page_title: High Speed 2
section_title: Rolling stock
hierarchical_section_title: High Speed 2 / Operation / Rolling stock
caption_attribution_description: The Eurostar waiting at the platform in St Pancras station
context_page_description: High Speed 2 is a planned high speed railway in the United Kingdom, with its first phase in the early stages of construction and future stages awaiting approval. HS2 will be the second major high-speed rail line in Britain; the first is High Speed 1, which connects London to the Channel Tunnel and was opened in the mid-2000s. Upon completion, the railway will link London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds with a new "Y"-shaped network of 360 km/h tracks.
  High Speed 2 will provide upgrades to the terminal stations of London Euston, Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds, whereas Birmingham will be served by a new terminus known as Birmingham Curzon Street. The railway will also provide four new through stations: Old Oak Common in west London, to connect with Crossrail and the Overground; Birmingham Interchange in Solihull, to connect with Birmingham Airport and serve the National Exhibition Centre; Manchester Interchange in southern Manchester, to connect with Manchester Airport and Metrolink trams; and East Midlands Hub in Long Eaton which will serve Nottingham and Derby via the Nottingham Express Transit tram system.
context_section_description: The rolling stock for HS2 has not yet been specified in any detail. Bidding for the contract to design and build the trains was opened in 2017 and was expected to be awarded in 2019. There will be sixty trains for Phase 1, each capable of seating 1,000 passengers.
  The 2010 DfT government command paper outlined some requirements for the train design among its recommendations for design standards for the HS2 network. A photograph of a French AGV (Automotrice à grande vitesse) was used as an example of the latest high-speed rail technology. The paper addressed the particular problem of designing trains to continental European standards, which use taller and wider rolling stock, requiring a larger structure gauge than the rail network in Great Britain.
  The report proposed the development of two new types of train to make the best use of the line:
  wider and taller trains built to a European loading gauge, which would be confined to the high-speed network (including HS1 and HS2) and other lines cleared to their loading gauge.
  conventional trains, capable of high speed but built to a British loading gauge, permitting them to leave the high speed track to join conventional routes such as the West Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line and East Coast Main Line. Such trains would allow running of HS2 services to the north of England and Scotland, although these non-tilting trains would run slower than existing tilting trains on conventional track. HS2 Ltd has stated that, because these trains must be specifically designed for the British network and cannot be bought "off-the-shelf", these conventional trains were expected to be around 50% more expensive, costing around £40 million per train rather than £27 million for the captive stock.
  Both types of train would have a maximum speed of at least 360 km/h (225 mph) and a length of 200 metres (660 ft); two units could be joined together for a 400-metre (1,300 ft) train. It has been reported that these longer trains would have approximately 1,100 seats with Andrew McNaughton, technical director of HS2, stating "family areas will alleviate the stress of parents worried that their children are annoying other passengers who are maybe trying to work."
  The DfT report also considered the possibility of 'gauge clearance' work on non high speed lines as an alternative to conventional trains. This work would involve extensive reconstruction of stations, tunnels and bridges and widening of clearances to allow European-profile trains to run beyond the high-speed network. The report concluded that although initial outlay on commissioning new rolling stock would be high, it would cost less than the widespread disruption of rebuilding large tracts of Britain's rail infrastructure.
  Alstom, one of the bidders for the contract to build the trains, proposed in October 2016 tilting HS2 trains to run on HS2 and conventional tracks, to increase overall speeds when running on conventional tracks.
  The estimated cost of power for running HS2 trains on the high speed network is estimated to be £3.90/km for 200 m trains and £5.00/km for 260m trains. On the conventional network, the power costs are £2.00/km and £2.60/km respectively.
caption: British Rail Class 373, an existing example of a high speed train compatible with British and Continental loading gauges
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