I am grateful to Mike Peat for highlighting many of the follies of the HS2 rail route.
There are indeed many reasons why the High-Speed route from London to Birmingham and Manchester is not a good idea. I hasten to add that in saying this I am not endorsing Archdruid Eileen's view that "what's the point of running trains at high-speed to Birmingham? Who's gonna want to get there in a hurry?"
No, there is the point that £33bn could be spent upgrading schools, eliminating poverty, or dredging the country's canals. We could re-open dozens of branch lines - run the Varsity Line all the way from Cambridge to Oxford and put back Husborne Crawley Station. We could extend the Northampton and Lamport Railway all the way from Northampton to Market Harborough again, and keep the bicycle path alongside so that Dave Warnock can still go on cycling trips to London.
But ignoring the alternatives, the greatest folly is clear for all to see.
If a train is travelling at 200mph - how would we be able to collect the number?
By the time they've paid for the track, they probably won't be able to afford more than one engine, so not many numbers to spot
ReplyDelete1. Surely the point of running high speed trains to Birmingham is to make it possible to run high speed trains AWAY from Birmingham.
ReplyDelete2. It's an evil plan by the government to restrict trainspotting to the privileged few who can afford to charter a helicopter.