Okay, so we have some modified TGVs running on High Speed 1, but it only goes between central London and the Channel Tunnel. And we have some Pendolinos which now run pretty fast.

But such scraps alone do not a genuine high speed network make*. The crucial elements you need for a successful high-speed network are (a) >200 kph operation, preferably >250 kph, (b) dedicated or mostly dedicated tracks, (c) a decent range of routes, (d) ease of use, including good connections, and (e) everything being built to good specifications.

None of these conditions really exist in the UK. Anyone who has ever travelled on the West Coast Main Line will know why it’s known as the most congested long-distance passenger railway in the world. The line is used so much that it’s amazing that there aren’t more delays, frankly. Carriages are too small and always single-deck due to the restrictive loading gauge compared to the Continent, and often are too few per train, which makes overcrowding worse. Connections are improving but sometimes unpredictable, and ticketing is extremely confusing (Advance Apex Cheap-Day Return Non-Refundable with Young Person’s Railcard anyone?).

Every few years, UK governments announce that they’re going to embark on a Shinkansen or ICE style network, and it always gets shelved or watered down beyond all recognition. So it’s with interest that I note the noises coming from various parts of the political landscape that suggest that perhaps interests are beginning to converge. The Tories have been ostensibly backing the idea for a while, seeing it as a logical alternative to a third runway at Heathrow. But recently, Alex Salmond, First Minster of Scotland, also threw his weight behind a possible maglev network, and this week the (Labour) transport Minister Lord Adonis backed the creation of a radical new network in the most recent Prospect magazine:

“Equally significant for future policy are Japan’s evolving plans to pioneer the next generation of high-speed rail technology with a “maglev” line between Tokyo and Nagoya—to be open by 2025—cutting the existing “shinkansen” bullet train time for the 214 miles from one hour 40 minutes to less than an hour. What impressed me on a visit to Japan in November to study the “shinkansen” experience was not only the potentially revolutionary nature of the “maglev,” but that the justification for the new Tokyo-Nagoya line, to be entirely privately financed, depends on traffic saturation on the existing 45-year-old shinkansen line, and not a desire for even higher speed travel per se. Packed trains with up to 1,600 passengers leave every five minutes from 6am until 10pm on the existing line, which is close to capacity.”

Significantly, what seems to have re-ignited Adonis’ interest is the recent vote in California to authorise a bond issue to fund the construction of a TGV-style line between Sacramento and San Diego.

What’s this? A Labour minister impressed by a publicly-financed infrastructure project? Surely not! And really, isn’t it a little embarrassing that we should be taking our cues in rail infrastructure from the Americans – one of the most passenger-rail-phobic nations on earth?

Still, the intentions are good, and I hope he carries through on the ideas in his piece. The trouble is, Britain’s rail network is still mostly privatised, which (aside from being a Bad Idea anyway) would make delivery and co-ordination difficult. There’s little to no chance of a private company being able to invest the sums required given the current difficulties of obtaining credit – let alone having a decent chance of a return on the money. Public funding could be difficult too. As The Economist points out, although the Keynesian aspect of such a large public engineering project would be a welcome boost to consumption and employment in these difficult economic times, UK public finances are already in a pretty dire state.

So I wait with interest to see who puts forward a solid proposal, if anyone. I guess the Tories and SNP have more to make of it politically, but past schemes have vanished in ball of hyperbole before.

Anyway, I must go and catch a TGV to France. Or shall I take an ICE to Germany? Or a Pendolino to Italy? One is spoilt for choice in Zürich.**

* Quasi-German word order there. I apologise.

**Yes, I am a smug bastard.

–Update

A re-cap of some of the teething troubles (and outright accidents) which the West Coast Main Line has experienced over the past three weeks has been posted by BBC News.

And also, things don’t always go smoothly in Switzerland…