How is £80bn justified on building the HS2 rail line when there are clearly more pressing issues? Some questions amongst many;
- If it's going to bring that much wealth, why aren't private companies lining up at the door to fund it instead of the Government?
- How will an hour off the travel time of a businessman bring all that wealth?
- If the Government is truly 'green', then why don't they invest in faster, better and technological methods of communication instead of transporting people around the country? Surely they should be reducing travel miles for the future?
- Who will benefit?
My own view is that, in these days of austerity, we need to be addressing the social issues such as the lack of affordable housing and kicking the NHS back into shape.
I worked out that the Government could build 1.6 million houses for the same money. That building scheme would take the heat out of the housing market by increasing availability. It would ultimately lower the cost of living as rent/mortgage costs would be less. It would fire up the flagging construction sector and provide many jobs. It would provide stability for many families which would lead to heightened happiness and better social conditions.
How far off the mark am I?
I'm probably talking crap as a consequence of my crass ignorance, socialist leanings and utopian aspirations.
Set me right dudes......
Comments
I'm extremely cynical about our current "leaders". I feel there are a lot of individuals going to make themselves very very comfortable in their retirements if this goes ahead.
How about a state owned nuclear power station in Britain rather than a French one? Even if their electricity was no cheaper than the others I'd rather put my money in something that reinvests in Britain.
It is going to suck cash in huge quantities from the rest of the network (as it has done in France).
I'm all for better / longer trains, but this is a very expensive way of doing it. Far from opening up the North, it will suck more to the South. It also ignores the appalling GWR, South of London, Wales and Scotland. It does precisely nothing to alleviate over-crowding on commuter routes - which is a problem TODAY. Does not link to the airports (with the exception of the Wormwood Scrubs International interchange for a branch line to Heathrow).
A vanity project.
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The old Central England Line is what they should use for freight.
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I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Visiting family/friends, going on holiday = luxuries, not necessities. Same with flying. Your insistence on flying (well, that of a lot of other people as well) denied me a decent night sleep for all of the time I lived near Egham, and it's why I won't live near any airport now.
Travel is not a god-given right. Once upon a time you did it at your own risk and it was your own hassle. You risked the rigours of a stagecoach journey or sailing in a wind-driven ship. Now you expect comfy airport lounges and all conveniences laid on and you don't give a shit about the people whose roofs you fly over, yet they are the ones who suffer because you think your travel should be quick and easy.
/rant
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The continuing exodus of wealth and jobs to the SE corner of the UK is not a force for good.
Among the many factors for local businesses and firms going to the wall local wealth has disappeared year on year, this cannot be a good thing.
I see it like this those who chase the pound, status and want to live in the SE have to work within the current parameters. people like me who chose to stay in our local area have to accept lower wages and a host of other factors good and bad.
The point I am making is both are a choice and it used to be folks accepted the negatives if they feel either path is best for them, now there is a sense of self entitlement that is to me arrogant and more than a little bit selfish.
The insinuation is we are creating all the wealth so we deserve better or else. This is a microcosm of what is wrong with the UK today at local level, regional level and in the wider world.
Wealth seems to gravitate to one area of the UK and then a fair bit of it is going abroad never to come back, I believe decentralising and devolving the jobs and the wealth around the country and UK PLC owning important utilities for resilience is the only way to reverse this process. But it already seems it is too late.
The Scottish devolved government decentralised a few big organisations like SNH which was the biggest which brought jobs and wealth to ares that needed it badly. Most were semi QUANGO's and under the government auspices, but a few private companies joined in too.
Re HS2 I do not believe it has any larger merit and it is nowhere near me but it is interesting to note a fair few cities/regions around the North of England and in Scotland are judged to be losing economically and some of them in the high £100 millions.
I don't understand the mechanism but this comes from a fair few think tanks and eminent analysts (except maybe MAGS
Undoing a lot of beeching's mistakes as @ICBM and @jalapeno stated would be e far better way, especially for job starved areas like the West Country and further down there, because it has been proven a lot of damage was done there due to these cuts. I am sure there are more areas around the UK similarly affected. We have hindsight for this now and it is hard to deny.
We also have a couple of projects (funded by the community and sympathetic businesses) to re-lay some routes, already some areas are benefitting from this and heritage railways too.
For me it seems like desperation and a knee jerk after many years of successive governments hoping the issues will go away, knee jerk and poorly thought out.
What could possibly go wrong?
Plus our track record on big projects going woefully over budget and horrendously over the allotted time means the chances of it coming in on or under budget is slim to F all.
/rant no2
The arguments about this are dumb as we need more rail capacity - short haul flights will be banned before long [EU policy] so we need to connect our cities with high speed high capacity railways. I doubt HS2 will get built but this country is fast heading down the toilet through a lack of investment. Our road and rail networks are a joke compared to most of Europe as is much of our infrastructure from power stations to water and gas storage facilities.
I travelled through Europe on a clean high speed train two weeks ago. A zillion times better than anything in the UK. No over crowding, clean carriages very fast punctual service.
You can't get anything built in Britain any more - too many self interest groups.
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
Agreed we need upgrades but having ignored the issues for many years we need a proper solution proposed that is for the good of the country and not a wee bit of it.
Given the epic prevarication to date an extra bit of time to debate a fuller and better option would be time and money well spent.
But yes I agree that NIMBY-ism, cronyism, lobbying groups and various other stupid factors have not helped in this, but it is no excuse to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein