Tony GAug 5, 2023
The Man in Seat 61
The most accurate & incisive thing you'll read about HS2 all week... https://capx.co/hs2-is-making-britain-an-international-laughing-stock/
HS2 is making Britain an international laughing stock

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 what we need from it. What’s […]

CapX
Aug 3, 2023 at 7:19amWeb
Show threadTom StaffordAug 3, 2023
@seatsixtyone "As we try to pinch the pennies, the pounds roll out of the door" ouch
Show threadSpace HoboAug 3, 2023
@seatsixtyone The moment I gave up on this country was when Greens actively opposed FINISHING THE RAILWAY THAT HAD ALREADY DUG ALL THE TRENCHES and FILTERING CARS OUT OF RESIDENTIAL STREETS. The stupid right-wing Greg Hands motonormative bad-faith arguments just poisoned their thinking almost as badly as "population bomb" eco-fascism did in the 70s.
Show threadSpace HoboAug 3, 2023

@seatsixtyone Don't @ me with "bububut population is suuuch a dire crisis!!!"

The Population Bomb was a eugenicist book started by a white guy who was angry that there was traffic congestion when driving to a national park, and extrapolated that to "Well *India* will have to have fewer children!!!":

https://podtail.com/podcast/if-books-could-kill/the-population-bomb/

The Population Bomb – If Books Could Kill – Podcast

How a Stanford lepidopterist convinced the world to fear the breeding habits of the poor. Again. Support us on Patreon Where to find us: TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podca... – Listen to The Population Bomb by If Books Could Kill instantly on your tablet, phone or browser - no downloads needed.

Podtail
Show threadDuncanMSussexPolAug 3, 2023

@seatsixtyone the whole HS2 thing has been so depressing, something that (if anything) wasn't ambitious enough to begin with cut down further.

There's some serious issues pervading how this country works (independent of who is actually at the top) that is causing major problems. This is just it applied to transport.

Show threadMichaelAug 3, 2023
@seatsixtyone erm, i think we’re doing that anyway - with or without HS2 😬
Show threadTomasz OndruszAug 3, 2023
@seatsixtyone This struck me: ‘No sensible company would want to go anywhere near a major UK infrastructure project. No executive would want to lead one up. No civil servant would want to be involved at all. We have ensured that it is a sector without pride or prestige, because our politics prefers that we build nothing.’
Show threaddevoluteAug 3, 2023
@seatsixtyone Only now has it dawned on me that an HS2 line could have meant trains on other lines actually stopping at all those towns and villages around where I am in South Yorkshire - opening them up to tourism, investment, a wider job market… agh! What a disaster.
Show threadKatie FennAug 3, 2023

@devolute @seatsixtyone A really good example is Belper. One train per hour to Derby and Nottingham, hardly any service to Sheffield.

This is because it’s such an important trunk route for the EMR and Cross Country express services between Sheffield, Derby, London and Birmingham. There’s no room for anything else.

Very similar pressures on Dronfield and other towns. This is always what HS2 has been all about.

Show threaddevoluteAug 3, 2023

@katiefenn @seatsixtyone That's exactly the station I was thinking of as it happens! Dronfield is a lot better off though could be better, as you say.

I honestly wasn't aware. Maddening.

Show threadKatie FennAug 3, 2023
@devolute @seatsixtyone I’ll happily talk your head off (again) about it at the pub sometime - but yeah, the whole project has been poorly communicated and mismanaged throughout. But it really should be extraordinary.
Show threadSellaTheChemistAug 3, 2023
@seatsixtyone Spot on and very much echoing what Christian Wolmar has been saying for years. And a critical point here is “the idiotic opposition of the greens”. That is so true. It’s one reason why I have much sympathy for the greens, I cannot bring myself to join them.