London nach Frankfurt auf dem Zug

Deutsche Bahn and Euro Tunnel plan to introduce rail services between London and Germany in 2013.

26th September 2010

On the 19th October a Deutsche Bahn (DB) Inter City Express (ICE) 3 high-speed train will arrive at St Pancras International in London on it's maiden cross-channel journey. I think that this is interesting and exciting news. I feel that the expansion of rail destination available to travellers departing London St Pancras is a sensible development which should have happened long before now. I am however wary that high-speed rail in the United Kingdom and further a field is seen as a silver bullet by the press and public as the sole solution to reduce carbon dioxide. That is simply not the case and it's a massive deception by the press.

Since 1994 the Eurostar has been running between Paris and Brussels from Waterloo and currently St Pancras International station in London. I believe that it is the logical expansion of the service to begin running trains between the United Kingdom and Germany. DB are looking to operate a service which runs between Frankfurt and London stopping at Cologne and Brussels en route. This makes perfect sense as London and Frankfurt are major finance centres.

I am however disappointed that it did not happen before now. I feel that the catalyst for this move is not that it is simply obvious and appropriate but politically motivated act to capitalise on the public perception that air travel is polluting and damaging our environment. If you travel a large distance via an electric high-speed train we must consider how the electricity powering the train is produced?

The likely source for the electricity is from a power station which uses either gas or oil combustion to power steam turbines to generate electricity. The power station is still expelling large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The train may of course be more convenient than the plane and therefore be perceived as better. But the No Agenda jingle Trains Good, Planes Bad will only be true if the electricity comes from a source which does not release large quantities of green house gasses. I believe that if high-speed rail is to successfully lower carbon dioxide emissions in Europe, Member States need a clear plan to generate electricity with low or no carbon emissions.

A combination of nuclear, wind and tidal power will probably be the solution. Not only to keep the lights on but to power a large rapid public transport system. This will require government investment driven by a well planned policies. This will then open up new high-speed rail connection to mainland Europe and United Kingdom destinations.

Integrated plans for well connected rail infrastructure have been articulated poorly by current and previous Government in the United Kingdom. This is unfortunately and need to be resolved quickly so me build the rail infrastructure for the next sixty years. This will kick start the construction and engineering industries to improve our Nation. Change is required. Not for the sake of change. But for the sake of measurable improvement to the Nation.

Hopefully the Deutsche Bahn trial will ignite the imagination of the Government's Executive and the Ministry of Transport.

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