A good take on the whole increasingly ridiculous saga here:
It’s finally official: HS2 is ‘unachievable’, according to the UK’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority. That doesn’t mean the project isn’t still happening, or that it won’t cost us billions, it just means that years – decades, probably – ahead of its launch we know it isn’t going to deliver...
capx.co
As the article says, we are not serious people.
Indeed (and by ridiculous I mean how badly is handled, but the concept of HS2) whilst costs should be a factor, it does appear that it's the only factor which just makes us look silly. (Numbers below are for illustrative purposes only).
What's it matter that we could save £100 million, when by making that cut it reduces the benefits of the scheme by £500 million over the next 10 years?
What's it matter that we delay starting running it to save £300 million, but push back 5 years where each year would have brought in £350 million and would have saved a further £30 million in interest each year?
It's almost as if we know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.
As someone who job is designing things, every time there's a change that's an extra cost to the client. It's not uncommon for projects to cost 3 or 4 times the initial quote for the design because of changes.
One example, a client asked us to review number of Rain Water Pipes from the roofs. Whilst it did reduce the construction costs a little, it also meant a reasonable amount of costs for the design as we had to go over it again.
Yes but all means ask us to do it on the next phase, but to do it on something which has designed isn't going to save as much.
How many redesigns of Euston are we at now? Given that architects often charge a percentage of the scheme costs, if that gets done too often the cost could will be the same as the whole design!
Even if it's not the whole cost, it's very easy to get to the point where the savings are wiped out.
How many staff do you expect to be on these trains?
I would expect a very large number of trains to operate with only a single crew member aboard, the driver.
There will be no call for dining services etc on trains with journeys below 90 minutes.
I would expect 3 as a minimum (a 4th if you want a fair, which many would like), the driver, a first class host and a catering person.
Whilst you may not want a dining service from Birmingham, from Manchester you would (bearing in mind GWR's Pullman services from Cardiff which is 110 minutes Vs HS2 to Manchester being 128 minutes) and from Scotland you definitely would (210 minutes).
Even at 90 minutes you're likely to sell a reasonable number of breakfast rolls (if your can get the offering right) on the earlier morning services. As it would allow people to roll out of bed get the train and then at the other end start straight away at work or in meetings.
The other thing to consider is that HS2 services are likely to be one leg of a longer journey (Southampton to Birmingham likely to be just quicker via HS2 than using XC, but it's more likely to see a more frequent service, likewise regional services from the West Midlands and North Wales). As such, and with a fairly short wait time at Birmingham and Old Oak Common, catering is likely to be reasonably popular.
On a train with 1,100 seats there's likely to be between 145 and 270 first class seats (the lower being the number on an 11 coach 390 and the upper being about the same percentage as is on an 11 coach 390), even at 20% full that's 29 people - which is more than XC can carry on one of their units. As such there's a good chance there'll be a reasonable justification to provide a first class host, especially in services going further than to Birmingham - however even to Birmingham would be reasonable.
Some cleaning could be done as the train travels (XC manage it), I'd suggest cleaners joining at OOC and staying in board until the train gets back to there. The same could be done between the Birmingham stations.