How fast will the HS2 train go?

HS2's new British-built, bullet style trains will travel at up to 225mph on both high-speed and existing railway lines. We are building HS2 in phases. Our first phase of operation will link Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common in West London in 42 minutes.



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A joint bid from Hitachi and Alstom has won the contract for a long-awaited, $2.6 billion order for the fleet of trains to operate on Britain's new HS2 high speed line. The 54 eight-car electric trainsets, designed to routinely operate at 225 mph, are being described as the “fastest trains in Europe.”

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HS2's new British-built, bullet style trains will travel at up to 225mph on both high-speed and existing railway lines. We are building HS2 in phases. Our first phase of operation will link Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common in West London in 42 minutes.

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The maximum speed currently possible in the UK is 186mph, achieved by Eurostar trains on the HS1 line between London and the Channel Tunnel. The HS1 line is used by Eurostar services and Javelin commuter services from Kent, although the latter have a max speed of 140mph.

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HS2 services These will become 'integrated high speed stations', where passengers can catch HS2 trains and access the high speed network to the south. With two services every hour in each direction, journey times between Liverpool and London will be over 40 minutes quicker, at just over one and a half hours.

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The number of trains running on HS2 will be almost halved and services will travel more slowly in a proposed shake-up of the £72bn line as ministers scramble to save money. Whitehall officials are considering reducing the number of trains from 18 to 10 an hour, insiders said.

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We are already committed to using zero carbon electricity to power HS2 trains, which will be some of the quietest and fastest in the world. Reliable, long-distance train travel between the North, the Midlands and the South East will be emission-free.

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The proposed new station was officially abandoned when the United Kingdom government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the cancellation of the Manchester leg of High Speed 2 on 4 October 2023.

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HS2 services in Scotland HS2 services will reduce the journey time between Scotland's central belt and London to just over 3 and a half hours. Scotland will be part of the HS2 network from day one, with HS2 trains serving Glasgow on the West Coast Main Line.

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The vast system of tunnels that is being created to allow HS2 trains to pass through much of the countryside below ground is one of the most time-consuming and expensive parts of the project. Some 32.5 miles (52.5 km) of the route will be through tunnels, of which about 14 miles (22.5km) have been completed.

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High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages.

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The high-speed rail will provide the greenest, safest and most efficient form of transport. Although the cost was said to be over 100bn the investment will provide a major boost to business and the economy; the faster rail inks will help reduce the north-south divide and overcome the externalities of car use.

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The Colne Valley Viaduct is a bridge, under construction as of 2023, which will carry the High Speed 2 railway over the Colne Valley Regional Park and the Grand Union Canal, in Hillingdon, west London.

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The 2.1 mile (3.4km) Colne Valley Viaduct will be 100m longer than Dundee's Tay Bridge, which currently holds the title.

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The Glacier Express is known as the slowest express train in the world.

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In fact, the only high speed network with a top speed similar to HS2's is in China, where trains can reach 350km per hour – still less than HS2's 360.

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A spokesperson for the National Railway Museum confirmed that one of the trains was the record-breaking, century-old Flying Scotsman, the first steam train to reach over 100mph.

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