HS2 - Birmingham to Manchester scrapped.

[yeseye]

And it would free up the existing lines for more freight trains potentially taking more lorries off the road

They’re looking for 60,000 apparently!

 

[Blue Llama]

Daft concept to start with. HS2 would shave about 15 minutes off the London to Manchester time. It only takes 2 hours now, what's the problem with that?

 

[toffee balls]

I'm hoping you mean the op's pal?

HS2 will not , cannot , be shelved.

 

[ysmsa]

Where have you heard this ?

Twitter, where else!

 

[hammocity]

The transpennine route badly needs sorting out, a 70 miles round trip from Tameside to Sheffield is now average around 2 and a half hours, should be 90 minutes, has cost and continues to cost businesses untold misery and expense.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

The transpennine route badly needs sorting out, a 70 miles round trip from Tameside to Sheffield is now average around 2 and a half hours, should be 90 minutes, has cost and continues to cost businesses untold misery and expense.

Manchester to Leeds and Sheffield should be under 45 minutes and Leeds to Sheffield should be similar. It's a joke. Leeds to York should be 15/20 minutes too.

 

[dickie davies]

And it would free up the existing lines for more freight trains potentially taking more lorries off the road

That my friend is a huge misconception
If we lived in a ginormous country, then yes
But we are on a relatively small island where loading freight onto a train doesn't make any commercial sense
As an example, a manufacturer in Kent produces a container of goods destined for Manchester
At the moment it's collected and driven round the m25/40/6 and 56 to its destination which would take 6 hours and cost around £600
If it was on a train, it needs to be collected, taken to a rail hub, unloaded then loaded onto a train and when it reaches Manchester, taken off again, then delivered
The cost will have at least trebled as well as the time

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Re-use the canal network…

 

[maccieblue]

Possibly between London and Manchester it might not be cost effective
But there is not enough capacity to cope with the existing freight trains on the west coast and East Coast main lines. Last year I stayed in a hotel in York next to the railway line and all night every 30 mins a freight train went past

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

Possibly between London and Manchester it might not be cost effective
But there is not enough capacity to cope with the existing freight trains on the west coast and East Coast main lines. Last year I stayed in a hotel in York next to the railway line and all night every 30 mins a freight train went past

freight should be moved at night, same with the post airplanes.

 

[Mike N]

You only need to travel abroad to see what an absolutely crap train system we have. Another example of British Exceptionalism.

 

[maccieblue]

freight should be moved at night, same with the post airplanes.

I agree, but the nightime capacity is obviously full freeing up the capacity in the day time should "in theory" reduce transport costs

 

[dickie davies]

Possibly between London and Manchester it might not be cost effective
But there is not enough capacity to cope with the existing freight trains on the west coast and East Coast main lines. Last year I stayed in a hotel in York next to the railway line and all night every 30 mins a freight train went past

If you have 60 trucks of a product to shift from one single point to another, then yes the train works, but that scenario is only a very small fraction of the freight being moved
Hs2 is all about a Cameron/Osborne legacy and a bit of prestige for a city that has a high speed rail line
It's yesterday's technology that if ever completed would almost be obsolete

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

I agree, but the nightime capacity is obviously full freeing up the capacity in the day time should "in theory" reduce transport costs

once every half hour doesn't sound full.

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

You only need to travel abroad to see what an absolutely crap train system we have. Another example of British Exceptionalism.

Even down to the trains themselves. The double deckers in continental Europe piss all over even the best of our newer trains (GWR SW-London) for comfort and space.

 

[maccieblue]

You only need to travel abroad to see what an absolutely crap train system we have. Another example of British Exceptionalism

If you have 60 trucks of a product to shift from one single point to another, then yes the train works, but that scenario is only a very small fraction of the freight being moved
Hs2 is all about a Cameron/Osborne legacy and a bit of prestige for a city that has a high speed rail line
It's yesterday's technology that if ever completed would almost be obsolete

HS 1 in Kent and London has been a success.
As I've already stated freight capacity is full on both East and West cost main lines so the demand must be there admittedly probably not to and from Manchester but at the moment the west coast line as far as crewe is still at maximum capacity day and night

 

[Kompany Car]

Have no problem with them stopping the northern section as long as the majority of the money still gets spent on infrastructure in the north.
Quite a lot of the work on HS2 was going to form part of the rail improvements been made for the Northern Powerhouse. If HS2 gets canned then that work around Crewe and on the approach to Manchester still needs doing or Northern Powerhouse Rail won’t achieve its goal.
In relation to a better link between Manchester and Sheffield I see that they have also done away with constructing a new Trans-Pennine tunnel as it’s too hard, which would have given an alternative to the M62, the proposal also included a rail link into the north side of Sheffield.

 

[maccieblue]

once every half hour doesn't sound full.

There has to be a distance between each train especially heavy freight. I would imagine they take some stopping at full speed. But yes you might be able to get more trains per hour

 

[Kompany Car]

Even down to the trains themselves. The double deckers in continental Europe piss all over even the best of our newer trains (GWR SW-London) for comfort and space.

Old infrastructure is the issue. The trains have to fit the gauge clearances and through the tunnels ,most of which were built over 100 yrs ago.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

There has to be a distance between each train especially heavy freight. I would imagine they take some stopping at full speed. But yes you might be able to get more trains per hour

stick 'em all together, job done.