HS2, whats the current status ?

[steveT350C]

My parents met a lady recently who works at Checkers, not sure what doing, but she was categorical is saying that HS2 will NOT go ahead.

My parents are pretty astute and, fingers crossed, believe her.

[J4CKO]

BlackLabel said:

"The high-speed railway known as HS2 has cost more than £2bn of public money even before the legislation to build it has been passed by parliament."

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/2bn-spent-a...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3795113/Co...

"The newspaper also reported how HS2 had splashed out on a 'ridiculous' number of ecology and wildlife surveys. One farmer, Robert Brown, said he had been visited 46 times since January - at a cost of £200-£300 each time."

That is comical, it will never happen will it ?

[Sheepshanks]

steveT350C said:

My parents met a lady recently who works at Checkers, not sure what doing,

Flipping burgers, presumably.

[MarshPhantom]

Why do they keep saying it's still on schedule when no work has started yet?

Can't die soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

[MarshPhantom]

loafer123 said:

BlackLabel said:

"The high-speed railway known as HS2 has cost more than £2bn of public money even before the legislation to build it has been passed by parliament."

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/2bn-spent-a...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3795113/Co...

"The newspaper also reported how HS2 had splashed out on a 'ridiculous' number of ecology and wildlife surveys. One farmer, Robert Brown, said he had been visited 46 times since January - at a cost of £200-£300 each time."

Blame the legislation, not HS2. Given how many newts found on development sites, it is a wonder they haven't become our overlords.

If one thing can unite this divided, post-brexit nation it's the fact that HS2 is an absolutely fking awful idea.

[l354uge]

its a good idea, but one that won't work in todays Britain, far too much red tape.

Like other have said, reopen the midland mainline, and use that for freight. A lot less ponds and houses to buyout/move.

[ralphrj]

l354uge said:

reopen the midland mainline

When did it close?

[l354uge]

bks, meant the grand central

[mcdjl]

l354uge said:

bks, meant the grand central

great central...
Except it went to Nottingham, no Birmingham amongst other issues.

[l354uge]

Doesn't really matter if its only used for freight (its original purpose), and it already runs close to lines connecting to DIRFT and Hams hall

[robinessex]

l354uge said:

Doesn't really matter if its only used for freight (its original purpose), and it already runs close to lines connecting to DIRFT and Hams hall

Isn't it ironic, that Beeching, hailed as a visionary, got it mostly wrong. If he'd at least said that no redundant track was to be removed, and the routes pathway left open, it would have invaluable now to resurrect.

[l354uge]

robinessex said:

l354uge said:

Doesn't really matter if its only used for freight (its original purpose), and it already runs close to lines connecting to DIRFT and Hams hall

Isn't it ironic, that Beeching, hailed as a visionary, got it mostly wrong. If he'd at least said that no redundant track was to be removed, and the routes pathway left open, it would have invaluable now to resurrect.

There are many things to be said about his actions, but I don't think he alone can be held accountable, we have a long history of building over damaged 'history' with something that soon becomes much worse. look at what town planners have done to Plymouth, Coventry etc in their 'rebirth'

So much short-sightedness when it comes to our infrastructure.

[robinessex]

HS2: Government insists controversial rail line will be built

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/government...

The controversial HS2 rail line “will be built”, the Government has insisted.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling believes the case for the controversial project is "as strong as ever" as the rail network rapidly approaches "crunch-point".
“Creaking” Victorian lines will be unable to cope with growing demand as the country's population continues to grow, he will tell a HS2 conference today.
Mr Grayling will tell the meeting in London: "We're not backing away from HS2. The case is as strong as ever.
"We need this railway. And if we're going to build it, let's make it state-of-the-art, fit for the decades of growth ahead.

[FourWheelDrift]

Perhaps they should have a referendum and understand the public opinion.

[robinessex]

New West Coast rail franchise to run HS2 services

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37869643

A new rail franchise combining the current InterCity West Coast main line with HS2 high-speed services has been announced by the government.
The new franchise will be called the West Coast Partnership and is scheduled to start on 1 April, 2019.
The operator will be responsible for services on both the West Coast Main Line from 2019 and running the initial HS2 services in 2026.
Construction of the HS2 line is scheduled to begin next year.
It is planned that HS2 will eventually link London, Birmingham, the East Midlands, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.
The contract will run for the first three to five years of HS2's operation.

So it's all decided then is it? The biggest white elephant ever.

[bobski1]

MarshPhantom said:

robinessex said:

New West Coast rail franchise to run HS2 services

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37869643

A new rail franchise combining the current InterCity West Coast main line with HS2 high-speed services has been announced by the government.
The new franchise will be called the West Coast Partnership and is scheduled to start on 1 April, 2019.
The operator will be responsible for services on both the West Coast Main Line from 2019 and running the initial HS2 services in 2026.
Construction of the HS2 line is scheduled to begin next year.
It is planned that HS2 will eventually link London, Birmingham, the East Midlands, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.
The contract will run for the first three to five years of HS2's operation.

So it's all decided then is it? The biggest white elephant ever.

Nice one, great work Theresa.

The whole things stinks of dodgy deals with buddys within government.

[robinessex]

HS2: Ministers confirm North West and Yorkshire routes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37981840

The government has confirmed the route for the second phase of the high-speed rail line HS2, from Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to Leeds.
The government says it will boost the economy by billions of pounds.

The last line. I'm afraid it's bks. How many governmnet ventures promise cost savings, which never happen.

[FredClogs]

I'm so torn on this...

I support government spending on infrastructure and our country needs a 21st century transport system intercity.

But...

The argument against sound pretty convincing, it does seem to be all about connecting everything to London rather than cities to cities and I've no doubt the costs will run away and they'll be endemic corruption and technical bodges.

[hornetrider]

Did I hear on the wireless this morning that the projected journey time from Manchester to London was 1hr 8 mins? Regardless of the rights and wrongs, that's pretty impressive. I can well imagine lots of people working in the City daily 'commuting' from the North.... pushing up house prices

[Digga]

FredClogs said:

I'm so torn on this...

I support government spending on infrastructure and our country needs a 21st century transport system intercity.

But...

The argument against sound pretty convincing, it does seem to be all about connecting everything to London rather than cities to cities and I've no doubt the costs will run away and they'll be endemic corruption and technical bodges.

IKWYM. The additional blindspot is that our whole transport infrastructure is very North-South biased, without much East-West interconnectivity or redundancy of routes. One decent smash on the M6 or M1 and large bits of the road network grind to a halt for the rest of the day.