Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 13:35 01 May 2025
 
- Snake halts Japanese bullet trains after wrapping around power line
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 05/05/25 - Walk to Pilning
10/05/25 - BRTA Westbury
10/05/25 - Model Railway Show, Calne
13/05/25 - Melksham TUG / AGM

On this day
1st May (1851)
Great Exhibition opens (*)

Train RunningCancelled
12:24 Reading to Gatwick Airport
13:05 London Paddington to Newbury
13:23 London Paddington to Oxford
13:25 London Paddington to Heathrow Terminal 5
13:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading
13:55 London Paddington to Heathrow Terminal 5
13:57 Heathrow Terminal 5 to London Paddington
13:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
14:12 Newbury to Reading
14:25 London Paddington to Heathrow Terminal 5
14:27 Heathrow Terminal 5 to London Paddington
14:34 Didcot Parkway to Banbury
14:55 London Paddington to Heathrow Terminal 5
14:57 Heathrow Terminal 5 to London Paddington
15:03 Oxford to London Paddington
15:07 Oxford to Didcot Parkway
15:25 London Paddington to Heathrow Terminal 5
15:27 Heathrow Terminal 5 to London Paddington
15:34 Didcot Parkway to Oxford
15:55 London Paddington to Heathrow Terminal 5
15:57 Heathrow Terminal 5 to London Paddington
16:27 Heathrow Terminal 5 to London Paddington
17:34 Oxford to Didcot Parkway
18:00 Didcot Parkway to Oxford
18:34 Oxford to Didcot Parkway
19:05 Didcot Parkway to Oxford
Short Run
11:57 Great Malvern to London Paddington
12:30 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
12:37 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington
12:50 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
13:08 London Paddington to Didcot Parkway
13:09 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington
13:11 Taunton to Cardiff Central
13:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
13:27 Okehampton to Exeter Central
13:38 London Paddington to Didcot Parkway
13:42 Banbury to Didcot Parkway
13:48 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington
14:08 London Paddington to Didcot Parkway
14:15 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington
14:32 Exeter Central to Okehampton
14:38 London Paddington to Didcot Parkway
15:28 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
16:00 Cardiff Central to Taunton
17:30 London Paddington to Taunton
Delayed
11:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
12:35 Didcot Parkway to Banbury
12:38 London Paddington to Didcot Parkway
12:51 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street
13:00 Oxford to London Paddington
13:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
14:02 Oxford to London Paddington
14:06 London Paddington to Newbury
14:23 London Paddington to Oxford
etc
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
May 01, 2025, 13:48:46 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[121] Brighton Belle - merged topics
[105] Cash payments for transport services
[49] May Timetable Change
[49] Longer distance canal walks - public transport for one way sec...
[34] "Save the Last Remaining British Rail Hovercraft from Destruct...
[33] What and why - on the platform
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 ... 111 112 [113] 114 115 ... 121
  Print  
Author Topic: HS2 - Government proposals, alternative routes and general discussion  (Read 582629 times)
Bob_Blakey
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 881


View Profile
« Reply #1680 on: February 19, 2024, 10:02:15 »

A geologist writes.....

Whichever Ministerial representative(s) had been nominated to this media event need a good slap for such an abject example of political cowardice. As stated in previous posts within this thread, and in the wider world of common knowledge, sinkholes, and indeed larger caverns up to and including underground waterways, are not exactly rare in significant areas of strata composed largely of calcium carbonate. AKA ('also known as') Chalk in this instance.

They should have turned up and been prepared to explain why such small scale fissures are/were not really an issue.

I would bet that if UK (United Kingdom) winter rainfall continues as recently the BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page), and others, will have to scaremonger repeatedly long after HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) construction has been completed. 
Logged
Red Squirrel
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 5503


There are some who call me... Tim


View Profile
« Reply #1681 on: February 21, 2024, 17:11:49 »

Meanwhile... exactly 49 years ago today, the BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)'s Nationwide (sigh) reported on how the government had scrapped the Channel Tunnel project because "it was not prepared to underwrite the astronomic cost". Deja vu all over again?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/cancelled_channel_tunnel_workers/znf6xyc
Logged

Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.
TaplowGreen
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 8643



View Profile
« Reply #1682 on: February 25, 2024, 09:55:58 »

An interesting day in prospect tomorrow.............

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/sunak-to-hold-regional-cabinet-as-local-transport-fund-announced/ar-BB1iPIJu
Logged
IndustryInsider
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 10456


View Profile
« Reply #1683 on: February 25, 2024, 12:23:22 »

I think Louise Haigh pretty much nails it.  Though it wasn’t a particularly difficult nail to hit!
Logged

To view my GWML (Great Western Main Line) Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/
TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6643


The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!


View Profile
« Reply #1684 on: February 25, 2024, 23:54:18 »

I think Louise Haigh pretty much nails it.  Though it wasn’t a particularly difficult nail to hit!

Rather looks that way. The sudden dash to spend money locally before the election isn't fooling everybody. Let's face it, most of the money "saved" by scrapping the clever bit of HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) wouldn't have been spent for another decade or more, so hasn't even been borrowed yet. The works the money is being spent on are by and large things that should have been done routinely, not put on hold for 10 years.
Logged

Now, please!
Noggin
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 584


View Profile
« Reply #1685 on: February 26, 2024, 11:16:14 »

If I understand correctly, it's a 7 year settlement from 2025 to 2032 which gives a *lot* of money to local authorities and considerable leeway on how to spend it.

It's probably a sensible move - a long-term funding window gives local authorities the means to build a pipeline of rail projects that would have been previously outside their budget.

Despite the delays with Portishead reopening, much of WECA» (West of England Combined Authority - about)'s plans are slowly coming to fruition, with dramatic increases in service frequency, new stations, funding the preliminary work on Temple Meads and Filton Bank electrification etc.   

