To think that this is dreadful - HS2 related

[Freefalling123]

Ive just read this on a local Facebook page. How can this be allowed?

mobile.twitter.com/thejamesbeckett/status/1096350298094923777?s=09

I’m not directly affected by the line personally, although I live a few miles from this location and know many who are affected - but I do care about our countryside and environment.

Surely this must be scrapped now?

I work in this type of thing. Agree with the above, they would need to be above board on everything. There might be other ecological reasons for the timing. They will have ecologists on site and works will stop for nesting birds. It's how construction is managed all over the UK.

Meanwhile it takes over an hour to travel the 30 miles between Liverpool and Manchester... And going to London is fast but unaffordable. How will making the London trip slightly faster but even more expensive help people in the north?
Agree we need investment in rail as a priority, but this type of vanity project should only be done once the urgent every day stuff has been done.

I don’t have a Labrador to walk and I’m not a NIMBY, it’s just a massive waste of money amongst much else.

Totally agree with eightoclock- spend the money on the north which needs better rail infrastructure - not the south which will get a few mins time saving (but definitely no ticket savings) - if you live near London in the first place to catch this train.

How will making the London trip slightly faster but even more expensive help people in the north? Agree we need investment in rail as a priority, but this type of vanity project should only be done once the urgent every day stuff has been done.

I completely agree.

@oakthorn my sympathies, it must be so frustrating!

I want HS2 scrapped as well. It is all about piping the problems of the south ,further up north,.

HS2 is vital to link the north (so if you're in B'ham it won't benefit you) with the constantly improving European rail network. If it is scrapped it will be a bigger economic kick in the guts than Brexit.

It really bloody isn’t Beach. We are looking at totally marginal improvements on rail times to London from Yorkshire. Far far more important we improve local rail links, and try to move away from our current London centric behaviour

I’m also a contractor for HS2 and Oakthorn is right. There is a massive amount of work done to ensure ecological protection.

It's not a vital link to the north. It's only a 90 minute journey to London from where I live and a 2 hour journey from Sheffield to London. That is pretty quick.

The issue is the prices of tickets and overcrowding on trains. I'm also concerned about the potential rise in property prices where I live once it's built. Great for homeowners but not for people who rent here in what is currently still an affordable area in the UK.

A high speed rail network is not a ‘vanity project’, it is vital. Marginal gains across the UK.

This is exactly where money should be spent: roads and rail and airports. It allows people/families/houses to live further away from London but still access the quality work.

I live in Scotland. HS2 will be an essential part of a new UK rail link. 15 minutes faster to Birmingham, an hour faster to Glasgow.

What we really need is more cross-links: not the need to go in and out of London all the time. As soon as you're out of London, it's a matter of luck whether trains are any use.

And wasn't Tony Bliar trying to persuade people to go by train (while being chauffeur-driven everywhere himself)? The reason people prefer their cars is because trains are so expensive, and recently we had the fiasco of the boys messing about with their toys (timetables).

I live in the northwest, I can get from Manchester to London in just over 2 hours. I don’t need to do it any quicker (and I travel to London frequently).

It takes 30 minutes to do the 12 miles from my home town into Manchester on a train that is little more than a bus on wheels, which leaks rain all year round and has heating that is on (to cool the engine rather than heat the carriage) all year round. If I was brave enough I could cycle it in not much more time (and door to door would be actually quicker), but our cycle infrastructure is abysmal.

Commuting to other cities (Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield) for work would be prohibitively time consuming (such that I probably couldn’t get there for 9am on public transport) reducing my opportunities for work.

HS2 will bring very little benefit that I can see to the North West - it is simply not the infrastructure investment that we actually need up here.

You might not need to do it quicker. Other people and businesses do. And potential home owners and families who might move to your area. An people from Scotland.

Stop the I’m Alright myopic stuff. There is a housing crisis and infrastructure is one of the ways we can help people. We need to build, build, build. Yes on fields. Yes through towns.

Persona there is a housing crisis for AFFORDABLE housing. HS2 will not bring affordable housing.

The only phenomenal cost is the ridiculous cost of building a railway that no one wants, many people won’t even be able to use, and people having to leave their homes, or not being able to sell. I live half way between London and Brum - so it’s of no use to me and many millions of others.

This is the most ridiculous ‘argument’ I’ve read in a long time. Because it’s no use to you or anyone who lives at the halfway point, you claim nobody wants it? In the next breath you claim you support better rail links in the North. Well, I don’t live in the North. Millions of others don’t live in the North. Better rail infrastructure there is of no use to us. If it’s of no use to me or those millions of people, why bother? Never mind those for whom it could be of use.

to the poster who suggested Yorkshire wouldn't benefit - don't worry, it's already happening...

www.gov.uk/government/news/business-booms-for-leeds-based-company-thanks-to-hs2-contracts

Leeds-based Soil Engineering Ltd has reported a 35% growth in business in just 4 years thanks to the role it is playing in delivering Britain’s new railway, High Speed Two.

The company has expanded its workforce and is providing more jobs for local people, as well as continuing to take on more apprentices and graduates. Now employing 177 people, staffing levels are at their highest since the financial crisis, demonstrating the growth and confidence that HS2 is creating, years before the first trains arrive into Leeds station.

Soil Engineering Geoservices Ltd is one of 2000 companies across the UK that are already working on HS2, and providing some of the 7,000 job roles that are already being supported by the project.

The company has spent 4 years investigating ground conditions for construction of the Birmingham to London route, and is one of 90 Yorkshire companies already benefiting from contracts working on HS2, securing jobs, skills and opportunities for local people in the region.

....

I live in the northwest, I can get from Manchester to London in just over 2 hours. I don’t need to do it any quicker (and I travel to London frequently). Agreed,,i too live in Greater Manchester and am happy with the current commute time. Lopping 15 minutes off it at phenomenal cost is simply very poor value for money. The absolute truth is that the UK rail network is second world. Look at train travel in countries such as Italy and Germany to name but two. Rail travel in Italy is very fairly priced.

Lets look at our Pendilinos ,,we think they are great but they are second rate compared to german and italian trains. As an example the Italian high speed train Frechia Rossa,, very modern,very economical and a damn sight faster than a pendilino . This is just another case of second world Britain chanting how great it is when in fact, it isnt.

What is needed in this country is a fully integrated rail network run by one company. If that company is the UK Government well so be it. One company to run the trains,the track,the signalling,the whole lot.

We need longer platforms to accommodate longer trains and we need sensible fares.

HM Government rip us off year on year with an RPI increase and yet in the same breath they apply CPI to other things whilst claiming RPI is outmoded !! Gross hypocrisy. RPI when collecting money in,CPI when paying it out,, Government crooks.