HS2 contracts opened up to Chinese!.....

[Nibble]

Yeah you're right. What do the Chinese know about high speed rail...

They know aot about crashing on them!

 

[Pevenseagull]

There's no real rules to bend to be quite frank. You simply add some stuff specific to the company you prefer and voila, the contract is awarded by default. The Germans have been doing this for years.

It would always happen in Germany

 

[beorhthelm]

i see that the detail that its mainly about investment to pay for the construction has been lost.

 

[Martlet]

So the trend for increasing rail use began whilst the Railways were publicly owned.

Umm - not exactly. Nationalisation precipated a decline in both passenger journeys and passenger miles (under Beeching), whilst they stagnated in public ownership, and were declining immediately before privatisation. Agreed - this was the result of criminal levels of under-investment, but there's no doubt that, whatever anyone thinks of it, privatisation has led to a huge increase in rail travel (and hence the need for major infrastructure improvement that HS2 is trying to solve).

 

[Man of Harveys]

but there's no doubt that, whatever anyone thinks of it, privatisation has led to a huge increase in rail travel.

Erm, I doubt that very much. One could even argue that the recent spike in rail demand has happened despite the appalling industry fragmentation and lack of focus on passenger needs that are some of the inevitable results of privatization.

Do you honestly think many people have thought "Well, it does cost a lot more than it used to and it's a lot more unreliable. But they have painted the same old trains a different colour again so hang it, let's go and stand up on them for an hour"?

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Not looked through the pages except the first.
This is old news my piss has been boiling for a week after the announcement was made when our clown of a PM was in China.
They said that China had a large high speed network so we need their expertise building it.
They may not get it but I think it's a done deal Cameron wants massive Chinese investment in this country and this is the sweetener.
British engineers could build this railway with their eyes shut.