HS2 - Bin it off or carry on regardless?

[gremlin]

They should invest all those billions into personal teleporter development.

Jet packs FTW.

[KungFooBob]

They should invest all those billions into personal teleporter development.

Jet packs FTW.

Ok, only as a stop gap tho'

[gremlin]

Was HS1 a success?

If you're going to Paris it's bloody great IME!

Bit shit for getting to Birmingham, but honestly, which would you rather visit?

Maybe we should get the French to pay for half of HS2. Fair's fair and all that.

[Horse]

Why spunk many many billions of pounds on a public transport solution to shave off less than hour?

One of the main reasons for HS2 is to allow for much more (slower) freight and 'local' trains on the existing network.

Reduce, reuse, recycle, no need to increase freight capacity in the middle of a climate crisis.

Laudible aims. Is any government going to make it happen?

[Mussels]

Was HS1 a success?

If you're going to Paris it's bloody great IME!

Bit shit for getting to Birmingham, but honestly, which would you rather visit?

Whenever I've wanted to use it for European meetings the first train gets there too late so it's pretty useless.
Rather than being good for the odd tourist trip, is it a commercial success and has it lived up to the hype?
People I've known that live along the route avoid it due to the price.

[gremlin]

Was HS1 a success?

If you're going to Paris it's bloody great IME!

Bit shit for getting to Birmingham, but honestly, which would you rather visit?

Whenever I've wanted to use it for European meetings the first train gets there too late so it's pretty useless.
Rather than being good for the odd tourist trip, is it a commercial success and has it lived up to the hype?
People I've known that live along the route avoid it due to the price.

Going slightly off-tangent, but what I still can't understand is that Ebbsfleet is still closed to the Eurostar. Spend a few million making it 'Ebbsfleet INTERNATIONAL' then don't stop the trains there.

Bloody handy for me when it was in use.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I've only used it for business meetings and it's always worked out great for me Any kind of meeting in Europe is immediately fucked up by the seemingly-small-yet-quite-annoying 1hr time zone change IME.

[Yambo]

but then people from the north can get to London a lot quicker.

How much quicker?

I've heard it said (in the past) that HS2 would knock 15 minutes off the current London to Birmingham time. That's not fast - and I think it would still be slower than it was 80 years ago.

HS2 is the biggest waste of money that government has ever come up with.

[Count Steer]

Was HS1 a success?

If you're going to Paris it's bloody great IME!

Bit shit for getting to Birmingham, but honestly, which would you rather visit?

Used it twice a week to Brussels for a while when you could park up at Ashford for the week but they've pretty much closed the station. Real shame about the rerouting.

It was

(Switched to the drive on service once I got a place to live sorted).

[Mr. Dazzle]

HS2 is the biggest waste of money that government has ever come up with.

Oooh, now a thesis you could have some fun with

[Pirahna]

I Googled "who will benefit from HS2". Having read some of the commentary, opinion seems to be it's wealthy business travellers, the general population will see no benefit. It is after all a Tory vanity project so why would anyone actually get anything from it?

[Mr. Dazzle]

Well two of the other parents in baby Ds class work on it, so it'll benefit them for a few years

[gremlin]

And if getting to Manchester can be done with out hitting the bastard M6, then life is immeasurably improved,

[Rockburner]

And if getting to Manchester can be done with out hitting the bastard M6, then life is immeasurably improved,

Didn't they just bin off the Birmingham to Manchester bit? (I heard something recently but wasn't really listening)

[gremlin]

And if getting to Manchester can be done with out hitting the bastard M6, then life is immeasurably improved,

Didn't they just bin off the Birmingham to Manchester bit? (I heard something recently but wasn't really listening)

I think the Leeds bit has been binned off, the Birmingham to Manchester leg is hanging on by it's fingernails, and there's now talk of the whole thing starting from Old Oak Common*, not Euston.


*No, I have no fecking idea where that is either.



Edit: Just for shit and giggles, I Googled York to Hull by public transport. 1.5 hours to travel, what? 35 miles? The Victorians would have raised an eyebrow at that.

[Cousin Jack]

Transport infrastructure in the uk, road, rail and air, is 3rd world standard. Just ridden through the Pyrenees in a road tunnel, in the Uk that would have been 30 years planning, and then another 10 building half of it and then binning the project.

Heathrow? I can recall 2 replacements, both binned

[Horse]

I Googled "who will benefit from HS2". Having read some of the commentary, opinion seems to be it's wealthy business travellers, the general population will see no benefit. It is after all a Tory vanity project so why would anyone actually get anything from it?

Why spunk many many billions of pounds on a public transport solution to shave off less than hour?

One of the main reasons for HS2 is to allow for much more (slower) freight and 'local' trains on the existing network.

And, originally, it was a Labour plan.

[gremlin]

How much of that is down to the planning application process, public consultation and legal shenanigans that invariably follow any big project?

[Noggin]

Was HS1 a success?

Bastard expensive though. Cheaper to get a train to the airport and back and fly to the uk and back for me. I'd have loved to go by train - far far toooooo expensive

but then people from the north can get to London a lot quicker.

But, I've been told that its the outskirts of London so even though they quickly get to 'London', they then have to take the Elizabeth line to get into London proper!!

A friend described it as a billion pound park and ride!

[Mr. Dazzle]

The air travel thing is fucking daft. How can it work out cheaper to use a mode of transport which is on the order of 10 times thirstier with a much higher level of operator qualification, a much higher purchase price etc etc.

Airline pilots must just have shit unions.