H.S.2

The whole thing will probably rumble on for a few years and governments, then at one election or another the incoming government will cancel the whole thing on cost grounds claiming to save the taxpayer £gazillions, conveniently forgetting of course that treble that sum has already been spent with nothing to show worth mentioning.

I think you might be on the money there Charlie. Please excuse the pun.

Dave.

I’ll see your £100 billion and raise you £50 billion.

It wil be more like £100 billion, the cost of the new carriers are now at £6 billion (double the estimate) and they arn’t finished yet.

As Mrs CH constantly reminds me!!:D

Food for thought Chas…………………Only the good die young, so us old bugg**s should be O.K.

Jim.
Lincoln .7

And in the unlikely event that that it does finally go ahead we and one or two others here won’t live to see it, Linc!!:D

Alan. T.B.H. I don’t think it will ever get off the ground, I would rather see better Motorways built, and the speed limit thereon raised to 80 MPH.
But being an old git of a “Petrol Head”, I’m bound to say that, arnt I?.
Jim.
Lincoln .7

Ont Telly tonight, it seems that IF they build the new Rail Link, it will “Only” cost 40.2 Billion Pounds. That’s at todays prices. Probably be finished in 2020?

Jim.
Lincoln .7

If it does ever get started, perhaps you should run a book on it’s final cost and completion date Jim ?

I reckon it will be closer to £60billion than 40, and finished in late 2021.

With the head honcho getting a knighthood from the king.

If it does ever get completed, one of the first effects will be an increase in house prices in the midlands. As it will
become the new London commuter belt.

“Right Fred, take this bright idea, and put it in the shredder”,…………Now, what other bright idea will be next?,that we can spend money we havn’t got on?.

Jim.
Lincoln .7

Well that’s been the cry of all the regions outside the HS2 catchment area since day 1. If the government relaunches it any more times it will be approaching farce!!

Some thoughts from Fraser Nelson today..

“The irony is that HS2 is not modern. What seemed futuristic in the Nineties seems far less so now, when the economy is evolving in ways that rapidly diminish the premium placed on high-speed rail travel. Look abroad, and it’s falling apart everywhere. A high-speed service between Lisbon and Madrid was abandoned last year. A bullet train connecting the Netherlands and Belgium lasted two months before it was abandoned earlier this year, due to technical chaos. The Los Angeles to San Francisco project is becoming a scandal: expected ticket prices have been increased by 50 per cent and anticipated passenger numbers have halved. All these joys are awaiting Britain, should we be foolish enough to proceed.
It’s far from clear that the project will even help the North. Prof Henry Overman, who quit as an HS2 adviser when he realised that almost no one had a proper grip on the project, now warns that these huge trains will give southern businesses quicker access to northern markets. Therefore the direct benefits of the project, he says, “flow disproportionately to London and the South East” – precisely the opposite of its intentions.
Over the summer, HS2 has lost not just its economic and environmental rationale but its popular support. When the Department for Transport took a poll two years ago, it found just 9 per cent against the idea. Now a survey by YouGov finds that a majority of us, 53 per cent, are against. Most worryingly for Mr Osborne, the opposition to HS2 grows harder the further north you travel – being strongest in Scotland and the North. Londoners like HS2 most. Yet again, this is the exact opposite to what is supposed to happen.”

Getting back ont thread, in todays copy of The Cornishman, they are stating that if HS 2 goes ahead, the Cornish Industry, (Small though it may be) will lose Millions.

They would like to see a better service of rail network to Cornwall, and within Cornwall.

Jim.
Lincoln .7

Only up to 1956, it all stopped when I started…………..:o

Jim.
Lincoln .7

I certainly have memories from the 50s of broken trains, slow trains, diverted trains and late trains and delayed trains. But it’s what happened. It was irritating but soon forgotten. And if you were late for school as a result so, much the better….!!:)

It is because everything today is recorded ,accountable and in a blame culture somebody has to blame someone else therefore more is made of it.Under BR it was all in house so things were sorted out without so much fuss and fanfare as today.
I bet trains were cancelled in the old days but it wasn’t broadcast like now.
Leaves on the line are-were a major problem because modern traction have disc brakes and not brake blocks and the weight and speeds of the trains are different.A loco weighs as much as a whole train today.
Things are better with the rail head treatment trains nowadays but it was a lesson learnt.
Nowadays we have 2 minutes to fault find before the cut and run policy starts [detraining passengers to get the train moved aside],in the old days you stayed until the fault was fixed and the train was dragged away.You also had more branch lines,detours ,diversionary routes than today,routes are cut back to the bone.

Rose tinted spectacles, perhaps, Linc….:)

Gary, I am NOT anti rail, I just drew on my 6yrs of repairing the engines, being on the Breakdown Crew etc, that in my memories, I don’t remember all the excuses they pump out now, as to why trains arrive late, snow, leafs etc. But your a bit too young to know that, (Lucky sod)…Steam engines rule………..bring em back,,,,,,,,,:D

Jim.
Lincoln .7

I agree with what you say, but build what?. Most of what we get from contracts, is provided for by other Countries. Our once great industrial standing in the World, has long since gone, Cruise Lines, Ships etc, are farmed out by the ruling Government instead of helping struggling Companies, in THIS Country.
Jim.
Lincoln .7

Jim, i am surprised at your anti railway stance at the moment.Most of the trains DO arrive within 5 mins ,and to be honest i feel that anything within 10 minutes should be acceptable.We don’t live oin a perfect world and to be honest if a train getting in 10 mins late makes that much of a difference then really you should’ve caught an earlier train.We have more trains running now and cramming passengers in the whole system is stressed.
For a comparison ,listen to the travel news on the radio and see how many times the A14 is at a standstill somewhere.
I think you need to ask a simple question,
Do you want a better system or not.
If yes then you HAVE to start from fresh and spend money.
If NO then accept what you have.

I don’t know why we’re bothering with this argument.

Someone will find that the proposed HS2 line crosses a badger sett, and that will be it for another five years.

Why can’t we just get on and build things in this country?