HS2 shambles!

It’s incredible to think we are this far down the road with this vanity project for the Tory’s and they’re now looking to ditch large parts of it and reduce other parts.

It really is hard to stomach being governed by such a bunch of short term minded imbeciles.

I listened to a very interesting interview with founder of Phones4U billionaire John Cauldwell on SKY today and he was absolutely spot on in his scathing criticism of Sunak and the Tory’s and he was speaking as a lifelong Tory and one time donor to the party.

We are continually governed by weak people with self serving agendas who end up putting the U.K. into the slow lane rather than at the forefront of innovation and striving to lead the world.

Even after this lot suffer a Blair 97 style hammering late next year I don’t expect things to change much under Starmer.

He’ll have the sort of huge majority that should allow him to by really positive in his thinking and his policies but I don’t think he’ll be brave enough.

Oh for the chance of one great political leader to come to the fore who stops worrying about pandering to every element of his or her party and just sets a radical and positive forward thinking agenda.

Personally, I’d like to see Andy Burnham as PM at some point once he’s done with being major of Manchester.

I see he’s just reintroduced public sector buses into his region, at least the guy is willing to try things.

Another year plus of this political Pygmy Sunak and the rag tag bunch of lightweights sitting around the table with him.

I never thought id end up saying this but the size of hammering they take next year could never be large enough.

A ship of fools.

The problem is the vast amount of money already spent on this project. I wouldn’t abandon it but complete it as far as Birmingham and postpone the rest until the country is in a better position to complete the task. I would like to add that I was against HS2 in the first place but because of the amount already spent it would be better to eventually complete it. Just my opinion.

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Originally Posted by Leicesterbaggie

The problem is the vast amount of money already spent on this project. I wouldn’t abandon it but complete it as far as Birmingham and postpone the rest until the country is in a better position to complete the task. I would like to add that I was against HS2 in the first place but because of the amount already spent it would be better to eventually complete it. Just my opinion.

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Agree with you and think this is the only sensible thing at this stage Leics. Like yourself, I have never supported HS2 as I believe that such huge amounts of money could have been better spent elsewhere in our transport system which may have benefited far more people across the country.

Shapps is right in his assertation that it "would be crazy not to review" it, especially given the current economic situation but trying to pin all the ever escalating costs purely on the covid pandemic and the fallout from the war in Ukraine is disingenuous. Certainly both had a huge impact on the project just as they have right across the economy but the sheer numbers involved when estimating over-budget costs (which began to show themselves from the very start) suggest complete ineptitude in managing it. Does indeed smack of a Tory vanity project, continually pushed through by Johnson regardless of cost or warning signs.

So much for the governments promise to the north, levelling up my arse!

I don’t think that it was ever going to be worth whatever it was going to cost; a huge amount of money to shave off about ten minutes from London to Birmingham. Our country is not as large as France, Germany, Italy or Spain, where the greater distances would provide more of a justification. Even now, it will be many years before the high speed trains actually go into Euston and at the Birmingham end, I don’t think that it will go right into the City centre (New Street). I think that the Birmingham-London route should be finished but not to High Speed specifications; use it for current trains and freight. The money wasted on this project though, could have made a big difference to rail infrastructure in all areas of the country.

Oh, and another thing, I do believe that there was support and opposition to HS2 across the whole political spectrum. So, if it hadn’t been the Tories squandering the money, it would have been Labour. This Conservative government has been bad but Labour would have been no better and if that had been under Corbyn, we would be in a far worse state.

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Originally Posted by kettering_baggie

I don’t think that it was ever going to be worth whatever it was going to cost; a huge amount of money to shave off about ten minutes from London to Birmingham. Our country is not as large as France, Germany, Italy or Spain, where the greater distances would provide more of a justification. Even now, it will be many years before the high speed trains actually go into Euston and at the Birmingham end, I don’t think that it will go right into the City centre (New Street). I think that the Birmingham-London route should be finished but not to High Speed specifications; use it for current trains and freight. The money wasted on this project though, could have made a big difference to rail infrastructure in all areas of the country.

Oh, and another thing, I do believe that there was support and opposition to HS2 across the whole political spectrum. So, if it hadn’t been the Tories squandering the money, it would have been Labour. This Conservative government has been bad but Labour would have been no better and if that had been under Corbyn, we would be in a far worse state.

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It’s never really been about the commuter links Kets, this is about moving large volumes of freight, keeps it off the roads and should in realty make things cheaper and easier for our northern industries to move goods. We have to look long term, all we get are governments doing what’s right for them and the next election, bugger all long term vision and plan.

Apologies for having not read the thread, my comments are based purely on the thread title. HS2 would be a fine if overly expensive project if we had a fully integrated rail system and a uniform network.

We do not have a fully integrated rail system and network though and until we do HS2 will be an expensive folly.

And we're not likely to get a fully integrated rail system and uniform network any time soon either so what a waste of time, effort, money, lobbying and landscape.

The elephant in the room is that we do need to upgrade the rail system in this country. Noble ideal but they needed a better idea than just getting to London a bit quicker.

Anyone remember HS2 was first proposed in 2009 by the then Labour government? HS2 Limited was created in the same year with the intention of linking as far as Scotland!