New Soooper High Speed Train Link

[ProfJohnL]

Very well put Roger.

How often have we seen the possibility that a major event or investment that could go almost anywhere in the country, it end up in London.

 

[Gafferbill]

…….the best way to decentralise is to improve transport links.

HS2 is just the next link in having a modern railway connecting the UK with Europe.
London could be just a stop on the way if you were travelling from northern Cities.

HS1 has demonstrated that the construction industry can build such a line and blend it into the countryside in a remarkable way.
How many people know that HS1 involved a new Thames estuary crossing and other extensive tunnelling?
The River Medway HS1 Bridge is a masterpiece and can go unnoticed next to the M2 Road Bridge.
It also removed freight and passenger traffic from overcrowded suburban lines in the residential areas of South London.

 

[Parksy]

I'm not disputing that those countries railways weren't targetted or extensively damaged during the war, especially the German infrastructure like marshalling yards and motive power depots, but it was nowhere obliterated and it got repaired. The lines are still there and the French got away lightly compared to the Germans due to the risk of French citizens if they bombed railway stations for example.
The French were the first to build a new high speed line which wasn't started until the 70s and I believe it came into service about 1981. It wasn't until after this that other European countries followed suit. Germany, Holland, Italy and now Spain have their own high speed rail. It isn't finished yet though as you can see from the link I posted and France are still building more lines to link up with French cities. I suppose we could save money and stay as we are and become a living museum, a bit like the Black Country museum only on a grander scale

We have the high speed link to the continent and that's all we will need to bring the tourists to Timewarp Britain

We got rid of all the bottlenecks on the railways in Europe, it's true that marshalling yards were bombed rather than railway stations but more usual targets after 1943 were bridges, tunnels and even signal boxes, especially on French railways in order to inhibit troop movements.
As often as not rather than bombs the 2nd TAF used fighter bombers which used rocket projectiles which were just as effective for destroying railway infrastructure.

I struggle to see how shaving off ten minutes or thereabouts on rail journeys between Birmingham and London will benefit the rest of the country, I'd have been more impressed if some of the lines between towns and villages which were axed by Beeching were re-instated using 21st century rolling stock or even trams so that more people all over the UK could benefit.
The lines could be used for freight overnight as they were before closure in the 1950s and if shoppers, schoolchildren and workers could have access to cheap local trains or trams there would be less road traffic and possibly more jobs.
Many of the old trackways are still in existence in places, including next to the Black Country Living Museum so tourism would also get a boost.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

What good are railways that don't go where you want? They can't do anything that airlines can do. They don't go cross-country and you can't take a caravan !!!
The government should invest heavily in super broadband then business users wouldn't need to go anywhere - the railways have long since been irrelevant for leisure users.
If this country stopped being so damned London-centric and spread out across the whole country we wouldn't need high-speed anything to London.

First of all you criticise yourself by saying rail cannot do what airlines can do. Then you say that rail cannot take caravans yet you fail to show where airlines can

For your information you can now take your caravan through the tunnel on Eurostar and I haven't looked into it regarding caravans but you can use the motor rail service from Paris to the south of France.
Just one small point incase it's escaped your notice. Rail goes INTO cities, not 40 miles away from them. Another point is, if you look at the rail network, since privatisation there is a far better service regarding rail crossing the country.
You then say that super broadband should be invested into instead but that wont help me get from A to B for my holidays. Well at least not until super broadband is that powerful it will be able to teleport us there

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

I struggle to see how shaving off ten minutes or thereabouts on rail journeys between Birmingham and London will benefit the rest of the country

Again it's the same old chestnut of saving 10 minutes. Usually others add for the select few, business men who will be able to afford it.
Forget London, it's joining up with HS1 which then links up with the continent whose rail system has been far superior to ours for years.

 

[RogerL]

For your information you can now take your caravan through the tunnel on Eurostar and I haven't looked into it regarding caravans but you can use the motor rail service from Paris to the south of France.
You then say that super broadband should be invested into instead but that wont help me get from A to B for my holidays. Well at least not until super broadband is that powerful it will be able to teleport us there

HS2 is nothing to do with taking caravans to Europe.
Neither broadband or rail help with holidays - holidays resorts are out in the country not in cities.
If Londoners think the be-all and end-all of travel is to get to France then they should move there !!

