, we should be past the wild west stage of eVTOL development with the major players sitting on £1-3bn of funds.

I have been looking at the station pairs data recently and come to some interesting conclusions, regarding eVTOL. The most common argument against electric flying is "lack of capacity" which I think is a knee jerk assumption due to the size of the vehicle missing the point that cars are small and do 10x the miles of rail. The issue for a lot of routes is actually lack of demand which would mean that the number of vehicles flying would be quite small which would mean that even if they were ordered dynamically you might still not be able to get one when you want it.

As an example Birmingham to Newcastle only gets about 75 ppl per day on average in both directions, if we flew that distance in an eVTOL we would go about 3 times faster which would induce ~ 3x the passenger flow but that is only 10 flights per day in each direction which are likely to be concentrated at peak travel times. You might find that nobody wants to share a flight at 2:30 so the next one won't be flying for a few hours. Thus with eVTOL it is actually likely work on either a hub and spoke model which will reduce the travel time benefits or be used in something more like a dynamic charter model where you get paired with other passenger wanting to fly the same route and a direct flight is created for you. This is pretty good for stuff like Glastonbury or the British GP where you have a peak travel demand that is intermittent and poor transport infrastructure.

Stopping and picking people up along the way like a train might work but will cost you range if you don't have a charger at every stop.

 

[AlastairFraser]

[
It's a ridiculous idea. However if there was a plan to improve rail links for the wider area (Brackley, Buckingham and Towcester) there is a case for a station at Silverstone.

It's not necessarily so ridiculous when you realise there's 17,000 people in Brackley who would use a connection to the national rail network at Banbury regularly.
The former railway alignment is largely clear until the western outskirts of Brackley from Banbury, so you minimise costs.

A corridor towards Northampton via Silverstone proper and Towcester would be nice, but 1) you'd have to negotiate a new alignment round Brackley close to the bypass and Silverstone as far as Towcester (the old Banbury to Towcester alignment passes several miles west of Brackley and a long way west of Silverstone),
2) your Towcester station would practically be so far from the centre (2-3 miles away), unless you found the money to tunnel alongside the bypass as far as Hulcote, to pick up the old alignment towards Roade.
3) you may need a new section of alignment around the Roade bypass to avoid residential development on the trackbed in Roade, and to join the Northampton loop line without interfering with the WCML.

 

[The Planner]

It's not necessarily so ridiculous when you realise there's 17,000 people in Brackley who would use a connection to the national rail network at Banbury regularly.
The former railway alignment is largely clear until the western outskirts of Brackley from Banbury, so you minimise costs.

A corridor towards Northampton via Silverstone proper and Towcester would be nice, but 1) you'd have to negotiate a new alignment round Brackley close to the bypass and Silverstone as far as Towcester (the old Banbury to Towcester alignment passes several miles west of Brackley and a long way west of Silverstone),
2) your Towcester station would practically be so far from the centre (2-3 miles away), unless you found the money to tunnel alongside the bypass as far as Hulcote, to pick up the old alignment towards Roade.
3) you may need a new section of alignment around the Roade bypass to avoid residential development on the trackbed in Roade, and to join the Northampton loop line without interfering with the WCML.

That is doing some heavy lifting, there are a proportion of 17000 who might use a rail connection.

 

[AlastairFraser]

That is doing some heavy lifting, there are a proportion of 17000 who might use a rail connection.

True, but there are major destinations that disincentivise cars and that will be a major pull (Oxford, London etc.)