Benefits of HS2 were exaggerated, secret report reveals

[rebbonk]

Despite all my expensive education, I just can't see the economic case. Surely in the electronic age we live in, telecommuting etc. makes far more sense?

[Lex]

The tender process for the franchise will get underway next year. Good luck to whoever takes it on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37869643

[Lex]

Looks like 2 popular green spaces are going to be affected: http://www.leamingtoncourier.co.uk/n...-way-1-7681079

[Lex]

The search for a train builder has started. A couple of suspect facts have been thrown into the annouincment too: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38684010

[rebbonk]

I'm still hopefull this will eventually be seen as the vanity project that it is and be cancelled.

[Lex]

But what about the 32 fewer minutes it'll take Londoners to get to Birmingham? And don't forget the 2,000 apprentices who'll be fully trained in time to get HS3 off the ground.

[rebbonk]

Taking the 32 minutes, shouldn't we be looking at electronic communication? - I've never bought this 'time' argument.

The 2000 apprentices will be the most expensive ever trained in the UK.

Your point about HS3 isn't that far wide of the mark. HS2 is already out of date, those responsible ought be looking at the next generation in technology, not using current/outdated ideas.

[Finebyme]

Though this article is 4 years old, I have just come across it . I was particularly interested in the article from an historical point of view.


High-speed rail may have met its most formidable opponent yet – the ghosts of a Welsh army slaughtered fighting for an English king more than 500 years ago.

As many as 5,000 soldiers from Wales, including more than 180 knights and noblemen, lie buried somewhere in farmland north of Banbury, Oxfordshire. In the centuries after they were cut down, at the battle of Edgcote in 1469, one of the bloodiest clashes of the Wars of the Roses, the precise location was forgotten.

But historians and heritage campaigners fear that the proposed HS2 line could pierce its heart and, potentially, plough through mass graves.

Uncertainty about the site of the battle raises questions about assurances from High Speed Two, the company set up by the government to oversee the £35bn scheme, that the line avoids the battlefield. It is not a protected site, and has never been investigated by archaeologists.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/...osts-hs2-route

[Lex]

We're definitely getting HS2 whether we like it or not: http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/blog...-to-build-hs2/

[rebbonk]

A total vanity project that we simply can't afford.

[Finebyme]

YES, and the so called £50 billion divorce settlement the EU are demanding is about the same cost as the damn HS2 , if not more. It should be scrapped! We don't need it. The government are always on about they are doing the will of the people as far as the Brexit referendum goes, but why then don't they listen to the people who say we don't need the HS2?

[rebbonk]

Someone, or somebodies are going to make a lot of money out of this little piece of vanity. Already we're hearing of the revolving door of HS2 where people are simply moving from one involved company to another and the competition are being cut out. Follow the money and you will eventually find the truth.

I also believe the technology being used is obsolete. I guess someone's buying up surplus kit from somewhere.

[Lex]

I've heard several commentators say that the technology will be out of date in the next 10-15 years, although that could also be something to do with general technological progression...

[cathidaw]

Though this article is 4 years old, I have just come across it . I was particularly interested in the article from an historical point of view.


High-speed rail may have met its most formidable opponent yet – the ghosts of a Welsh army slaughtered fighting for an English king more than 500 years ago.

As many as 5,000 soldiers from Wales, including more than 180 knights and noblemen, lie buried somewhere in farmland north of Banbury, Oxfordshire. In the centuries after they were cut down, at the battle of Edgcote in 1469, one of the bloodiest clashes of the Wars of the Roses, the precise location was forgotten.

But historians and heritage campaigners fear that the proposed HS2 line could pierce its heart and, potentially, plough through mass graves.

Uncertainty about the site of the battle raises questions about assurances from High Speed Two, the company set up by the government to oversee the £35bn scheme, that the line avoids the battlefield. It is not a protected site, and has never been investigated by archaeologists.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/...osts-hs2-route

This should be intersting.
By law sites especially historical ones must be excavated by archaeologists..Are you sure this is not already protected?I can find out.
Either way the law, as has been see in the past can be overridden in some ways by English Heritage and such bodies.I've heard some of their 'reasons'--Dont forget that investigating this large site would add millions and a year or so of delays to the HS2 LINE .
As I said --interesting.

[Finebyme]

This should be intersting.
By law sites especially historical ones must be excavated by archaeologists..Are you sure this is not already protected?I can find out.
Either way the law, as has been see in the past can be overridden in some ways by English Heritage and such bodies.I've heard some of their 'reasons'--Dont forget that investigating this large site would add millions and a year or so of delays to the HS2 LINE .
As I said --interesting.

I'm not sure if its protected Cathidaw, it would be interesting to find out.

[rebbonk]

I would think that if any 'protection' orders were present that the protestors would already have used that argument.

Very sadly, I think we must accept that this expensive folly is going ahead.

IIRC, Theresa May was not exactly in favour of this project and was talking about scrapping it. I guess her masters told her to get back in her box. - Money talks doesn't it?