(BUTTON) More HS2 This article is more than 5 years old What is HS3?: proposed sub-Pennine rail line explained This article is more than 5 years old -- * Share via Email An artist's impression of an HS2 train on the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct, part of the proposed r [ ] An artist’s impression of an HS2 train on the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct, part of the proposed route for the HS2 high speed rail scheme. Photograph: PA What is this HS3 thing? This is the name the government is giving to its ambition to speed up connections between the big cities of the north from east to west. At the moment, the £50bn HS2 network is planned to run from London to Birmingham and then in two forks north, to Leeds and Manchester. HS3 would provide faster direct links across the Pennines between the last two cities, reducing journey times across the north. So are they proposing an extra leg of the new high-speed network? No. Services can run much faster than they do now but not with the same trains or track as HS2 – think 125mph maximum rather than 225mph. The proximity and landscape doesn’t lend itself to that kind of high-speed network. There will be a few options under consideration, ranging from a new track to upgrading parts of the existing route and building lots of new tunnels or reopening some existing, unused tunnels. Has the fighting over HS2 finished then? Not quite – perhaps one reason why the government likes the name HS3, to make it look like Britain is moving on to the next thing. But parliament has given its assent for phase one to Birmingham, the part -- parliament. Why is the chairman of HS2 talking about this given that it’s a different thing? When Sir David Higgins, the former boss of Network Rail, took up his new post he was asked to review the plans for HS2; his report out on Monday looks at the chosen route for the second phase. His view is the route is sound, although the location and construction of some stations (Leeds, and Toton in the East Midlands) could be tweaked, but all of HS2 needs to be integrated properly with the rest of the rail network to provide maximum benefits: building HS2 piecemeal, without proper consideration of broader transport networks, could further unbalance the country’s economy. And he says the north has been pretty -- presented by Higgins in March. Topics * HS2 * Rail transport -- * HS3: cross-Pennine railway line will help rebalance economy, says PM David Cameron welcomes Sir David Higgins’ report, which stresses need for improved rail links across north of England Published: 27 Oct 2014 HS3: cross-Pennine railway line will help rebalance economy, says PM * -- * HS3: Pennines rail tunnel key to high-speed plans for the north Ministers back HS2 chief’s radical overhaul of service with claims that huge cuts in east-to-west journey times are ‘a necessity’ Published: 27 Oct 2014 HS3: Pennines rail tunnel key to high-speed plans for the north * -- Guardian photographer Christopher Thomond takes the TransPennine Express from Manchester to Leeds on the day plans are announced for the development of a high-speed cross-Pennine railway line, ‘HS3’, between the two cities Gallery -- + HS2 construction HQ to be based in Birmingham Published: 21 Jul 2014 HS2 construction HQ to be based in Birmingham + HS2 salaries in excess of PM's pay are justified, says transport secretary Published: 4 Jul 2014 HS2 salaries in excess of PM's pay are justified, says transport secretary + HS2 safeguarding directions legally flawed, high court told Published: 10 Jun 2014 HS2 safeguarding directions legally flawed, high court told (BUTTON) More more on this story -- (BUTTON) Close [p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=HS2%2CRail+transport%2CUK+new s%2CRail+travel%2CTravel%2CTransport+policy%2CTransport%2CPolitics]