(Copyright High Speed Speed Two Limited)
High Speed Two (HS2) is a proposed rail network to link London Euston to the West Midlands and Northern England. The plan is to increase the capacity and speed of journeys to London, which will dramatically bring the UK's Victorian railway infrastructure into the 21st century.
- The Government gave the go-ahead for a UK High Speed Rail network – called High Speed Two (HS2) – on 10 January 2012.
- HS2 will be a Y-shaped rail network providing direct, high capacity, high speed links between London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, with intermediate stations in the East Midlands (Toton) and South Yorkshire (Sheffield Meadowhall). There will also be direct links to the Continent via the High Speed 1 (HS1) line.
- HS2 will improve capacity across the rail network, shorten journey times between Britain’s major population centres, boost the economy and create thousands of jobs.
- HS2 will be built in two phases. The line between London and the West Midlands and a connection to High Speed 1 are expected to open in 2026 (HS2 Phase One), followed in 2032-33, by the onward legs to Manchester and Leeds.
- Phase One of HS2 will cost around £16.3bn to construct (2011 prices).
- The full network, including Phase Two and the link to High Speed 1 and the Channel Tunnel but without a direct Heathrow connection, will cost £33.1bn to construct (2011 prices).
- The construction costs of HS2 would be spread over two decades, and on this basis would involve an average level of annual spend of about £2 billion a year.
High Speed Two Limited is the company responsible for the realisation of HS2, and their website can be found
here.
"We are determined to get cracking with HS2. We have already completed the consultation on Phase 1, and in 2013 we will begin seeking powers from Parliament to construct the line between London and the West Midlands. The first shovels will hit the ground in 2017 and the first high speed trains should be speeding along the tracks between Birmingham and London by 2026."
As a part of the HS2 proposal, redevelopment of London Euston is planned to transform into a vibrant destination for HS2 trains from the West Midlands and Northern England - further details
here.
The planned network is highly controversial and is not without fierce opposition. A campaign known as
STOP HS2 exists against the proposed development of this new rail network.
Stop HS2 claim that the strategic economic benefits of HS2 are unproven:
- It is not a low carbon solution.
- It has a business case based on false assumptions.
- It will benefit very few, at a time when a great many are expected to suffer.
- It will cause huge environmental damage.
- It will commit future generations to huge subsidies, increasing the national debt.
- It will not move much travel from planes or cars, and assumes many more journeys.
- It will make our country more dependent on the London economy.
- It will increase energy consumption.
- It has alternatives that deliver greater benefits at less cost and less damage.
- It does not learn from the financial failure of HS1, the only comparable project.
- It will crowd out crucial investment in transport, which is needed and beneficial.
- It ignores the Internet, which is changing the way we communicate, - and how mobile technologies enable people to work when travelling.
This clipping appeared in the Metro newspaper yesterday (14/05/13) -
[attachment=4431]
What are your opinions on the HS2 proposal? Do any members have friends or family who live or have businesses on the route and face disruption?
News and latest developments on HS2 will be posted in this thread -
"The Secretary of State has extended the Phase Two EHS consultation. The new closing date is 20 May 2013."
Further details can be found
here.
The proposed journey times via HS2 from the North East will not be much quicker than they already are now.
When you take into account the newer stock which will be running on the ECML by then, the difference will be negligible.
When you look at current route options, it is possible to get off and transfer onto local trains. Very few options with HS2.
It's not worth the money for what it'll deliver. The money would be better spent improving what we've got, bringing rail to places without, and reducing the insane cost of rail travel.
P.s. I hope that's the Euston tap I still see on the far right of that illustration! Well worth a visit, and possibly the most compact pub I've ever been in.
Yet more ill-informed bystanders - the £32billion being spend on HS2 can only be spent on HS2 by the DfT. If HS2 were to be cancelled, that money would be reallocated to another Government department. So, basically, HS2 is the only rail project that money will be spent on.
I'm not sure how voicing an opinion makes anyone ill-informed unless the information provided is factually wrong.
Looking at the comments from myself and aureolin, there isn't anything to suggest we are wrong.
Unless you can prove me wrong regarding train times or that aureolin is wrong by suggesting money should be spent on existing projects instead?
