Station Design

Due to their function and capacity stations may vary in their layout. The stations are specifically designed to allow ease of access, rapid departure (thus reducing journey times) and a continous safe and convenient service.

The stations can be differentiated from ‘standard railway stations in the following ways:

  • Platforms no more than 80m long at most (with additional space for manoeuvring)

  • Separate arrival and departure areas

  • Separation of departure area and platform

  • Vertical stacking of arrival areas, Vehicle servicing, platforms and concourse/departure area.

  • Access from departure area (mimicking seat positions to platform with waiting shuttle is by lift)

The system is characterised by seamless entry, quick turnaround, ticketless systems, no queuing and seat capacity attuned to demand

There are two styles of service: A standard service utilising 32-64 seat shuttles and a premium service using Robocars. Seats and vehicles can be pre booked or provided on site. The service is designed to be 24 hour 7 day week with minimal track or station maintenance required.

This is enabled by the use of shorter vehicles running on solid tyres that can climb gradients. They are also designed for quick access to all seats with gull wing doors allowing entry from either side to each seat row.

Station to Station

The Silk Purse Road will initially use the stations proposed for HS2 as an intercity service between London and Birmingham. However we believe the stations for Old Oak Common may be superfluous, as our station design allows for it to be built over existing infrastructure at Euston with a radically smaller footprint. The trackway could also follow the Phase 2 routes to Manchester and Sheffield but be built at substantially less cost than for the proposed railway. As a Point to Point intercity service intermediate stops are not the focus of the design. However the use of smaller vehicles and Robocars gives  extra flexibility include direct links between principle and intermediate stations that can be immediately responsive to demand. Additional stations in London could also be developed including a direct link to Wembley Stadium that can be used by RoboCars and SPRS32 vehicles, either formally chartered or provided in response to demand.

We suggest to add maximum economic advantage additional stations can be created at the junction with the East West Railway and Stoneleigh adjacent to the A46 and M40.

This will allow additional economic opportunities and access from Coventry to Stratford Upon Avon and effectively act as a “park and ride” service to London (or Birmingham).

In addition we suggest that the system takes advantage of the development towards Lichfield and Handsacre with a Station set next to the West Coast Mainline at Lichfield and allowing use of the north south line from Birmingham to Burton/Derby as a feeder line, 

In the medium term the trackway could be extended to Heathrow, this allowing airline passengers from the Midlands and North to by-pass London. This might divert from the main HS2 route at the junction with the proposed East-West Rail line for maximum flexibiity.

Of course the trackway could be extended as originally planned to Manchester , Sheffield and Leeds. The lightweight nature of the shuttles and the relative lack of infrastructure required should make planning and construction simpler and straightforward and allow additional towns and cities such as Stafford, Macclesfield and Stoke on Trent to take advantage of the service. We suggest the the service passes directly through Manchester Airport then directly to the centre, rather than hook around the north of Crewe.

One great advantage of the SPR system is that due to the relative lightness, size and gradient climbing ability of the vehicles, trackways could also be elevated over or alongside existing transport routes such as the M25 or existing rail networks, or as dimensions are smaller could operate in smaller tunnels. Top speed might be compromised in these instances but this would be outweighed by convenience and demand.

Beyond this the vehicles have also been conceived to allow them to use existing rail and road links (at metro speeds) with little modification, so potentially the whole of the UK can benefit from the investment in the vehicles. However it is not our intention in the short term to replace railways in the UK, although this may be a long term consequence, at least for passenger transport if not for freight. The Silk Purse Road is primarily aimed at providing a better more economic alternative to the current HS2 trains

For a White Paper detailing the project in detail email info@silkpurseroad.uk