HS2 probably not going to run into central London

Lemmy_kilmister said:
Looks like the terminal station might well be Old Oak Common (west of Paddington).
The Government haven't commented funnily enough.

BBC News - HS2 may not run through to central London - report
www.bbc.co.uk

HS2 will run through to London Euston, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says

This follows reports that rising costs could mean the rail link might stop in the suburbs of west London.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...

I saw that this morning, and just yesterday I was walking past the carnage on the Euston road that's resulting from the HS2 work (having to walk miles around the building site, sometimes onto the main road) and seeing the site where they'd cleared the protestors from - looks like it'll really not be worth it.
 
It is deplorable in this country: the complete lack of any foresight, planning and insight into the need for a modern co-ordinated, integrated, transport system. Politicians cannot run a raffle, let alone a cheap, efficient, reliable, public transport system.

In the 6th richest economy in the world, we have the most aged, inadequate, slow, over-priced, publically subsidised, creaking, railway infrastructure in Europe. We pay the highest fares per passenger mile in Europe, with passengers experiencing cancelled trains - daily- and the constant failure of an under-invested system ["signalling problems" / broken down trains / "fault on the line", etc].

Why have we accepted the joke of Avanti West Coast and all its predicessors, dirty diesel multiple units and carriage stock built over 30 years ago and "stations" converted into nothing more than bus-shelters. The only alternative is the unsustainable use of the private car. We pour billions into tarmacking vast tracts of arable farmland and building by-passes to speed up congestion to the next roundabout. We have no joined up thinking on transport. Some Cities have reasonably modern trams, whilst others are in the dark ages. Whats wasteful is having empty heads in the Cabinet who have no idea and dont care.

Its easy to be dragged into the media-fueled ignorance and hysteria when HS2 is mentioned - but the big picture is: where do we want to be in transport terms, next week, next month, next year and in 10 years time? Its beyond a joke for those of us who use public transport. As for being "carbon neutral" and meeting Climate Change targets - its a pzz take.(n)
 
If true it'll be as quick to get to Euston from Manchester on existing track, the billions wasted. My problem is getting to Manchester in the first place due to cuts in local bus and train services, that's where the money should have been spent - on reducing fares too, ours are so high they are no deterrent to the car
 
H2 heading the same way!

Billions will get spunked (£100s millions already have) to keep the big O&G companies paying huge dividends to private investors while getting subsidised with taxpayers money.

Takes 3x the amount of natural gas to produce the same energy that H2 provides, the H2 will be made by burning that natural gas. Only difference being they're gonna pump the Carbon offshore from the process.

One massive energy Ponzi Scheme.
 
HS2 WILL get to Euston - oh, it will. No matter how long the delays or how much it costs it WILL go to Euston.

Sadly, even if Labour get in can't see Keith scrapping the Tories vanity project.
 
I appreciate the comments above. The way the whole thing has been managed has been a total farce for a long time. The confusion linked in the article, just the most recent act of ******* off anybody who hears about the project.

But regardless of all of the above, HS2 is vitally needed infrastructure for capacity reasons across the whole network in the country.

The time savings to Birmingham etc were always a red herring, a total fcuk up from the start in regard to people's expectations. The problem is that like everything else that this government is involved in, they are absolutely useless.

It shouldn't be this or another project. We should be improving all of the victorian network, committed to creating jobs over the long term with long term investment in all transport across the whole country and getting ourselves into the 21st century.

The low lending rates of the past decade or more have been totally wasted by these corrupt chunts
 
Always struggled to fathom this project. The Tories claimed that making the London - Birmingham journey 20 minutes quicker would be absolutely transformational for the UK economy.

Now I might only be a council lad from Middlesbrough but how exactly??
 
kuepper said:
If true it'll be as quick to get to Euston from Manchester on existing track, the billions wasted. My problem is getting to Manchester in the first place due to cuts in local bus and train services, that's where the money should have been spent - on reducing fares too, ours are so high they are no deterrent to the car
Click to expand...
Although they’ve clarified it will go to central London, I will be amazed if it ever reaches Manchester. Obviously the quicker line may be of benefit, but it’ll shave 15 minutes off the journey rather than the previously promised hour. And not until about 2038 or later. Absolutely no bang for buck whatsoever.

I know lots of things look easier in hindsight but I genuinely knew it would end up like this and said so 10 years ago. Incompetence on an immeasurable scale.
 
morrissey said:
Always struggled to fathom this project. The Tories claimed that making the London - Birmingham journey 20 minutes quicker would be absolutely transformational for the UK economy.

Now I might only be a council lad from Middlesbrough but how exactly??
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The idea is that it will free up capacity on the other lines etc and speed up other services that use that portion of track. Of course, it is and always was a complete load of horsesh1t that someone somewhere will have made a gigantic amount of cash from, but for whom the British public will see virtually no benefit. Even the Brummies never wanted it. Shambles, makes me so angry.
 
morrissey said:
Always struggled to fathom this project. The Tories claimed that making the London - Birmingham journey 20 minutes quicker would be absolutely transformational for the UK economy.

Now I might only be a council lad from Middlesbrough but how exactly??
Click to expand...
The line cuts out almost all the failed victorian infrastructure - with an end-to-end signalling system, tunnels, long straight sections, new viaducts, etc - purpose built(y)

The issue we have with the whole British Railway system, is that huge chunks of it were built from 1850 / 50 onwards. We are using infrastructure which was designed for steam engines, with semaphore signals and tight bends, narrow tunnels and steep gradients. Much of our railway was built to carry coal and large areas of the country are effected by subsidence and, therefore, speed restrictions. Many of the railway`s junctions are on-the-level and in Britain we dont like fast turn-out facing points. Many stations have limited room for expansion - like Kings Cross and St Pancras. Birmingham New Street is totally unfit for purpose - a narrow bottle neck and a level of comfort more befitting a rat in the London Underground. More thought given to supporting the concrete shopping centre above than the station itself. Our railways were bankrupt and worn out by the end of WWII and Natioinalisation saved them from total collapse. The rest is history. Governments saw its aquisition as a chance to prune the system, prioritise the car [Hellow Earnest Marples] and ultimately under-invest and give it to private companies and foreign state railways for a penny! The taxpayer pays into private shareholders pockets and we see the results. Thats why the system is flipped!
 
Makes no sense for it to only go to Old Oak Common.

The H2 is supposed to be making Birmingham to London half an hour quicker, but if you're only getting to OOC, it's going to take more than half an hour to get from OOC to central London?
 
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