100%, and we could afford to do them all, but it would require a government that cared.
why all the hate for hs2?
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My post clearly sets out it’s about capacity, speed is a bonus.
And no the extra line does not need to stop at the ‘in between’ stations to increase capacity and if you look at the existing line, not every train stops at every station.
Take a look at the difference between avanti services to Birmingham’s and London midland services.
Those ‘in between’ stations would still benefit from more capacity because the non-stopping trains have been moved to a different line so more stopping trains can be added to the existing lines.
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new station
The 10-mile (16km) Chiltern tunnel is the longest on the HS2 project, which is designed to improve transport links between London, Birmingham and the north of England
The 10-mile (16km) Chiltern tunnel is the longest on the HS2 project, which is designed to improve transport links between London, Birmingham and the north of England
HS2: Aerial pictures show large hole above rail tunnel
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Commissario
Yup
Given the way tunnels are made with them being lined as they're dug out I'm going to guess that there was already a cavern/empty space and at most the tunnelling has disturbed the surface and possibly brought the sinkhole opening up forward, as they would have noticed if they were removing a lot more material suddenly, or simply the fact we've had a lot of rain over the last few months caused an issue given it could have affected the soil stability.
Honestly I'm actually quite shocked at how easily it has been for the media to turn so much of the public against something that's in the interest of most people.
This project will make journeys quicker, increase capacity for more passengers, increase cargo capacity, etc and as a result lower motorway congestion, reduce pollution and the craziest thing is that despite what media barons who are salty they're not making anything off it want people to think it's not even that expensive. The Victorians spent over a decade consistently investing more in the rail network (accounting for inflation obviously), for the first time since the 19th century the UK government have actually properly invested in public transport and yet so much of the public have been brainwashed into thinking it's a bad thing the government are now planning to cut it short because that's what voters want, madness.
A simple analogy would be adding an extra inner lane to each carriageway of the M1 where traffic can do 80MPH (legally), faster journeys for those using that lane and greater capacity for the motorway as a whole.
This project will make journeys quicker, increase capacity for more passengers, increase cargo capacity, etc and as a result lower motorway congestion, reduce pollution and the craziest thing is that despite what media barons who are salty they're not making anything off it want people to think it's not even that expensive. The Victorians spent over a decade consistently investing more in the rail network (accounting for inflation obviously), for the first time since the 19th century the UK government have actually properly invested in public transport and yet so much of the public have been brainwashed into thinking it's a bad thing the government are now planning to cut it short because that's what voters want, madness.
There's no reason it can't be both. The new trains will make journeys faster and also boost capacity as the old lines aren't going away.
A simple analogy would be adding an extra inner lane to each carriageway of the M1 where traffic can do 80MPH (legally), faster journeys for those using that lane and greater capacity for the motorway as a whole.
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(can at least attribute the causality quote premise to Evan Davis pm circa 5:30 - we all heard)
impressive but costly engineering , compulsory purchases ... that we can't afford - if we were building a semiconductor fab, or battery factory would probably have better returns for the economy(inc. exports)
impressive but costly engineering , compulsory purchases ... that we can't afford - if we were building a semiconductor fab, or battery factory would probably have better returns for the economy(inc. exports)
Soldato
I wonder how much quicker it will actually be and how much more expensive tickets will be, can they go much higher than they already are?!?
Commissario
Well except that building a chip fab doesn't help with the infrastructure of the country, doesn't help with getting people or materials to the factory etc...
Economic returns on a chip fab are high but require fairly constant reinvestment to maintain them as they need fairly constant updating to keep current, economic returns on something like a new train line are harder to peg down but that's infrastructure that can and will keep paying for itself for 50-100+ years with relatively infrequent major updates (we're still using the routes put down over 100+ years ago for a lot of our lines).
Ideally you don't just do one project, you do a bunch that compliment each other.
Its a poor use of 150 bln.
There are so many ways that money could be better spent.
Even expanding the local network would be money better spent.
Its poor bang for buck
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Investing in a rail network doesn't sound like a good idea to me. There has been talk of easing congestion on the roads, but that's not realistic unless tickets are as convenient and significantly cheaper than alternative modes of transport.
It'll be a novelty for the majority, like using concord for the occasional journey.
Train tickets are expensive. In addition, they charge you to park in raiway car parks, so it's a rip off like the way Alton Towers now charge you to park in their car park, even though they know you are there to use their facilities as a paying guest.
It'll be a novelty for the majority, like using concord for the occasional journey.
Train tickets are expensive. In addition, they charge you to park in raiway car parks, so it's a rip off like the way Alton Towers now charge you to park in their car park, even though they know you are there to use their facilities as a paying guest.
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I go to London from Bristol at weekends, sometimes 3 times a month. I would happily go by first class train every time if the tickets were cheaper than driving and parking at my destination. I can drive there and back, and park securely, for £60ish. In Europe this would be easy to do, in the Uk, it’s more like £120 for the train, £180 for first class.
Yup. It was worth it at £30bn. All the HS2 advocates have the air of people who'd support it *whatever* the cost. That's fanatical thinking.
Soldato
Prolly better for the economy to just give £150bn to me.
Soldato
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if we had great public transport infrastructure and this was the icing on the cake then maybe I could get behind HS2. we don't the whole network is crap .. so spending all this money on a line which is already massively superior and faster then getting almost anywhere else by train seems a colossal waste to me considering the cost. also because it is privatised means it's all stick and no carrot for us. why should this come out of the public purse when any profits made will go elsewhere?.
shaving 20 mins off getting from London to Manchester means nothing to me when it still takes just as long and costs 4x more money for me to get from Cambridge to Chester than going in car (and that was single occupancy in a diesel .... with my wife and lad in an EV it will be over 10x cheaper by car)
shaving 20 mins off getting from London to Manchester means nothing to me when it still takes just as long and costs 4x more money for me to get from Cambridge to Chester than going in car (and that was single occupancy in a diesel .... with my wife and lad in an EV it will be over 10x cheaper by car)
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Can we ride you up and down the country too then?
Soldato
Don't be ridiculous.
Ride them from somewhere near London to somewhere near Birmingham you mean.
Oh it just hit me, HS2 has turned into Ryanair when it comes to saying where it actually goes to.
Soldato
If you were one of those PPE "friends" during covid we probably did give out that amount!
Exactly!