Britain needs a high-speed rail network, say designers Priestman Goode, and they’ve come up with a new train concept to persuade government to shunt the project out of the sidings.
Paul Priestman calls the Mercury double-decker train a ‘pre-emptive move’ to get high-speed rail going for the sake of the economy as well as Britain’s global standing.
He also believes the train could be a new British design icon to follow Concorde, the Spitfire, the Routemaster bus and indeed the world-record-breaking Mallard steam train of the late 1930s, and reclaim the nation’s status as a global leader in design and technology.
The 400 metre long Mercury’s signature is a highly distinctive, aerodynamic nose section that will help it reach 225mph if it ever makes it on to the tracks.
That is something Priestman sees as a national priority: ‘A new high speed train is vital to the future of Britain, both as the low carbon, sustainable transport of the future and because it offers a crucial opportunity to champion British design and engineering at a time when we need to fight as hard as possible in an increasingly global economy.’
Priestman Goode, which designed trains including the Pendolino for Virgin, has been working on high speed trains for China, with the first of them set to go into service this year. ‘Trains are national icons. Look at the Bullet Train in Japan and the French TGV. We’re designing them for other countries and it’s frustrating that the same isn’t being done in Britain. We’re hoping this will create some momentum.’
Mercury High Speed Train from Priestmangoode on Vimeo.
In March this year a government report projected a new 49-minute, £30bn link between London Euston and Birmingham by 2026 with an extension to Glasgow to follow. Construction was to have started in 2017. The new government has indicated its commitment to high speed rail, but details on timing and scope of any future project amid current public spending cuts are still to appear. Priestman says the early response to the Mercury has been encouraging. ‘We’ve had lots of very encouraging feedback from people in this field.’
The Mercury concept comes complete with an interior combining open-plan comfort with privacy, plus a children's area. Families or business groups would be able to book special glass cabins that effectively update the compartments seen on bygone trains. Nevertheless, says Priestman, the train would still have similar passenger capacity to current models.
For more about designing for international markets, see our guide.