Max Power Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Well, the wheel has turned full circle, Britain's days of pioneering industry are well behind it. Chinese will build HS2 cheaper and in less time, offer being considered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 15 minutes ago, Max Power said: Well, the wheel has turned full circle, Britain's days of pioneering industry are well behind it. Chinese will build HS2 cheaper and in less time, offer being considered. A fortnight, I would imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Down Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 24 minutes ago, woolley said: A fortnight, I would imagine. They must have factored in a weekend break then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.K. Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 50 minutes ago, Neil Down said: They must have factored in a weekend break then... They've got to house their coronavirus carriers somewhere.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 If BoJo intends to go through with his stated plan to build 10 Freeports on the UK, presumably and hopefully England, then HS2 starts to make very much more sense indeed. A huge tax free infrastructure to handle goods with England as a tax bonded hub would open all sorts of benefits as a further spin off following BREXIT. With further nation states dropping out of European Commission tyranny, and that is an absolute certainty and the only question is which comes after us, opportunities are emerging every day. It is becoming increasingly obvious that EU membership has been a disaster for the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallaDoc Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 What the UK needs isn't a fancy high speed rail link between Birmingham/Manchester and London, but more normal local trains running at normal speed along normal tracks, on time. Also land use / planning policies so that people can live closer to where they work and don't have to commute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 1 hour ago, BallaDoc said: What the UK needs isn't a fancy high speed rail link between Birmingham/Manchester and London, but more normal local trains running at normal speed along normal tracks, on time. Also land use / planning policies so that people can live closer to where they work and don't have to commute. Absolutely. Travelling across (West to East or vice versa) the UK particularly over the Pennines is a painful experience. It is currently around 2.5 hours on the train from Manchester to London so HS2 is not going to save that much time. The only benefit I can see is a possible increased capacity for goods trains on the existing lines thereby reducing the number of HGVs. There would still he the issue of local delivery though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir nige Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 why don't they go by car like normal people...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 6 hours ago, BallaDoc said: What the UK needs isn't a fancy high speed rail link between Birmingham/Manchester and London, but more normal local trains running at normal speed along normal tracks, on time. Also land use / planning policies so that people can live closer to where they work and don't have to commute. The problem is that the present network is full to bursting point. The UK is 30 years behind other countries with high speed rail. This is better late than never. Just get on with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Down Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 4 hours ago, manxman1980 said: Absolutely. Travelling across (West to East or vice versa) the UK particularly over the Pennines is a painful experience. It is currently around 2.5 hours on the train from Manchester to London so HS2 is not going to save that much time. The only benefit I can see is a possible increased capacity for goods trains on the existing lines thereby reducing the number of HGVs. There would still he the issue of local delivery though. plus being at the mercy of the rail unions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 10 minutes ago, Neil Down said: plus being at the mercy of the rail unions... If they've any sense they won't let those buggers anywhere near it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballaughbiker Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 HS2 isn't really about getting to say Manchester 15 minutes or whatever quicker. It's about getting the fast stuff off the old lines which can then have much better pax stopping services and free up freight capacity. The fast lines can also be used for freight in the middle of the night. Whether it's worth it in terms of cost is very debatable. Personally, I'd rather lines like St Pancras to Leicester/Derby/Nottm/Sheffield etc were electrified past Bedford and the two cross pennine routes were electrified. The madness in 1970 ish of closing a cross pennine route with a relatively new tunnel now seems madness but a lot changes in 50 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 1 minute ago, ballaughbiker said: HS2 isn't really about getting to say Manchester 15 minutes or whatever quicker. It's about getting the fast stuff off the old lines which can then have much better pax stopping services and free up freight capacity. The fast lines can also be used for freight in the middle of the night. Whether it's worth it in terms of cost is very debatable. Personally, I'd rather lines like St Pancras to Leicester/Derby/Nottm/Sheffield etc were electrified past Bedford and the two cross pennine routes were electrified. The madness in 1970 ish of closing a cross pennine route with a relatively new tunnel now seems madness but a lot changes in 50 years. Exactly. It's all about capacity. The inward investment in new enterprise in the corridors will be transformative. Just get on with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballaughbiker Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 I travel a lot on the southern cross pennine route between Sheffield and Manchester. The service is dire with that 'converted cattle truck' rolling stock. The stopping train holds up fast stuff and freight and HS2 won't do anything for this unfortunately but electrification would help a lot in getting to the passing points quicker. It would be great if HS2 could be modified to provide another cross pennine route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quilp Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Anyone know if the gauge of HS2 is the same as European standard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.