Ditch HS2?

[C R]

Can kicked down the road for the next government.

Poisoned chalice. Leave it in a situation that the next government will have no chance but cancel it, and consequently pay the political cost.

 

[BoldonLad]

How many of us will live long enough to see the completion of HS2?

How does delaying it save costs?

Not an accountant, or an economist, but, improve cashflow, rather than reduce costs, I would have thought.

Am I alone in thinking it bizarre that the construction of a June one line (HS2) is going to take longer than it took to construct the entire railway system, in Victorian times?

 

[Badger_Boom]

But not so good when a Heathrow Express tunnel collapsed in 1994 during construction. This happened between the runways, close to a fuel pipeline and two Piccadilly Line tunnels, and underneath buildings. That project was delayed by years, and repair costs were multiples of the original budget for that excavation.

Thread drift alert: An engineer colleague told that he'd passed by that tunnel while visiting the site for another reason. Apparently he commented at the time that the design 'didn't look right'.

 

[Badger_Boom]

Not an accountant, or an economist, but, improve cashflow, rather than reduce costs, I would have thought.

Am I alone in thinking it bizarre that the construction of a June one line (HS2) is going to take longer than it took to construct the entire railway system, in Victorian times?

It's not unusual at all. Up to a point, we no longer live in a world where those with power and money can simply bulldoze a route through someone's home or a whole town, chuck them a few pounds for their trouble and have it accepted with a tugged forelock. The same goes for newts, bats, badgers, archaeology, water, loud noises and vibration.

 

[dutchguylivingintheuk]

Sounds a bit like the dutch ''hogesnelheidslijn (HSL)'' or the ''betuwelijn'' very expensive project and by the time they where finished their usage was questionable, just like everyone including his/her/they/them old grandmother said before they started building it.

 

[BoldonLad]

It's not unusual at all. Up to a point, we no longer live in a world where those with power and money can simply bulldoze a route through someone's home or a whole town, chuck them a few pounds for their trouble and have it accepted with a tugged forelock. The same goes for newts, bats, badgers, archaeology, water, loud noises and vibration.

I can understand why the Planning and Approval stage may be affected by the things you mention (quite rightly too), but, once the route is decided, why should Construction take so long, given the Equipment and Technology we have, versus picks, shovels, theodolites and Navvies?

 

[newfhouse]

I can understand why the Planning and Approval stage may be affected by the things you mention (quite rightly too), but, once the route is decided, why should Construction take so long, given the Equipment and Technology we have, versus picks, shovels, theodolites and Navvies?

Not an expert so this is just my surmise but:

1. Victorian trains didn’t travel at 225 mph.
2. There was a different approach to construction worker and passenger welfare and safety.
3. There was a more straightforward profit model. The trains, the services, and the infrastructure were mostly under the same ownership so there was more incentive to deliver financial returns quickly.

 

[dutchguylivingintheuk]

Not an expert so this is just my surmise but:

1. Victorian trains didn’t travel at 225 mph.

uh the 225 km/h as killed in earlier budget cuts right? or was it supposed to go faster earlier?

 

[newfhouse]

uh the 225 km/h as killed in earlier budget cuts right? or was it supposed to go faster earlier?

As I said, I’m not an expert. 225 kph doesn’t seem much faster than the old Inter-City 125 (mph) trains. I’m sure a knowledgeable person will be along soon, but may be subject to delays.

 

[Deleted member 121]

It is indeed supposed to have a maximum speed of 225 mph (360 km/h) but would operate at 205 mph (330 km/h) in most circumstances. The way things are going they'll be chugging along at 60, running on steam...

 

[Badger_Boom]

I can understand why the Planning and Approval stage may be affected by the things you mention (quite rightly too), but, once the route is decided, why should Construction take so long, given the Equipment and Technology we have, versus picks, shovels, theodolites and Navvies?

For starters, lots of things like archaeological excavations, and establishing ecological habitat mitigation, and even drainage needs to be done, sometimes years before actual construction starts.

 

[Beebo]

Wow. HS2 is unachievable according to the watchdog.
It’s clear that the government have kicked the van down the road hoping to leave the big decisions to who ever wins the next election.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66352286

 

[albion]

No great shock. Vanity project.

Not much goes on when Network rail are about. So, gravy train and an incompetent government.
Should have built the ultra cheap garden bridge instead.

 

[dutchguylivingintheuk]

No great shock. Vanity project.

Not much goes on when Network rail are about. So, gravy train and an incompetent government.
Should have built the ultra cheap garden bridge instead.

If they just built the track and put on tarmac instead an make it a cycle way, would be an great improvement, alltough somehow i seem them messing that up too.

 

[albion]

If it becomes the worlds most expensive cycleway I do expect the Telegraph will be sold with free tacks.