Will HS2 make rail travel worse.

[tomuk]

Surely from Kidderminster if you were going to drive somewhere to get HS2 into London it would be Birmingham Interchange? 43 mins drive, 10 mins parking, 38 mins to Euston.

Why not take the train to Moor Street? It's only 38 minutes on the fast trains. London in 90mins with a following wind.

 

[BayPaul]

Could be crazier, just ask the people of Leeds and Bradford how crazy the whole project is.

On the subject of Leeds, will HS2 improve a journey from Bristol to Leeds or Sheffield?

I suspect the answer I’m going to get on here in the usual dismissive style is that it doesn’t really matter because there’s only a tiny number of people making that particular point to point journey.

For me, that is the biggest missed opportunity of HS2. A connection to the Crosscountry line via a reversal in Curzon st wouldn't have been impossible or even particularly expensive, and would have given a big benefit to the whole of the South West

 

[Bletchleyite]

For me, that is the biggest missed opportunity of HS2. A connection to the Crosscountry line via a reversal in Curzon st wouldn't have been impossible or even particularly expensive, and would have given a big benefit to the whole of the South West

Which CrossCountry line? To Plymouth/Penzance? You'd need to get a lot of wires up first, there won't be any diesels or bi-modes allowed in the HS2 London-Chilterns tunnel.

 

[BayPaul]

Which CrossCountry line? To Plymouth/Penzance? You'd need to get a lot of wires up first, there won't be any diesels or bi-modes allowed in the HS2 London-Chilterns tunnel.

Yes. And bimodes. They wouldn't need to go through the Chilterns tunnel, so it doesn't seem impossible to tweak the rules, and it would hardly be a microfleet. Alternatively, loco hauling of electric sets, leaving the loco in Curzon st - push south, pull North

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes. And bimodes. They wouldn't need to go through the Chilterns tunnel, so it doesn't seem impossible to tweak the rules, and it would hardly be a microfleet. Alternatively, loco hauling of electric sets, leaving the loco in Curzon st - push south, pull North

Or just run them into Moor St bays via that proposed chord for quality connections. There isn't that much traffic across Birmingham, and to be honest a short break to use the no doubt excellent food and retail facilities there will be at Curzon St is unlikely to be unpleasant in a long journey like Newcastle or Leeds to Cornwall. And as has already been said, the expanded Moor St might as well be the same station.

 

[NoRoute]

Surely from Kidderminster if you were going to drive somewhere to get HS2 into London it would be Birmingham Interchange? 43 mins drive, 10 mins parking, 38 mins to Euston.

Pre-Covid the traffic on the M42 around the Interchange area used to be a nightmare in rush hour, not just in the immediate area which often comes to a standstill but further north on the approaches. Getting through in the evening was generally worse, particularly if there is an NEC event bringing the local road network and junction to a standstill.

It will be a similar calculation for anyone further north of Interchange, the time savings on HS2 are likely outweighed by the time lost in congestion, making the WCML services quicker overall.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

if it will be so profitable, why didnt the private sector take it up?

The intention was for China (and other sovereign wealth funds) and the global pensions industry to pay for HS2 construction.
But suddenly, the former is off the table now we have unfriended China (see the 5G telecoms debate) and the pensions folk have other priorities for now, like global recession and a new hot/cold war.