HS3 - What's the point?

[drew]

So Georgie boy is hoping to con the northern electorate that building them a high speed rail link between Leeds and Manchester will make these 'great cities of the north' a global powerhouse. So, are our northern comrades dumb enough to believe him or will they see through the charade? How much quicker do you need to get between Leeds and Manchester? According to National Rail enquiries, 52 mins by train and that includes stops at Dewsbury and Huddersfield or 4 minutes longer by car according to RAC Routeplanner (presumably based on observing the motorway speed limits).

 

[crodonilson]

So Georgie boy is hoping to con the northern electorate that building them a high speed rail link between Leeds and Manchester will make these 'great cities of the north' a global powerhouse. So, are our northern comrades dumb enough to believe him or will they see through the charade? How much quicker do you need to get between Leeds and Manchester? According to National Rail enquiries, 52 mins by train and that includes stops at Dewsbury and Huddersfield or 4 minutes longer by car according to RAC Routeplanner (presumably based on observing the motorway speed limits).

HS3 will cut journey times to 33 minutes.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

If the commute time was cut in half to 25 minutes the average house price might creep above £100k.

 

[sparkie]

HS3 will cut journey times to 33 minutes.

Woop-e-doo !

 

[Creaky]

Ask UKIP - they want a high spped link to Exeter as well as HS2 and HS3.

 

[drew]

HS3 will cut journey times to 33 minutes.

And that extra 20 minutes at your destination is going to turn the north into a global powerhouse how?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Nick Clegg likes this idea , being a Sheffield MP until next year even though if HS3 is ever built it wont be completed for two decades.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

And that extra 20 minutes at your destination is going to turn the north into a global powerhouse how?

Leeds for pigeon racing and Manchester as the media and digital capital of the north.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The thinking is that the Northern cities collectively could become something of a counterbalance to London, and only by linking them together more closely can this hope to be achieved. I see the logic in this thinking.

 

[jgmcdee]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just move Leeds left a bit and cut the journey time down that way?

 

[dougdeep]

More employment has to be good.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Have you ever suffered the Transpennine route. Slow deisel's (sp?), every hour if you are lucky, only four carriages each, and rammed like Japanese tube trains in the rush hour.

Then again, anything is better than the cesspit that is London

 

[drew]

The thinking is that the Northern cities collectively could become something of a counterbalance to London, and only by linking them together more closely can this hope to be achieved. I see the logic in this thinking.

I see the thinking but don't see the logic. The economic strength in London is not in greater London, it is in central London, quite a small area. The other thing, in 20 years time, are people going to be travelling around for meetings or will there be far more video conferencing?

 

[Weststander]

To make incredible money for a raft of construction companies, consultants, middle-men, suppliers and professionals.
The profit margins and profits are incredible, believe me, I've seen it.
The explosion in rail infrastructure spending over the last decade or 2, has given the people behind the aforementioned entities income and gains even they would never have dreamt of.

HS3 is going to be a bonanza.

 

[drew]

To make incredible money for a raft of construction companies, consultants, middle-men, suppliers and professionals.
The profit margins and profits are incredible, believe me, I've seen it.
The explosion in rail infrastructure spending over the last decade or 2, has given the people behind the aforementioned entities income and gains even they would never have dreamt of.

HS3 is going to be a bonanza.

But all those people already vote conservative!!!!

 

[Weststander]

But all those people already vote conservative!!!!

Surprisingly not. Know businessmen, all lifelong Labour voters from humble to average backgrounds, but the lure of the vast profits available from servicing the UK rail industry was too much to turn down. They still vote Labour - it's in their DNA.

 

[MarioOrlandi]

So how many jobs will it create in what is a traditional labour backwater? The last bunch of idiots only improved services and avoided job cuts in labour held seats.

 

[drew]

Surprisingly not. Know businessmen, all lifelong Labour voters from humble to average backgrounds, but the lure of the vast profits available from servicing the UK rail industry was too much to turn down. They still vote Labour - it's in their DNA.

I'm generalising. However, the vast majority will probably vote to protect their gravy train, so to speak!

 

[Mancgull]

Journey times from Manchester to Leeds and Sheffield are ridiculously slow. At present a Manchester to London train can take as little as 2 hours whereas it takes just over 50 minutes to go the 40 miles or so across the Pennines. If it can be done, then it should. Investment in infrastructure has lasting benefits for future generations.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I see the thinking but don't see the logic. The economic strength in London is not in greater London, it is in central London, quite a small area. The other thing, in 20 years time, are people going to be travelling around for meetings or will there be far more video conferencing?

London is like a magnet and there's no way Manchester or Birmingham will ever compete by themselves, yet we need to redistribute wealth and resources. I also think in some instances there's no substitution for face to face time.