When pandemic calms, should HS2 be cancelled?

[Dryce]

This is the conundrum.

You can adapt your heating system as you put more extensions on your house until it eventually packs up costing hundreds millions to repair it with gaffer tape and cable ties or do you build a nice new future-proof one that will still be a testament to British Civil engineering in 75 years time?

That is the UK rail network as it stands at the moment.

Well HS2 is like heating the upstairs with the boiler downstairs and some lovely pipes to connect that to the upstairs - and not a lot in between to keep the downstairs warm.

So yes - you very efficienty heat part of the house *but not the whole house*.

 

[Darrell]

Well HS2 is like heating the upstairs with the boiler downstairs and some lovely pipes to connect that to the upstairs - and not a lot in between to keep the downstairs warm.

So yes - you very efficienty heat part of the house *but not the whole house*.

In fact quite the opposite of what you said. HS2 will heat the bits in the middle.

Imagine the boiler (the important part) is downstairs. We will call that London.

You then have the middle bit. (not quite as important) We will call that Birmingham and Manchester.

You then have the top bit, the bit that the clever ones can’t wait to get away from. The bit that’s always cold and windy. Its the bit that nobody cares about. Shall we take the pipes up there? Nah! I wonder what we can call that bit?

 

[Jukie]

You then have the top bit, the bit that the clever ones can’t wait to get away from. The bit that’s always cold and windy. Its the bit that nobody cares about. Shall we take the pipes up there? Nah! I wonder what we can call that bit?

Paradise

 

[219]

But there have been some brilliantly executed civil engineering projects that were originally thought to be a waste of time, money etc that we now wonder how we carried on without them.



I’ll use this as an example.
Treno Alta Velocità - Wikipedia

Another one was the Edinburgh Trams , which were argued about for decades , eventually started , stalled , finally completed late and over budget .... and now they're extending them .

 

[markjay]

..You then have the top bit, the bit that the clever ones can’t wait to get away from. The bit that’s always cold and windy. Its the bit that nobody cares about. Shall we take the pipes up there? Nah! I wonder what we can call that bit?

Hot Stuff 2?

 

[Dryce]

In fact quite the opposite of what you said. HS2 will heat the bits in the middle.

Well if you redefine the analogy so that the gaps that are not served by HS2 no longer exist in the analogy .... then you can claim anything is the opposite of anything.

 

[markjay]

What moon landing ??

Come-on, be serious, you know what I am talking about.

First, they had to rent a huge hangar. Then, fill it with sand. Then, hire camera crews and stuntmen... etc etc. The cost must have been horrendous.

 

[Dryce]

Another one was the Edinburgh Trams , which were argued about for decades , eventually started , stalled , finally completed late and over budget .... and now they're extending them .

I think @Darrell used the phrase 'brilliantly executed'.

Doesn't that rather exclude Edinburgh's tram?

It was a fiasco that failed to actually complete. And is the "now they're extending them" actually the proposal to complete what wasn't finished (at extra cost)?

 

[Darrell]

Come-on, be serious, you know what I am talking about.

First, they had to rent a huge hangar. Then, fill it with sand. Then, hire camera crews and stuntmen... etc etc. The cost must have been horrendous.

I’m sure it’s true. I saw a movie about it.

 

[John N]

Come-on, be serious, you know what I am talking about.

First, they had to rent a huge hangar. Then, fill it with sand. Then, hire camera crews and stuntmen... etc etc. The cost must have been horrendous.

Everyone knows they saved money by using the Sand removed from the Tunnels in the "Great Escape"

 

[DoberMan]

If you think rail travel is expensive now, wait until HS2 comes along.

The only people who are going to be able to afford the ticket are business people on expenses or those earning more than average.

Joe public would rather pay less and take 20mins longer London -Birmingham.

In the future (many years from now) I envisage another 'Beechings Cut' whereby rail will become redundant.

Which would you rather?
Jump in your autonomous vehicle (you may not even own it but just hail it like a taxi) to take you and your luggage to your destination or faff about getting to a train station dragging your baggage along and possibly having to make several changes along the way to reach somewhere possibly near your final destination.



................perhaps those 'virtual meets' that someone posted on here recently will become a reality in the not too distant future..............we could start with a V8 meet with sound recordings of how it used to be in the 'good ole days'

 

[John N]

The only people who are going to be able to afford the ticket are business people on expenses or those earning more than average.

or faff about getting to a train station dragging your baggage along and possibly having to make several changes along the way to reach somewhere possibly near your final destination.

Doesn't one have "Staff" for such Menial Tasks?

Signed: Liz

 

[Petrol Pete]

Come-on, be serious, you know what I am talking about.

First, they had to rent a huge hangar. Then, fill it with sand. Then, hire camera crews and stuntmen... etc etc. The cost must have been horrendous.

Now that you put it like that....!

Capricorn one. Probably one of the daftest films ever made, but a good giggle all the same.

 

[Chrishazle]

When I was working in Baluchistan, Pakistan 1974/5, the landscape was so bleak and barren we used to joke that one day we'd prove NASA were lying by finding the lunar lander!

 

[Deleted member 149005]

HS2 decision...

HS2 construction gets green light despite lockdown

The government has given the high-speed rail project formal approval to start construction.

www.bbc.co.uk