HS2 - Cancel it now

[RadcliffeRick]

I think they have been pissing on the upgrades. We still have the 'buses on wheels' creaking through Littleborough.

I was watching great British rail journeys over the weekend. Was was struck by how old and dated Northern Rail rolling stock is compared with other regions. As a non resident and non rail user I may be wrong, but every time I am back in the UK and get a Northern rail train it seems to be a "bus on Wheels".

 

[jayfx]

I hope it doesn’t reach us.

We need a Liverpool to Leeds line far more than we need a Manchester to London line.

Haha, no chance mate. Not in the North!
They've been campaigning for a bypass to link Manchester and South Yorkshire for 50 years. Instead we've got the Woodhead Pass that is hundreds of years old and gets closed regularly due to bad weather or trucks getting stuck.
What's in a bypass for London? Nothing, so fuck the North they can make do with that old salt road.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

I was watching great British rail journeys over the weekend. Was was struck by how old and dated Northern Rail rolling stock is compared with other regions. As a non resident and non rail user I may be wrong, but every time I am back in the UK and get a Northern rail train it seems to be a "bus on Wheels".

They do have better ones. I got a goody bag off 'em some months ago on Victoria for taking part in their survey about which seats they should have. I think they have upgraded the insides of some of the post-bus on wheels trains. And then they do have some brand new spiffing carriages but they are going on the Preston line to Manchester I think - until some Dippers nick 'em and we find 'em on the Bootle line!

 

[s1ty m]

I walk my dogs on the abandoned railway line near Kenilworth. I think part of the trackbed is going to be used for HS2. There are teams of workers buzzing around all the time. It won't be cancelled, I wouldn't have thought.

 

[dickie davies]

I walk my dogs on the abandoned railway line near Kenilworth. I think part of the trackbed is going to be used for HS2. There are teams of workers buzzing around all the time. It won't be cancelled, I wouldn't have thought.

Boris will review it. Hunt is all for it

There was an hour this morning on 5live regards getting people using trains rather than planes and one transport worker said that all the rail investment is London centric

 

[DiscoSteve]

1. anyone who thinks this is completely unnecessary has no clue
2. this is about capacity not speed
3. the very act of building it will shove billions into the construction industry and retain skills we're in danger of losing
4. will indeed get Manchester to London down to 68 minutes - scousers not so lucky ha ha...
5. its started already and much like the aircraft carriers, there's no turning back, at least not on the Brum to London bit

 

[fredmont]

Whenever has a major rail project been brought in on time and on budget?

West coast main line overran by years and should have been 160 mph linespeed but only managed 140mph. Loads of Yankee mangers imported for their expertise, on humongous wages too. Some stayed so long they were able to get British citizenship ( that doent mean they became City supporters).

Crossrail literally years behind

'Great' Western years behind

Channel tunnel - debt write off of £ 3400m with a negative NPV of -£8billion (whatever that means!)

Only God knows how much HS2 will cost and when it will be completed.. You atheists will have less of a clue.

I tell you now, it will be nowhere near on budget, and nowhere near on time.

You could be lucky though, you may be one of the huge numbers of lucky f*ckers who are going to make a fortune out of the balls up.

 

[TheBlueDune]

It's completely unnecessary and is causing huge amounts of disruption to large parts of the country that will see absolutely no benefit from it whatsoever.

The transport links into London are fine as they are. Not amazing, but perfectly adequate. [/B]Particularly as the trend of remote working is only going to speed up over the coming years.[/B]

It's the links between the rest of the country that are a disgrace and require urgent attention and funding. The pursuit of HS2 shows zero foresight and zero understanding of the future of work. No surprise then that it was David Cameron's idea.

Fewer traveling commuters is what's needed, not billions spent on HS2.

 

[Blue Maverick]

They should put South Korean type broadband over the country for that cash, why travel when you could video conference etc save the planet as well.

 

[dickie davies]

1. anyone who thinks this is completely unnecessary has no clue
2. this is about capacity not speed
3. the very act of building it will shove billions into the construction industry and retain skills we're in danger of losing
4. will indeed get Manchester to London down to 68 minutes - scousers not so lucky ha ha...
5. its started already and much like the aircraft carriers, there's no turning back, at least not on the Brum to London bit

Capacity for what?
If you're talking commuters, there's lots of existing capacity that's not used because ticket prices are so high