HS2 - Government proposals, alternative routes and general discussion

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

If you can describe today as 'coping', I think you have your eyes shut

[TonyK]

Anyway, it's official. HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) is cancelled past Birmingham, at least until it is reinstated again. This is because more people are travelling by rail.

[IndustryInsider]

Anyway, it's official. HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) is cancelled past Birmingham, at least until it is reinstated again. This is because more people are travelling by rail.

There will be dancing in the streets of Taplow tonight!

[grahame]

OK - cancelled past Birmingham, but re-instated to Euston under different management.

Re-investment into other transport (rather than rail) projects "across all regions of the country" ...
* Protect the £12bn to link up Manchester and Liverpool as planned - this won't be with high-speed rail
* Build the Midlands Rail Hub, connecting 50 stations
* Help Andy Street extend the West Midlands Metro
* Build the Leeds tram, electrify the North Wales main line
* Upgrade the A1, the A2, the A5, the M6…
* Connect our Union with the A75 boosting links between Scotland and Northern Ireland
* Fund the Shipley bypass, the Blyth relief road and deliver 70 other road schemes
* Resurface roads across the country
* Bring back the Don Valley line
* Upgrade the energy coast line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow


From that BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) list, the only thing I can see in the South West is resurfacing roads.

[JayMac]

Fantastic news that HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) will be extended...

...from Old Oak Common to Euston.

[Red Squirrel]

Do we know what "Protect the £12bn to link up Manchester and Liverpool as planned - this won't be with high-speed rail" means?

I'm looking forward to seeing Rish! and Andy extending the West Midlands Metro... Andy on the shovel and Rish! on the kango maybe? I'd keep my hard hat tight if I were Rish!!

Good to see much of the 'money' 'redirected' to road-building, in line with the Plan for Drivers

I'm a bit confused by the plan to bring back the Don Valley Line: I know we're keen to forge closer links with our most distant neighbours. Or do they mean the Deepcar line?

[Mark A]

OK - cancelled past Birmingham, but re-instated to Euston under different management.

... with the accompanying statement that surplus land at Euston will be used for 'Thousands of homes'.

That surely means the line will run to Euston but the provision at the terminus will hard wire in nothing to handle services from HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) phases 2 and 3. Salting HS2's earth. This is very bad.

Mark

[Zoe]

Re-investment into other transport (rather than rail) projects "across all regions of the country" ...

Looking at the list for the South West at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/find-out-about-every-new-transport-project-in-your-region it includes

Opening more railway lines: between Cullompton and Wellington.

When in reality it will be reopening the two stations on the existing line.

[grahame]

It starts to be filled in

South West

Funding for vital Exeter to Plymouth rail line: making it more resilient in the face of extreme weather.
Opening more railway lines: between Cullompton and Wellington.
A new station built at Tavistock: connecting it with Plymouth. Plus, five miles of track will be reinstated.
£100 million in funding for a Mass Transit system: to revolutionise travel in and around Bristol.
£140 million in funding to ensure the delivery of 12 road schemes: among them the A38 in North Somerset.
A further £1 billion fund for new road schemes: around the South West, South East and East of England.
Access to £2.8 billion roads resurfacing fund to combat the potholes.
£2 bus fare extended: Until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned.
£0.8bn from the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement 2 budget and savings from HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)).

The "Access to" for potholes is announced in the South East too ...

£1bn for roads shared with South East and East of England

Good news for Tavistock.

Is Portishead in Bristol?

£2 bus fare not a total surprise to take it beyond the next election

[Mark A]

OK - cancelled past Birmingham, but re-instated to Euston under different management.

... with the accompanying statement that surplus land at Euston will be used for 'Thousands of homes'.

That surely means the line will run to Euston but the provision at the terminus will hard wire in nothing to handle services from HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) phases 2 and 3. Salting HS2's earth. This is very bad.

Mark

Also, phase 2a (Birmingham to Crewe) - which has received royal assent - will not proceed and the intention is to quickly dispose of the land acquired for it. Another case of the government bypassing parliament.

Mark

[Zoe]

Is Portishead in Bristol?

No, it is part of the North Somerset Unitary Authority.

[ChrisB]

Mass transit? - might be underground....

[Electric train]

OK - cancelled past Birmingham, but re-instated to Euston under different management.

... with the accompanying statement that surplus land at Euston will be used for 'Thousands of homes'.

That surely means the line will run to Euston but the provision at the terminus will hard wire in nothing to handle services from HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) phases 2 and 3. Salting HS2's earth. This is very bad.

Mark

Also, phase 2a (Birmingham to Crewe) - which has received royal assent - will not proceed and the intention is to quickly dispose of the land acquired for it. Another case of the government bypassing parliament.

Mark

These 2 things have one politically motivated intent by Sunak and his cronies to totally burry HS2 into oblivion for ever. They will hold a fire storm sale of the land, selling it below its worth and no where near recovering costs.

The Birmingham tram extension a bit of tinkering with exiting rail in the NW and a bit of minor enhancements elsewhere but I doubt many of the grander schemes will see the light of day.  It is pure electioneering, cheques will be written in the November Statement that will bounce after the next General Election regardless of who wins.

[Mark A]

Number 10 tweets a wild and misleading graphic. Small in the scheme of today's wildness: the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), for the moment, seems to believe that there really is no rail infrastructure between Cullompton and Wellington and marks the link there as a new line.

Mark

https://twitter.com/10DowningStreet/status/1709553565398683743

[Red Squirrel]

...£100 million in funding for a Mass Transit system: to revolutionise travel in and around Bristol.

MetroBus, the scheme that slightly improved travel in and around some parts of Bristol, cost £294 million. The estimated costs for a Mass Transit system as outlined in Future4West are somewhere between £7 billion and £18 billion.

I sometimes think that governments rely on the fact that 'million' and 'billion' sound similar...