Amazon parcels ‘could be delivered to HS2 passengers at their seat’, train manufacturer bidding for £2.75 billion contract claims
- Bombardier Transportation could build the high-speed trains in a joint venture
- The firm says trips on the 225mph train could also be a productive time
- Passengers could get their work and personal admin done, the firm claims
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HS2 passengers could order Amazon packages to be delivered to their seat, a train manufacturer has claimed.
Bombardier Transportation, which is bidding to win a £2.75 billion ($3.5bn) contract to build the high-speed trains in a joint venture with Hitachi Rail, is developing technology which would enable click-and-collect services on board.
The potential manufacturer says the idea is that trips on the 225mph (362kmh) train could also be a productive time for people to work and get their personal admin done.
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HS2 passengers could order Amazon packages to be delivered to their seat, a train manufacturer has claimed (stock image)
Martin Rennoldson, sales director at Bombardier, said the trains would be ‘very convenient and very passenger-centric’.
He told the Press Association: ‘You could pre-order your coffee or sandwich. It could be that you pre-order and arrange to collect your Amazon parcels.
‘The train would enable lots of things, so we’d certainly work with the operator to develop the wider passenger experience.’
He added: ‘The journey that (passengers) take on high-speed rail could be a very productive period for them, not only work-wise but for their private life, shopping and comfort.’
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Amazon customers who do not want items posted to their home because they will not fit through their letterbox can currently arrange to collect them from lockers, Post Office branches or shops.
The contract to build 54 trains for the first phase of the £55.7 billion ($71bn) railway is expected to be awarded by HS2 Ltd in March 2020.
The Bombardier-Hitachi joint venture is competing against four other shortlisted bidders – Alstom Transport, Patentes Talgo, Siemens and CAF.
Mr Rennoldson said digital technology could also allow passengers to use their smartphones to alert train crew to issues such as a problem with a toilet or lost property.
The potential manufacturer says the idea is that trips on the 225mph (362kmh) train could also be a productive time for people to work and get their personal admin done
WHAT IS HS2 AND HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
HS2 (High Speed 2) is a plan to construct a a new high-speed rail linking London, West Midlands, Leeds and Manchester.
The line is to be built in a ‘Y’ configuration. London will be on the bottom of the ‘Y’, Birmingham at the centre, Leeds at the top right and Manchester at the top left.
Work on Phase One began in 2017 and the government plans envisage the line being operational by 2026.
The HS2 project is being developed by High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd.
The project has a projected cost of £56 billion ($77 billion), up from the initial cost of £32.7 billion ($45 billion) in 2010.
Last year’s annual report showed that the company established by the government to build the railway spent £500 million in the year to March 31 – up almost 30 per cent from £352.9 million the year before.
It takes the total amount spent by HS2 so far to more than £1.9billion since 2009.
Separate accounts published by the Department for Transport also showed it had spent another £366 million on HS2.
The bulk of this was on compensating individuals and businesses who own property and land near the planned line.
‘We want to make sure that is all possible,’ he said.
A new franchise known as the West Coast Partnership will be responsible for designing and running the initial high-speed services when phase one opens between London and Birmingham in 2026.
The railway will then be extended to Crewe, Manchester and Leeds.
The high-speed trains will also run beyond the new lines on existing tracks as far north as Edinburgh and Glasgow.
In September it was revealed that the estimated cost of buying land on the HS2 route has tripled in just six years to more than £3 billion,
In 2012, the company building the high-speed line from London to Birmingham estimated it would cost £1.1 billion to buy land and properties along the route.
But by July this year, HS2 Ltd believed the total would be £3.3 billion – and the National Audit Office said the cost could soar yet further.
The entire project is expected to cost £56 billion. HS2 Ltd was also criticised for delays in giving residents the compensation they are due after land is compulsorily purchased.
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSALS FOR A 1,000-MILE UK HIGH-SPEED RAIL NETWORK?
A report by Surrey-based think tank Greengauge 21, titled Beyond HS2, said boosting national productivity should be the guiding priority for re-designing the rail network.
The proposals lead to a re-orientation of Britain’s railway – from a single hub around London to a national railway network.
Key proposals include:
1. An upgraded fast route from Birmingham to Bristol Parkway carrying HS2 trains, continuing to the South West and South Wales.
2. A major upgrade to the East Coast mainline for the first time since the 1980s.
3. New high speed lines in Scotland, achieving a three-hour 15-minute journey time between Edinburgh and London.
4. New lines in East Essex and Anglia, alleviating the West Anglia and Great Eastern Mainlines, both of which are at capacity.
5. Bringing Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull together with new connections to form ‘an effective and powerful economic unit’.
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