Paid Members Ronnie Posted January 10, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 10, 2012 I asked my other half this same question when dropping her off this morning. She had pointed out that it's in no way "a blight on the countryside" as labelled by some (how are rail tracks noticeably visible to people in the vicinity in the same way that, say, an electricity pylon would be?) and I had countered that it seems a lot of investment and trouble just to cut her trips to London by 30 minutes.She pointed out to me that the presence of HS2 will free up the existing line for regional services. The current line is used by the Virgin trains (which travel fast), regional services, and freight trains. As things currently work, the Virgin trains sometimes have to slow right down because of the presence of the slower trains ahead, or the other trains have to be held aside for periods so that they won't act as obstructions to the Virgin trains.I don't know whether this justifies HS2, but at least it's another dimension to the argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 10, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 10, 2012 I asked my other half this same question when dropping her off this morning. She had pointed out that it's in no way "a blight on the countryside" as labelled by some (how are rail tracks noticeably visible to people in the vicinity in the same way that, say, an electricity pylon would be?) and I had countered that it seems a lot of investment and trouble just to cut her trips to London by 30 minutes.She pointed out to me that the presence of HS2 will free up the existing line for regional services. The current line is used by the Virgin trains (which travel fast), regional services, and freight trains. As things currently work, the Virgin trains sometimes have to slow right down because of the presence of the slower trains ahead, or the other trains have to be held aside for periods so that they won't act as obstructions to the Virgin trains.I don't know whether this justifies HS2, but at least it's another dimension to the argument.It is. The amount of times I've travelled that route over the years, it really is amazing to think that when I first started using it (in 2000) it took just under 3 hours to get from Manchester to Euston. Now it takes 2 hours, 5 minutes on average. They have done stunning work on the West Coast Mainline, and the Pendolinos have been fantastic additions to our national transport network. Our trains don't get much credit but on this front, they should.That said, it is a busy line and I think that the local services on it are being neglected as a result. Additionally, the branch that goes off to Birmingham is busy and they are not getting full value of Pendolinos up to Birmingham as a result. A specialist line just for high speed rail, especially if it will then benefit Manchester and Leeds if the additional branches are built (hasn't there been talk of an extension to Newcastle from Leeds as well?) is a good idea and not something we have.It is a hell of a lot of money, of course, but speaking entirely selfishly as someone who doesn't drive (I will be by then, almost certainly) but really likes travelling by train, I'm really looking forward to the prospect of HS2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiffy Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Not saying it's a bad idea necessarily, but to punt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary v1 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Project work such as this creates jobs though so there are other indirect benefits. Borrowing rates for the government are extremely low and we should take advantage of this by undertaking the odd big project like this to reduce unemployment and get some money moving.Also I fecking love trains Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Look, the big countries on the continent have had high speed rail for years and train travel over there is amazingly quick and painless, as well as fairly cheap. HS2 is just the first link in the chain of a high speed network that will let you take a train from Edinburgh to Madrid in a day. Opposing it is like opposing the first motorway, you're just standing in the way of important and inevitable progress.As someone who's lived next to a railway line for years, it's really not a big deal. I personally think trains are an attractive feature of a modern countryside, better than an extra 3 lanes on the M1 anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 10, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 10, 2012 Look, the big countries on the continent have had high speed rail for years and train travel over there is amazingly quick and painless, as well as fairly cheap.Precisely. It's absolute nonsense that we don't have a specialist high speed rail network over here considering the fact that trains have been such an integral part of our transport system for as long as anyone would care to mention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 As someone who's lived next to a railway line for years, it's really not a big deal. I personally think trains are an attractive feature of a modern countryside, better than an extra 3 lanes on the M1 anyway.Indeed. Anyone who cares even slightly for the environment would rather a rail service than another road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Halitosis Romantic Posted January 10, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 10, 2012 As someone who's lived next to a railway line for years, it's really not a big deal. I personally think trains are an attractive feature of a modern countryside, better than an extra 3 lanes on the M1 anyway.Indeed. Anyone who cares even slightly for the environment would rather a rail service than another road.I absolutely agree with you, David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 10, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 10, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Halitosis Romantic Posted January 10, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 10, 2012 Luddite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 10, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 10, 2012 Luddite.Moo needs to upgrade the servers before I can post a Pendolino smiley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Halitosis Romantic Posted January 10, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted January 10, 2012 And even then, there's snow on the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WU LYF 4 LYF Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Theoretically you'll be able to commute daily from Birmingham to London when the new line is in business. I like the idea, especially the Leeds>London route that takes 80 minutes instead of the current 160 minutes, makes travel between the north and the south a lot more streamlined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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