HS2

[Duffers]

Looks like the Brum - Manchester leg is getting canned.

As an aside, whether the decision is right or wrong, it is some Thick of It level hilarity to cancel a major transport infrastructure project for the city that you're currently having your conference in.

[Mr vertical]

Arf. Hopefully, this will influence some big business to locate here rather than up there. Unless it's financially attractive to use, it'll end up like the toll road: empty.

[Borin' Baggie]

Arf. Hopefully, this will influence some big business to locate here rather than up there. Unless it's financially attractive to use, it'll end up like the toll road: empty.

Doubt it.

Factoring in the Manchester leg now being cancelled, the Nottingham leg in doubt (and already hobbled with the eastern leg already scrapped) and not even bothering to go into central London the railway pathways HS2 can service 3 trains per hour. Once you remove the one train per hour from New Street and the one train per hour from Moor Street being moved over the net service benefit is a whopping one train per hour, to Wormwood Scrubs. Unless you are going to Loftus Road what's the point exactly?

Four-tracking the WCML section between Berkswell and New Street and the section between Coventry and Rugby gives you an extra 3 trains per hour, and they would be able to run at 140mph instead of 125mph.

All this has done is incentivise any further planned investment to stay in London. Great job guys!

[SausEggBaton]

Looks like the Brum - Manchester leg is getting canned.

As an aside, whether the decision is right or wrong, it is some Thick of It level hilarity to cancel a major transport infrastructure project for the city that you're currently having your conference in.

#10 have released a statement saying "no final decisions have been made". Seems like they've just realised most of their party members are in Manchester on a jolly for the week.

[BurleyBaggie]

You can’t four track the WCML, the interconnects and regional lines means that would be more expensive. The infrastructure required even greater due the the urbanisation around large sections of the track.

What’s being lost here is capacity. They should’ve called in HC2. What this investment would have brought is freeing up of ECML and WCML of all intercity train traffic, plus the additional HS2 services.

That gives you a huge boost to use the existing, full to bursting, rail infrastructure for substantially more local services and tonnes of room for freight.

And yes, moving an astonishing amount of freight from road to rail does something else, oh yeah, reduces the number of vans and lorries on the road reducing congestion and carbon.

FFS

[Borin' Baggie]

You can’t four track the WCML, the interconnects and regional lines means that would be more expensive.

To be fair on the Berkswell-New Street section, thanks to some pre-WWII foresight there is an allowance as far as I'm aware for bridges and space adjacent to the track.

The major costs relate to the space for stations. Though given it's the UK it would probably be a £1bn budget to do that for just Stechford which is the only station that still has space for four-tracking without knocking it down.

[CarlosCorbewrong]

Train Board please

[Boinger]

Arf. Hopefully, this will influence some big business to locate here rather than up there. Unless it's financially attractive to use, it'll end up like the toll road: empty.

The toll road is very busy every day, use it regular. So popular at peak times that you can queue at the booths for 10-15 minutes

[CaptainFantastico]

Rishis interview with LK was quite something. "I'm not going to speculate"

"You don't need to speculate, youre the PM and it's your decision. Yes or no?"

[garryowensneck]

Arf. Hopefully, this will influence some big business to locate here rather than up there. Unless it's financially attractive to use, it'll end up like the toll road: empty.

The toll road is very busy every day, use it regular. So popular at peak times that you can queue at the booths for 10-15 minutes

I used it last week and it was rammed.