And you are talking only of ‘the grand design’ and deliberately avoiding the practicalities.
The government has basically created the London orbital motorway situation again.
What needs to be done to get 2a on the go again? Can the PM just say "do it!" or will a new business case be needed with new contracts negotiated?
No main works contracts have been agreed or signed, so nothing to re-negotiate there. Its all been enabling/survey work so far.
Short and perhaps even medium term I think the best that could be hoped for for 2a is;
The UK motorway network was built in a different era, when construction costs were much cheaper, and there were far fewer issues with planning, the environment, health and safety etc
It already is, its a NR job.
Indeed, the M40 across Otmoor, Twyford Down etc being cases in point.
Optimistic people say that the increase of local land value pays for it, pessimistic people say the Treasury pays now and hopes to collect later.
Hopefully it won't be cancelled or have the HS2 capacity descoped now
Won't be cancelled, but it will be massively descoped.
to the extent that reinstating phase 2a would require more engineering works at the station?
That is apparently the position that HS2 is pushing for.
No, as HS2 arrives at Basford Hall, that wouldn't be altered. Not aware of any works to P5 being taken out of scope yet, 6 is long enough I believe.
Unfortunate.Labour leader Keir Starmer says he's ruled out bringing HS2 to the North
The leader of the opposition said it would be 'impossible'www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Well there goes any hope of HS2 North and East. Such a shame as it would have been revolutionary.
How about we sell off all the land, and with the money raised attempt to keep the current Mainlines running. The Great Western is literally falling to bits at the moment, some serious money needs spending to keep the railway open between London and the West. Throwing money at a dead Hs2 isn't going to benefit the majority of our network which is crying out for investment.
The land is overwhelmingly agricultural and worth essentially nothing as a result.
That'll probably pay for a year's worth of running the railway. If you're lucky.
Such a shame. I can't tell if his decision is actually a sensible one from a prospective government perspective or if its another example of Labour trying to keep the public happy (and, by extension, themselves ahead in the polls) by not reigniting proposals around an already controversial infrastructure project.Labour leader Keir Starmer says he's ruled out bringing HS2 to the North
The leader of the opposition said it would be 'impossible'
Well there goes any hope of HS2 North and East. Such a shame as it would have been revolutionary.
I agree with this fully.
Yet I reckon if for example Old oak common was sold off for high rise flats a decent amount of money could be raised. Any pockets of land in the south east would surely be worth a fortune. Trouble is I suppose they have cancelled the wrong bit of HS2, the London to Birmingham bit is the least needed, yet this is the bit being forced through.
But there is a world outside London Birmingham and Manchester. The rest of the country creeks on with its ageing network falling to bits, meanwhile we have an expensive all singing all dancing network connecting just 3 cities. Anyone who has travelled on the Western in the past couple of months realises just how desperate things are getting. The money needs to come from somewhere to keep it all going, and this goes for other parts of the UK too.
Investment into HS2 doesn't have to come at the expense as the rest of the network, and money for HS2 isn't necessarily money that can be spent on the rest of the network, so cancelling HS2's northern leg won't necessarily mean it will improve the Great Western. Also while you are right in saying that there is a world outside London, Birmingham and Manchester, they are still ultimately the most important cities in the UK and among the busiest routes on the network in need of capacity and better connectivity.
HS2 has never been about linking London, Manchester and Birmingham. It's all about increasing capacity on the busiest railway in the country (and one of the busiest in Europe).
But my point is, we have to choose between a decent nationwide rail network, or get HS2 whilst the rest is allowed to slowly rot and decay. There isn't the money to carry on the way we are going. I genuinely fear we are sleep walking towards an horrific accident if money isn't spent soon. Apparently some HS2 money was to be diverted to be spent on road potholes , so I see no reason why the money couldn't be diverted into making the classic network better.