 

[Surfer]

Maybe the government needs to invest in Star Trek technology and give us teleporters for instantaneous movement! LOL!

The woosie club can always use telepots!

 

[Gafferbill]

Please forgive me this tongue in cheek observation....

I struggle to see how shaving off ten minutes or thereabouts on rail journeys between Birmingham and London will benefit the rest of the country

I fail to see how this dangerous form of transport will ever catch on

Those two are nutters

 

[Parksy]

Again it's the same old chestnut of saving 10 minutes. Usually others add for the select few, business men who will be able to afford it.
Forget London, it's joining up with HS1 which then links up with the continent whose rail system has been far superior to ours for years.

I can accept your point that HS2 may provide easier access to the rest of Europe but be careful what you wish for!
With the Eurozone facing the very real prospect of financial meltdown competition for jobs and resources is going to intensify dramatically.
Maybe some of the money earmarked for HS2 would be better spent improving rail infrastructure for those of us who live here with a portion of it used to finance a binding UK referendum on EU membership and to strengthen border controls.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

I can accept your point that HS2 may provide easier access to the rest of Europe but be careful what you wish for!
With the Eurozone facing the very real prospect of financial meltdown competition for jobs and resources is going to intensify dramatically.
Maybe some of the money earmarked for HS2 would be better spent improving rail infrastructure for those of us who live here with a portion of it used to finance a binding UK referendum on EU membership and to strengthen border controls.

I'm not disputing that what we already have needs to be better but, although I hate to say it, the system is far better since privatisation. Before privatisation the railways were in a bad mess. One, because of lack of investment after the war in rolling stock and trackwork and two, because they had crap management who just wanted to empire build and treated the railways as if they were the four pre 1948 companies, GWR, LNER, LMS and Southern.
Another reason was Ernest Marples, the then Minister of Transport, brought in an accountant from ICI Fibres, the infamous Richard Beeching, to cut the railways. This was a Minister of Transport who owned Marples construction who built the M1 and the haulage firm, Marples Transport.
Regarding our border controls these could be improved immensely once we've left those unelected corrupt muppets in Brussels. Getting rid of the ECHR once we are free of their meddling is a priority and the rest will fall into place. The Martello towers are already there and wont need much money spent on upgrading them.

 

[Willi-Wonti]

I traveled from Birmingham New St to the NEC (Birmingham International) for the caravan show last October, via Virgin trains.
The first class carriages were almost empty whilst the second class were heaving. I imagine that the new HS2 trains will be only carrying business people that can afford the prices so the train will be almost empty.
I am told that a lot of airlines are having the same problem as companies can not afford business class

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

As I understand it most European countries have, or are in the process of building, high speed rail. The only one that's running at a loss is the Dutch hs rail. Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain and France who have them in situ are running at a profit.
What the costs will be nobody knows yet but short haul flights will soon be a thing of the past due to pricing, fuel consumption and the environmental damage they do.

 

[Willi-Wonti]

Traveling on British trains is the most expensive in Europe

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Traveling on British trains is the most expensive in Europe

A mate of mine travels to his daughters in Bromsgrove twice a week. How much do you think it costs, Hereford - Bromsgrove return?

£3.50.
There is no doubt that the fare structure needs sorting out and simplifying though. Also drivers are on a massive salary compared to what they used to be and I doubt very much if they get that salary on the continent except for the elite like those driving the TGV.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Earlier I stated that the high speed link would eventually reach China.
The Chinese have started at their end and this will link up with the Indian sub continent high speed line, a joint enterprise between Pakistan and India, which will eventually link up with the European high speed line which at the moment ends at Bucharest. The Turkish government are at the moment behind, like us, and are looking for sponsors to link the two systems up.
Pakistan prematurely have already started their service to London despite the whole line not being completed for many years yet.
No doubt when it's up and running it will be a lot cheaper than flying although not as quick. Due to oil shortages and the environmental impact air traffic has high speed rail is the way to go for the future.
I enclose a pic of the Islamabad-London high speed train despite the fact to complete the journey one will have to travel by bus, camel and routine rail travel.

The Islamabad-London high speed train

The Islamabad-London high speed train.

 

[Gafferbill]

Did I hear the man walking down the track shout………..

TICKETS PLEASE

 

[Sproket]

Did I hear the man walking down the track shout………..

TICKETS PLEASE

I thought he was the guinness world records adjudicator