HS2-East - Why it should not be scrapped
I am annoyed to admit that, as a rail enthusiast, up until last week I was still labouring under the impression that HS2 was simply another high speed railway line -- same sort of idea as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link -- fast trains, dedicated track, limited stops.
How wrong I was. The main purpose of HS2 (as a whole) is to add new capacity to the rail network. Capacity that will allow the express trains currently using the West Coast Main Line, the Midland Main Line, and the East Coast Main Line to be diverted, freeing up vast numbers of train paths on the existing network.
As Nigel Harris, editor of RAIL Magazine, explains in this comment piece, high speed trains require a great deal of space in front of them in order that they may stop safely should the need arise. If this train is taken off the existing network and onto a new route, several more trains, whether local or stopping passenger, or freight, can use its space instead. This is way more effective than trying to increase capacity by small changes to the existing network, since such improvements are only at best tweaks to a system which is already near full capacity.
This is not a short read, but that's because it's written by an expert, not a politician. Nigel Harris knows his stuff, and gives a detailed critique of the negative social, political, and transport effects that cancelling HS2E will cause.
https://www.railmagazine.com/research-hub/comment/2021/09/06/an-act-of-betrayal-by-the-pm
(Make sure you click on the '2' to continue reading the second page!)
How wrong I was. The main purpose of HS2 (as a whole) is to add new capacity to the rail network. Capacity that will allow the express trains currently using the West Coast Main Line, the Midland Main Line, and the East Coast Main Line to be diverted, freeing up vast numbers of train paths on the existing network.
As Nigel Harris, editor of RAIL Magazine, explains in this comment piece, high speed trains require a great deal of space in front of them in order that they may stop safely should the need arise. If this train is taken off the existing network and onto a new route, several more trains, whether local or stopping passenger, or freight, can use its space instead. This is way more effective than trying to increase capacity by small changes to the existing network, since such improvements are only at best tweaks to a system which is already near full capacity.
This is not a short read, but that's because it's written by an expert, not a politician. Nigel Harris knows his stuff, and gives a detailed critique of the negative social, political, and transport effects that cancelling HS2E will cause.
https://www.railmagazine.com/research-hub/comment/2021/09/06/an-act-of-betrayal-by-the-pm
(Make sure you click on the '2' to continue reading the second page!)