If you are correct and that £32billion is ring fenced solely for HS2, then hopefully it will be cancelled and the government can spend it on something else instead, something that will be worth investing in and which will benefit the entire country.
(16 May 2013, 7:13 am)Kuyoyo wrote [ -> ]Yet more ill-informed bystanders - the £32billion being spend on HS2 can only be spent on HS2 by the DfT. If HS2 were to be cancelled, that money would be reallocated to another Government department. So, basically, HS2 is the only rail project that money will be spent on.
Ill-informed bystanders...?
Yes. The money is ring-fenced for that project - fact. Nobody is arguing that, but the money was only ring-fenced for that project because it was the only realistic bid the government were interested in submitting. It actually reminds me of Thatcher's approach to Europe a bit, where that any advice she was given essentially fell upon deaf ears - because she wasn't interested in doing anything other than what she wanted to do. Sod the consequences.
I stand by my point. Money would be better spent elsewhere, with more economic and social benefits.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24721214
The government's latest business case for the
HS2 high-speed rail link has slightly lowered
the amount of benefit it predicts relative to the
cost.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27971552
As HS2 is yet to be finalised, Gideon today announced his big, bold idea of HS3, linking Manchester to Leeds.
So HS2, will link Leeds and Manchester to Birmingham and London - whilst having a HS3 linking the two cities together.
Whatever the flaws are in relation to HS2, it seems the Government still haven't cottoned on to the idea that there are people, towns, cities and businesses beyond Leeds and Manchester...
(23 Jun 2014, 8:04 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote [ -> ]http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27971552
As HS2 is yet to be finalised, Gideon today announced his big, bold idea of HS3, linking Manchester to Leeds.
So HS2, will link Leeds and Manchester to Birmingham and London - whilst having a HS3 linking the two cities together.
Whatever the flaws are in relation to HS2, it seems the Government still haven't cottoned on to the idea that there are people, towns, cities and businesses beyond Leeds and Manchester...
Or resolved the issue with transport outside of London not integrating with one another. We'll spend millions on a rail link to get people between Birmingham (which is a dump anyway), and London quicker. Yet Joe Bloggs is still unable to use their Megarider on the Metro or an Arriva bus.
High Speed Two has entered the news again. Couple of articles given below:
New £30 million HS2 benefit scheme 'not enough' say opponents
Read more:
http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/115...s/?ref=rss
UK high-speed railway line contest for £10bn in contracts begins
Read more:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/07b91996-51e9-...z3G9JZfALC
Also copied below...
Lucrative work for the UK’s proposed high-speed railway line will be launched this week when HS2, the company set up to promote the project, holds a sold-out conference ahead of releasing £10bn of tenders.
Significant contracts, including a £60m job assessing the condition of the land between Birmingham and London, are due to be awarded next month, with the rest to follow soon after as competition accelerates for work on the line.
More than 1,000 companies are signed up for two conferences in London and Manchester during the next fortnight, in a guest list that reads like a who’s who of the construction and engineering industry, including ArcelorMittal, Siemens, Bechtel and Mace.
Other contracts due to be released during the next few months include one worth £2.9bn for early stage tunnelling work; £2.7bn for the surface route; £2.6bn for stations; £600m for enabling works; £1.5bn for railway systems; and £350m for design services.
The tenders come even though Britain’s second high-speed railway line remains controversial and is not due to receive Royal Assent until after the election.
Construction is not expected to start on the first phase of HS2, between London and Birmingham, until 2017, with completion due in 2026. A second Y-shaped section from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds is due to be finished in 2032-33.
MPs are still in the process of scrutinising nearly 2,000 objections to the HS2 bill. A committee of six MPs will spend months listening to evidence from those who will be affected by the project.
Despite this, increasing amounts of preparation work are going ahead. HS2 Ltd already employs 1,000 staff and is hiring a person every day. It has spent £3bn since it was set up by the government in 2012. The cost of the project in its entirety is estimated at £42.6bn over 20 years, making it one of the most expensive railways in the world. A further £7.5bn is needed for the high-speed trains.
