[Travel] HS2 to be scrapped?

[jackalbion]

Veteran Guardian journalist Simon Jenkins in a long radio interview, was surprisingly against the entire HS2 project. His rationale made sense. If capacity was the real reason, for a small country why did it have to have TGV/bullet train speeds, at a cost of £100b. It won’t take hardly any cars off the road. It won’t level up, if anything London will gain again. Why not spend a far smaller sum on improving train networks across the north?

Because capacity is the real reason and now we have a pointless, Acton to Aston shuttle, we will not improve anything to fix capacity because there isn’t the space near Piccadilly. There will be no levelling up of train services in Manchester because there is no more room on the tracks around Piccadilly, it’s full. Being in the industry, the only reason that can point to why this has been cancelled is some Ernest Marples car scheme. There is no way to fix Manchester Piccadilly station without a whole new line.

 

[Weststander]

I'm all for advancement for the greater good.
But yr comments of boo hoo, putting up with a bit of noise don't really work, if yr not in amongst it.
As I've already mentioned, I'm a mile from the HS2 development and the noise and lorry traffic ain't funny.
Constant road closures also add to the shit show that is HS2.
Just my opinion.

HS2 phase one to Brum will likely open in 2033, but we know these things always go wrong. The Manchester section (when Starmer reinstates it December next) 2040. 20 years to build one line to increase capacity. The cost then with inflation, certainly not £100b.

I didn’t really take an interest until now, I favour railways. But this in time and money has got out of control. Some businesses and folk are getting extremely rich on this.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Sky saying scrapped.

Northern leg of HS2 to Manchester will be scrapped

After weeks of speculation, the high-speed rail line between Birmingham and Manchester is set to be shelved, Sky News understands - although Number 10 has said "no final decisions have been taken".

news.sky.com

Well I'm glad someone has made a decision, if it was left to Sunak we'd still be considering the options after both me and him are long gone. It's his f***ing decision FFS

 

[jackalbion]

HS2 phase one to Brum will likely open in 2033, but we know these things always go wrong. The Manchester section (when Starmer reinstates it December next) 2040. 20 years to build one line to increase capacity. The cost then with inflation, certainly not £100b.

I didn’t really take an interest until now, I favour railways. But this in time and money has got out of control. Some businesses and folk are getting extremely rich on this.

Failing to plan for future capacity in 2033 and 2040 is what has caused an absolute mess of a system now. The infrastructure on the WCML is at bursting. You cannot sixtuple the line, that wouldn’t work, this was the way out of the capacity problem and it’s been closed again.

 

[Weststander]

Because capacity is the real reason and now we have a pointless, Acton to Aston shuttle, we will not improve anything to fix capacity because there isn’t the space near Piccadilly. There will be no levelling up of train services in Manchester because there is no more room on the tracks around Piccadilly, it’s full. Being in the industry, the only reason that can point to why this has been cancelled is some Ernest Marples car scheme. There is no way to fix Manchester Piccadilly station without a whole new line.

Thinking about your helpful recent comments about Piccadilly, I wondered if it could be rebuilt downwards as a through-flow major station? Look at the engineering obstacles overcome for Crossrail, I think some other cities in the world have done this.

At great cost, but seeing that our railway projects now cost 12 figures!

 

[jackalbion]

Thinking about your helpful recent comments about Piccadilly, I wondered if it could be rebuilt downwards as a through-flow major station? Look at the engineering obstacles overcome for Crossrail, I think some other cities in the world have done this.

At great cost, but seeing that our railway projects now cost 12 figures!

That wouldn’t work, because the trains have to terminate at Piccadilly, and have to have sufficient turnaround time, and trains need to traverse the ladder to cross through. Cancelling HS2 will screw any plans, it’s just baffling that anyone who would be pro rail would support this, there won’t be funds for local rail and they can’t cope as it stands. The Number 1 problems in train planning at the moment is capacity and stock availability.

 

[A1X]

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Richie Rich is continuing to deny he plans to scrap.

I'm guessing the decision will be made by the wind direction signalled from the latest focus group (one due to report at 20.00 and the next at 20.30).

If ever there was a decision made entirely on the basis of how each option will play among the electorate, this is it.

 

[AmexRuislip]

HS2 phase one to Brum will likely open in 2033, but we know these things always go wrong. The Manchester section (when Starmer reinstates it December next) 2040. 20 years to build one line to increase capacity. The cost then with inflation, certainly not £100b.

I didn’t really take an interest until now, I favour railways. But this in time and money has got out of control. Some businesses and folk are getting extremely rich on this.

There's always someone who wants to make a quick , but isn't that the way of the world at the moment.
Even our local footy club, Hillingdon Borough are using their car park as an overflow for the HS2 workers......

 

[essbee1]

The overflow car park at ZSL near Regent's Park used by HS2 lorries f****d up the badger population
there too. Another reason to despise everything about HS2.

 

[essbee1]

Hedgehogs rather.

 

[beorhthelm]

does anyone think HS2 non-decision is simply a distraction for media and public to chew on and burn time, rather than other issues? just seen BBC Breakfast burning time trying to get an decision out of him and wonder what else they could have been asking about.

 

[Hugo Rune]

does anyone think HS2 non-decision is simply a distraction for media and public to chew on and burn time, rather than other issues? just seen BBC Breakfast burning time trying to get an decision out of him and wonder what else they could have been asking about.

Yes.

I think you are right.

Ditching the northern leg of HS2 is controversial but not really on a par to what the Tories have done to the NHS in the last 10 years or the absolute clusterfudge they’ve created in the asylum system.

I see that the Express is loyally pedalling their propaganda this morning on their front page. Sunak is of course, the ‘change candidate’.

 

[Husty]

The overflow car park at ZSL near Regent's Park used by HS2 lorries f****d up the badger population
there too. Another reason to despise everything about HS2.

Oh god this is embarrassing, I didn’t realised I’d been wheeled in my a parody account.

 

[sparkie]

does anyone think HS2 non-decision is simply a distraction for media and public to chew on and burn time, rather than other issues? just seen BBC Breakfast burning time trying to get an decision out of him and wonder what else they could have been asking about.

It stops them asking about whether Sunak has provided all his Covid Inquiry WhatsApp messages.

 

[Rookie]

Fingers crossed the cancellation splits the Conservative Party (even more), forces Sunak out and a semi competent government comes in.
Probably wishing for a bit too much there though I guess.

 

[A1X]

does anyone think HS2 non-decision is simply a distraction for media and public to chew on and burn time, rather than other issues? just seen BBC Breakfast burning time trying to get an decision out of him and wonder what else they could have been asking about.

Sort of, I also think it’s a case of seeing what the reaction to doing it is before deciding whether to or not

 

[beorhthelm]

Sort of, I also think it’s a case of seeing what the reaction to doing it is before deciding whether to or not

that was my orginal theory, expecting a "tada!" announcement during the conferance. its shifted to "taking time to look at" so unlikely anything this week.

 

[POSKETT AT THE VALLEY]

All those houses repossessed, families displaced and green belt eroded away. And for what?
Complete disgrace.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

All those houses repossessed, families displaced and green belt eroded away. And for what?
Complete disgrace.

Ancient woodland felled as well!