My nightmare five-hour train journey from London Euston to Birmingham New Street: can HS2 help?

Let’s face it: rail travel in the UK can be a gamble, and this week, we hit the jackpot of misery - a five-hour, sweat-drenched slog on an Avanti West Coast train.

What should have been a quick 90-minute jaunt between Birmingham and London turned into a drawn-out ordeal, complete with packed carriages, two police incidents, and non-existent WiFi.

Yes, we understand tragic incidents on the track are beyond the control of train companies, but the aftermath - the delays, the chaos, and the sheer discomfort - raises the question: could HS2 finally solve these problems?

The reality of current rail travel

Our journey started with promise. Heading to London for a work event, we booked off-peak return tickets on Avanti West Coast at a hefty £171 for two adults. Despite the cost, the outward journey was relatively smooth. We had seats, the ride was quick, and while the carriage was warm and crowded, it wasn’t unbearable.

The return journey, however, was a different story. Two stops due to police incidents on the line left us stuck for hours. The train was packed with people standing in the aisles all the way along the train. It was unbearably hot, and the lack of functioning WiFi only added insult to injury. What should have been 90 minutes turned into five hours of frustration.

So, will HS2 live up to its promise of “faster speeds, and fewer delays”?

HS2 bosses claim it will slash travel time between Birmingham and London from 81 minutes to just 45 minutes. Trains will run at a blistering 225mph - 100mph faster than current West Coast Main Line services - and modern stations like Birmingham’s Curzon Street and London’s Old Oak Common are expected to deliver a seamless travel experience.

The estimated completion timeline for HS2 keeps shifting. A token service between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street may launch between 2029 and 2033, with full service from Euston by 2036. As for the entire HS2 network? Don’t expect that until 2040.

What about the price?

Early estimates suggest a one-way ticket on HS2 could range from £60 to £80 - competitive, but still not cheap. For comparison, our Avanti tickets cost £171 for two, albeit without advance booking. However, the cost of HS2 tickets remains speculative, and the project itself has already faced ballooning construction expenses and public scrutiny.

Beyond speed and cost, there’s the question of comfort. Will HS2 trains address the heat, overcrowding, and other inconveniences that plague current services? And will the infrastructure upgrades truly reduce delays, or will the network succumb to the same domino effect of disruptions?

These are questions HS2 will need to answer as the project progresses.

For anyone who’s endured a rail journey like ours - packed, overpriced, and painfully slow - the idea of HS2 is undeniably tempting. Cutting travel time nearly in half and increasing capacity could transform rail travel between Birmingham and London.

But with the full network not expected until 2040, it’s hard to ignore the feeling that solutions are needed now, not decades down the line.

Until then, we’ll keep slogging through packed carriages, refreshing that broken WiFi signal, and dreaming of a smoother, faster future.

HS2 might be on the horizon, but for today’s travellers, it’s still a long way down the track.