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Thread: Hs2

  1. #1
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    Hs2

    will the benefits be worth the spending buy the time its completed?

  2. #2
    Master Travs's Avatar
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    I was dead set against it before the corona outbreak... it seemed to me to be a vanity project which was going to line the pockets of a a few already rich businesses... rail infrastructure needs upgrading in this country, but do we really need to be able to travel from London-Birmingham 15 minutes quicker than we can now. And i'd argue that the priority for infrastructure should be connections between Midland/Northern cities.

    However i do have to grudgingly accept that due to current economic circumstances, there's a possibility that it might help to stimulate the economy.

  3. #3
    Master Wheeze's Avatar
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    Of course. Will be needed to connect the new government in Birmingham to old government once London is flooded.
    Simon Blease
    Monmouth

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    In the spirit of disclosure, I have to report that I live a mile from the HS2 route and I am a YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard). And if you thought Brexit was divisive, then the issue of HS2 if you live close to the route is on another level!

    If you say that the route is rubbish I won't argue with you. It is worth mentioning that the much derided local MP, him with the custard coloured coiffure (Michael Fabricant), secured the most significant amendment to the route getting the line to go below the West Coast Mainline railway rather than above it. As both railways use 25Kv overhead cables this alteration means that the line will be about 15 metres lower, and consequently in a trench through this part of unremarkable South East Staffordshire.

    If you say the cost is massively more than it should be (more later) I won't argue with you. But in view of the current economic situation then a job creation scheme bringing thousands of jobs, and some eventual benefit, can only be a good thing. Brunel's original railway is still the fastest way between London and Bristol (unless you've got a helicopter) and it's nearly 160 years old, so HS2 should really be viewed on a very, very long time-scale.

    Locally they've been moving earth for about a year, and they're now building villages of site huts on the route. They did stop for a short while at the start of lockdown, but it was only for about a month. They have completed a slip road off the Southbound carriageway of the A38, to reach an area without road access, that alone must have cost at least a million pounds.

    The local road closures are starting on the 10th of September, and I guess these will be on and off for the next three years, with the flatest cycling route to the Tame Valley. Hopefully I'll have built up enough leg strength by then to climb the hillier route.
    An interesting post - but a post invoking Brunel would be.

    Are you a selfless, intelligent visionary who has the long term interests of the country in mind, or do you like trains?

    Or both
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Er, I fall in to both camps. Well spotted Graham
    And...a hundred years ago... I used to live in Cannock.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  6. #6
    Master Witton Park's Avatar
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    Rather than pick on HS2 I'll pick on the rail network generally.

    It's a joke as far as I'm concerned.

    Investment in it would be acceptable if it worked and if it was attractive to use.

    The price is extortionate. HS2 will be like Concorde, for the wealthy and chuck in a few civil servants for good measure.
    Richard Taylor
    "William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
    Sid Waddell

  7. #7
    Master Witton Park's Avatar
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    Blackburn to Manchester via Darwen and Bolton - shambles.
    53 minutes one way for around 21 miles.
    If I leave home in the car, drive to Blackburn Station, there and back, then home, the travelling time comes to around 2:20
    I can drive there and back in around 70 minutes.

    We've seen a new Blackburn to Manchester service lately. It runs out of Blackburn via Burnley, Todmorden and Rochdale.
    Bonkers.

    If they can't run the existing services to a decent, affordable level there will be no chance with HS2.
    Richard Taylor
    "William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
    Sid Waddell

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    The price is extortionate, but as I've already mentioned they don't seem shy of spending 7 figure sums on it like confetti.
    You mean like the sums footballers are paid to kick a pig's bladder about? Small change surely?

    The TGV and Eurotunnel and the Shinkansen had their detractors...so I say let's smile and nod at the good burghers of Blackburn and get on with it.

    Grand Projects for Great Britain!
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  9. #9
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    2 out of three ain't bad.

    I would blow the euro tunnel tomorrow.

  10. #10
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    Oops double posts. Sorry
    Last edited by Stagger; 12-08-2020 at 08:24 PM.

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