There are other problems inherent in the train specification. Already, 54 new 225mph 200-metre-long trains have been ordered from Alstom/Hitachi, based on the original vision for the line, which would have seen 400-metre trains splitting at places like Carlisle and East Midlands Parkway. But no new 400-metre platforms are funded on the conventional network, meaning somewhere like Manchester is set to go from 11-car Pendolinos with 607 seats to eight-car HS2 trains with 528 seats.

Meanwhile Glasgow, served by the sinuous stretch of the West Coast over Shap, is facing the possibility of little or no improvement in journey times. Half a century ago British Rail expected tilting trains were the answer for this route: while BR’s Advanced Passenger Train was sadly not a success, Virgin brought the idea to fruition with the Class 390 Pendolino. But the train specified for HS2 will not tilt, and some estimates put the consequent journey times between London and Glasgow at as much as 17 minutes longer than with a Pendolino. As discussed in last month’s‘Informed Sources’, an optimistic assessment puts the London to Glasgow journey time saving on today’s timing with HS2 at 11 minutes.