Competition for the contracts is expected to be intense, with the biggest international construction and transport companies already seeking work. East Japan Railway, a Japanese rail network operator, has opened an office in London, in part to prepare for work on HS2, while Hitachi, a Japanese rail company, has moved the headquarters of its rail business to Britain in what is seen as a pre-emptive move to win the contract to build 180mph trains for the line.
The project will provide a lifeline for the construction industry, which has struggled during the recession.
Simon Kirby, one of several former Network Rail executives who has joined HS2, said it was “determined to build on Crossrail’s success where 97 per cent of contracts were placed with UK-based firms”.
But Martin Blaiklock, a consultant who is also a former director of utilities at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, has challenged this assumption. According to his research, just 27 per cent – or £1.75bn out of £6bn – of the design and construction contracts for Crossrail by value went to UK owned and controlled companies.
Although much of this work will have gone to UK-based subcontractors, who employ staff in the UK, ownership is important because it helps to determine who will accrue long-term gains – such as skills and management – from working on the project and whether they are paying corporation tax in the UK.
Mr Blaiklock said: “Given the results of such analysis for Crossrail, it seems highly questionable, therefore, as to how much experience and knowhow on High Speed 2 will benefit the UK.”
Makes me want to have a game of Railroad Tycoon!
Map of Highspeed rail across Europe.
Quite interesting that Spain has quite a high amount of track >125mph, but the economy of the country us suffering economically.
Will HS2 be the cure it is predicted to be in the UK?
(15 Nov 2014, 10:20 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]http://metro.co.uk/2014/11/15/japans-lev...s-4949728/
Makes HS2 look like a crawl!
Agreed. This is the standard of railway design Britain should be aspiring towards in my opinion. At over 300 mph, London to Newcastle could be done in under an hour and a half with time included for stops.
(16 Nov 2014, 12:48 pm)AdamY wrote [ -> ]Agreed. This is the standard of railway design Britain should be aspiring towards in my opinion. At over 300 mph, London to Newcastle could be done in under an hour and a half with time included for stops.
Won't ever happen =(
The train design its self... is quite good, imagine it doing the east coast main line!
Train itself, sounds quite quiet.
Don't want High Speed 2..... pointless and a waste of money, it only works in the like of Japan because they built it years ago.... lol
(24 Sep 2015, 9:07 am)Michael wrote [ -> ]Don't want High Speed 2..... pointless and a waste of money, it only works in the like of Japan because they built it years ago.... lol
I think there are a few flaws in the whole idea.
The fact Gideon is encouraging Chinese firms to bid (that may or may not include Chinese steel), at the possible expense of British firms (and locally produced steel), sort of makes the situation worse.
I am not sure if he has seen the irony in his claims that HS2, could boost the British Economy. The economy could be in a worse state, as a result of the continued obsession to bring foreign investment into the country.
(24 Sep 2015, 9:25 am)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]I think there are a few flaws in the whole idea.
The fact Gideon is encouraging Chinese firms to bid (that may or may not include Chinese steel), at the possible expense of British firms (and locally produced steel), sort of makes the situation worse.
I am not sure if he has seen the irony in his claims that HS2, could boost the British Economy. The economy could be in a worse state, as a result of the continued obsession to bring foreign investment into the country.
Defo, they should be looking to use people from the UK to build it, basically saying we're not good enough for the HS2... no doubt that has angered a few people!
HS2 won't though... its only going to take 30 minutes off from the Midlands to London... that's pointless....
Look at America... they want to build one from LA to Las Vegas!
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/...ly-saviour - and look who's investing in it......
Looking at google maps, it takes just over an hour on the plane between Las Vegas and LA.... 4 hours 37 minutes in a car...
It current takes over 6 hours on a bus.
(30 Nov 2015, 12:59 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]Wow. That'll make a huge difference to how grim it is up north.
It won't make a difference, in all honestly, its a waste of money, it'll never extend to the likes of Newcastle etc, if it ever did it won't be for at least 10 years after it opens!
![[Image: HS2-London-Euston-Station-entrance-726x3...k=f2ilQyen]](http://www.hs2.org.uk/sites/default/files/styles/top-wide/public/HS2-London-Euston-Station-entrance-726x303.jpg?itok=f2ilQyen)