Of course there's certainly a political element to it - the Labour devolved administrations are not going to let a Labour Government in Westminster steal their thunder, let alone take any of this funding away.
Logged
TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6643


The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!


View Profile
« Reply #1686 on: February 26, 2024, 12:55:20 »

As I read it, this is a 7-year program of funding, amounting to £4.7 billion coming into force in April 2025. Doing some fag-packet maths of my own (I don't smoke, so it might not be accurate) I make that about £670,000 per year, or about 2% of Devon County's transport and infrastructure budget to be spent across the whole country, taken from money that would have been spent up to 15-20 years from now, and which hasn't even been borrowed yet. I wouldn't call it transformative. From other works of fantasy, I would compare it to either Lewis Carroll's White Queen's promise of "Jam tomorrow" (but only those little single portion pots) or J R R Tolkien's description by Bilbo Baggins of himself becoming "thin, like butter spread over too much bread".
Logged

Now, please!
eightonedee
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1801



View Profile
« Reply #1687 on: February 26, 2024, 12:58:20 »

For those who do not subscribe to Paul Whitewick's excellent You Tube channel, here's his take on the HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) fiasco (and some of the opposition to it, both "environmental" and economic).-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fS_KrQExIE
Logged
TaplowGreen
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 8643



View Profile
« Reply #1688 on: February 26, 2024, 15:30:37 »

As I read it, this is a 7-year program of funding, amounting to £4.7 billion coming into force in April 2025. Doing some fag-packet maths of my own (I don't smoke, so it might not be accurate) I make that about £670,000 per year, or about 2% of Devon County's transport and infrastructure budget to be spent across the whole country, taken from money that would have been spent up to 15-20 years from now, and which hasn't even been borrowed yet. I wouldn't call it transformative. From other works of fantasy, I would compare it to either Lewis Carroll's White Queen's promise of "Jam tomorrow" (but only those little single portion pots) or J R R Tolkien's description by Bilbo Baggins of himself becoming "thin, like butter spread over too much bread".

You need a new fag packet.....add another 3 zeros onto £670,000 & multiply by 7.
Logged
TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6643


The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!


View Profile
« Reply #1689 on: February 26, 2024, 19:06:26 »


You need a new fag packet.....add another 3 zeros onto £670,000 & multiply by 7.

As I set off in the car about 10 minutes after I wrote that, I thought "Hang on a minute... I hope nobody notices before I get home." It is of course £940 million pa, and I'm blowed if I can think which orifice I plucked the first figure out of. That makes it a lot bigger, but still not as big as it sounds. A large amount of that will go on roads, leaving little for rail. I would assume that anything announced in the recent rash of station rebuilds - Cullompton, Wellington near me - will be included in this, so not much is going to be left for new rail projects. It might help pay for amendments to salvage something from the many schemes drawn up to link northern towns and cities to a HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) that won't be coming.
Logged

Now, please!
stuving
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7429


View Profile
« Reply #1690 on: February 26, 2024, 22:56:58 »

I think that's close to where Cecilia is. Florence is a bit further on, at the northern portal, waiting for a suitable opportunity to emerge. That was meant to a minister's hard-hat opportunity, but a number of things recently have made ministers a bit twitchy about doing such things. I don't suppose this helps.

BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) (Paul Clifton) reporting that Tuesday’s media visit to film the tunnelling ‘breakthrough’ beneath the Chilterns a short distance from the sinkholes has been postponed.

A coincidence I'm sure!

If that was the plan, no-one told Florence. Seen in a drone video having emerged by yesterday, minister or no minister.
Logged
TonyK
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6643


The artist formerly known as Four Track, Now!


View Profile
« Reply #1691 on: February 27, 2024, 14:34:42 »

Delaying things to suit a minister seems to be falling out of fashion after the Post Office saga.
Logged

Now, please!
stuving
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7429


View Profile
« Reply #1692 on: February 27, 2024, 14:42:36 »

If that was the plan, no-one told Florence. Seen in a drone video having emerged by yesterday, minister or no minister.

HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) have now said Florence will break through today (heard on BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) South Today at lunchtime). If you look on the video, the cutterhead is just short of actually emerging from the face of the retaining wall. So I guess the wall broke up prematurely, perhaps because Florence braked too late.

So how do they get a video of the breakthrough event? Build a new wall quickly? Fake it using footage from their previous videos (they have lots)?
Logged
stuving
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7429


View Profile
« Reply #1693 on: February 27, 2024, 18:02:21 »

If that was the plan, no-one told Florence. Seen in a drone video having emerged by yesterday, minister or no minister.
HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) have now said Florence will break through today (heard on BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) South Today at lunchtime). If you look on the video, the cutterhead is just short of actually emerging from the face of the retaining wall. So I guess the wall broke up prematurely, perhaps because Florence braked too late.

So how do they get a video of the breakthrough event? Build a new wall quickly? Fake it using footage from their previous videos (they have lots)?

From HS2's video of the event, it is clear that the blue TBM face you can see is not Florence (her face paint was scratched off long ago) but Muriel. The 'gap' ring around that where the cutters show through does, however, seem to have been there beforehand.

But this whole breakthrough thing is very stage managed, and appears to have been entirely minister-free.
Logged
broadgage
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 5680



View Profile
« Reply #1694 on: February 29, 2024, 04:16:02 »

That overhead power-carrying pylon is a tad close for comfort. Imagine the power cuts if that had been on top of one of the sinkholes

I doubt that any power cuts would have resulted. ALL major grid lines are duplicated, with at least one alternative route available in case of fault or failure.
All but the smallest villages have at least two different routes by which power may be supplied.






Logged

A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: 1 ... 111 112 [113] 114 115 ... 121
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page