Editing Advanced Passenger Train (section)

===APT's origins===
In 1964, a number of BR's formerly-dispersed research groups were organised into the new [[British Rail Research Division|Derby Research Division]]. It was here that the final work on Wickens' HSFV was being developed.{{sfn|Gilchrist|2006|p=28}} At first there was some argument about whether or not a high-speed train would be supported; in the aftermath of the 1963 Beeching Axe it was not clear what size of network the government was willing to support, and whether a new design should be aimed at higher-speed intercity service, where a new locomotive would be needed to replace the ageing [[British Rail Class 55|Deltics]] anyway, or a simpler system for better performance in the suburbs.

In 1965, Wickens had hired an intern, Dutch engineer A.J. Ispeert, and had him do some early work on active tilt systems.{{sfn|Wickens|2002}} These would replace the passive pendulum-like Talgo system with a system using [[hydraulic cylinder]]s that would quickly drive the car to the proper angle and hold it there without any swinging. A major advantage for BR use was that the center of rotation could be through the middle of the car, instead of the top, meaning the total movement would fit within the smaller British [[loading gauge]].{{sfn|Wickens|2002}} Ispeert returned a report on the concept in August 1966.{{sfn|Gilchrist|2006|p=28}}

Wickens noted that BR's single-axle suspension system would have less drag at high speed, and that its lighter weight would make it more stable at high speeds than conventional dual-axle bogies. In November 1966 he wrote a report calling for a two-year programme to build and test a High Speed Passenger Vehicle,{{sfn|Gilchrist|2006|p=28}} essentially an experimental car like [[High Speed Freight Vehicle|HSFV-1]] but for passenger use instead of freight. The original plans called for a single dummy body and two bogies to test the suspension and tilting system at high speed. They set the maximum tilt angle at 9 degrees, which could be added to any cant in the underlying railbed.{{sfn|Wickens|2002}}

The design programme was organised under Mike Newman, while Alastair Gilchrist headed the research side.  Newman noted that a single car was unlikely to answer practical questions like how the train would operate as a complete unit, and that a dummy body would not answer the question of whether the tilt mechanism could really be built under the floor without projecting into the cabin. Accordingly, later that same November, Newman and Wickens drew up plans for a complete experimental train with the design goal to be not only to study the tilt system, but do so on actual lines.{{sfn|Wickens|2002}}{{sfn|Gilchrist|2006|p=28}}

Wickens took the plans to Sydney Jones, who immediately took up the idea. They set the performance goal at the nicely rounded figure of {{convert|250|kph|0|abbr=on}}. In keeping with BR management goals to provide quicker travel times rather than just faster speeds, they also required the train to round corners 40% faster.{{sfn|Gilchrist|2006|p=29}} They named the proposal the Advanced Passenger Train. Jones took the proposal to the BR chairman, Stanley Raymond, who liked the idea. However, the board was unable to provide enough funding to develop it, and encouraged Jones to approach the [[Ministry of Transport (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Transport]] for additional funding.{{sfn|Wickens|2002}}

Jones did so, and spent the next two years walking the corridors of [[Whitehall]] when one civil servant after another agreed that it was a great idea but that it was really the job of someone else to approve it. In spite of being repeatedly put off, Jones persisted, especially with Government Chief Scientist, [[Solly Zuckerman]],{{sfn|Wickens|1988}} to arrange a stable funding system for the entire topic of railway research. This was finalised as the Joint Programme between the Ministry of Transport and the British Railways Board, sharing the costs 50:50. The Programme would run sixteen years from January 1969 to March 1985. The first two programmes were APT and the Train Control Project.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Sam |last=Wise |title=British Railways Research, the first hundred years |url=https://www.york.ac.uk/media/workingwiththeuniversity/documents/cpd/sectorscourses/Gilchrist.pdf |journal=Institute of Railway Studies |date=2000 |page=76 |access-date=8 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215222902/https://www.york.ac.uk/media/workingwiththeuniversity/documents/cpd/sectorscourses/Gilchrist.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>