7-5-5

I’m not sure there’s a great deal of logic to what survived and what didn’t. In Bristol only two suburban stations were to be retained post Reshaping - Stapleton Road, and St Anne’s Park. In the end the Severn Beach line survived but St Anne’s Park didn’t. Stapleton Road’s role as an important interchange was largely usurped by Bristol Parkway, and it is now only served by local trains.

Meanwhile what would now be a very useful main line via Fishponds to Yate and Gloucester is a linear park. It’s all a bit random really.

I thought that column was a bit eccentric, even for Jenkins. For context, he’s the columnist who, back in 2010, argued that the entire defence budget - ‘all £45 billion of it’ - should be cut. I suspect his views on rail will age just as well.

It will indeed. I remember that stretch of the A38 before the M5 opened. It was a fast road with dual carriageways and long stretches of shared bidirectional overtaking lane, where high speed collisions could easily be had by anyone who wanted one.

It’s much wider than needed for the current local traffic, so this really ought to be doable without upsetting anyone. But who knows, these days!

An interesting take on HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) from Oxera, an economics and finance consultancy. I won't quote the whole thing - you can read it here https://www.oxera.com/insights/agenda/articles/rethinking-hs2/

...but here is their conclusion:


What they don't explain is how you could deliver a 100km-long railway line with perhaps one or two intermediate stations via 'smaller interventions'. They also seem to be suggesting that the thing that will really get Britain moving is... giving much more work to consultancies.

A personal view:

It's quite interesting looking back over this long thread to see how people's positions have developed.

I started out as an HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) sceptic; back in 2013 I may even have played my part in persuaduing JayMac that the project was a bad idea, suggesting that the money could be better spent on improving provincial connections.

It's only now, with the cancellation of the Birmingham-Manchester leg, that I have really understood what the project was and what we've lost.

The population of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) has grown by about 15% since rail privatisation, and rail usage in the same period (even accounting for COVID) has doubled.

Like most people I didn't really understand the argument that HS2 added capacity. But then I got involved in trying to achieve the very thing I once argued should be prioritised over high speed rail: opening new local stations to give people better access to rail.

Opening new stations on branch lines where trains stop at all the stations is technically fairly straightforward. Adding branches can be done astonishingly quickly where there is the will. But opening stations on busy main lines is very difficult, because fast trains hog capacity. As an example, there is demand for two stations between Bristol and Bath, but trains won't be able to stop at both because that would hold up London to Bristol services. Six new stations will open on the four track line between Cardiff and Severn Tunnel Junction, but Pilning will keep its parliamentary service to avoid holding up the fast trains from Cardiff to London.

If we believe that railways have an important role in the future of this country, then it follows that we have to build new railways and open new stations. The alternatives are much less efficient: more roads, or more congestion.

The trickle of reopenings we have seen in recent years is welcome, but it is fiddling around the edges. Taking fast trains off the network opens up the possibility of a vast web of new local connections in the North, the Midlands and even around the Chilterns. The full HS2 network would have freed up the local network around all but one of England's biggest cities: Bristol.

So HS2 has been cut back to be what it's harshest critics said it would be: an expensive shuttle between (somewhere in) London and Birmingham. HS2 is dead. Do we grieve? A bit.

There was a lot wrong with the HS2 project. The whole delivery process has been far too expensive, and the PR^▸ (Public Relations) has been atrocious. But the idea that railways are still relevant, that they might actually be increasingly relevant, hasn't died. Which means that something like HS2 is still needed. Those who don't understand that either don't understand ralways, or prefer a future of fewer choices where cars and aeroplanes are increasingly dominant.

The railway has friends and enemies across the political spectrum. In general politicians like the economic benefits that railways bring, but seek to reduce the costs that go with those benefits. They try to strike a balance.

That’s the consensus. But I think it’s fair to say that since Johnson’s exit, the enemies of rail are in the ascendant. Johnson, May and Cameron used trains. Sunak’s transport policy seems to be based on building helipads and filling potholes.

The latest statement on the travelwest website reads as follows:

Source: travelwest

The need to complete the business case was always there from the point when the DCO^▸ (Driver Controlled Operation) was granted. Has anything changed?

I’m not sure ‘confusion’ is the right word. He’s just speaking in tabloidese, as do politicians of every stripe these days.

OK, thanks everyone. I'll have a think!

I'm planning a trip to York next weekend (19th-22nd Oct), probably departing from Bristol Parkway, I plan top stay 2 nights, which could be Thurs/Fri or Fri/Sat. Best fare I can see is an off-peak return at  £95.40 with railcard discount. Have I missed something obvious?

Might be. We'll see...

Thamesdown was created by the same Local Government Act as Avon. Avon and Thamesmead had a couple of features in common: they were named so as not to offend the suburban and exurban communities within them, and no-one outside them knew where they were. Thamesdown possibly got the worst of the deal, as it's name sounded very similar to a large housing estate on the Plumstead Marshes. Most people thought of Avon as a door-to-door cosmetic company.

Swindon seems a much more sensible name for, well, Swindon. If Bristol logic had been applied, it would probably be called the Lower Midlands now. Or maybe Lower Midlands-on-Thames.

I'd have to agree that it's like comparing apples with pears - both members of the rosaceae family, both pome fruits... I'd also agree that if there had been a binding referendum (unlike the advisory one in 2016) people would have probably voted against HS2, and for similar reasons for voting against EU^» (European Union - about) membership..

I suspect that in this case it will take less time for people to realise how much harm has been done though.