The Anonymous Widower

The Battle for HS2

I listened with interest to the debate on Radio 5 yesterday morning about the London to Birmingham route of the High Speed Rail route called HS2.

On the one side were a few people who feel the line should be built and extended to the north, but the vast majority, including the respected rail commentator,  Christian Walmar,  were against the proposal. Many on both sides preferred emotive arguments instead of facts.

A classic selfish comment was from a man with a Range Rover, who said that to turn up and use the train cost him much more than the fuel for his gas-guzzler.

He may have a point about costs and I suspect he’s one of those who wouldn’t really wants to be seen dead on a train and say if he had an appointment in the West End of London, he’d drive. He’s probably one of those who rants against fuel, parking and clamping charges too.

I am sceptical about the need for HS2, although I do concede that we need extra capacity to the Midlands, North and Scotland.  But a lot of this is to get freight up and down the country.  You’d think this was a no-brainer, but any freight developments like the Radlett freight terminal, will get the Nimbys, who are worried more about their house prices than the ecomony of the country out in force.

To be fair to the government, they are trying to get a coherent strategy together on HS2 and the essential freight developments, and realise that if they don’t the problems in the economy will mean they are a one-term government. But if the strategy is accepted by those of sense, the Nimbys will still vote against it, when the election comes. 

After all a good rail strategy would mean that people will have to give up some of the things that they consider essential to their life, like the cottage in the country.

So what we see on HS2 is just a small skirmish in the long war against climate change. Many people will never change their selfish lifestyles and will fight and of course voteto keep their large car affordable.

So what would I do?

I did lay out a ladder strategy in Relections on My Journey to Scotland, with better West and East Coast routes. Whether or not we build HS2, some of that strategy needs to be done anyway.

1. Higher capacity on the West and East Coast routes.
2. Electrify Glasgow-Edinburgh, TransPennine and create a fast Birmingham to Peterborough route via Leicester or Derby.
3. Create proper interchange stations, so that changing is easy and quick. We need stations to be proud of that are destinations in their own right at Birmingham and many other places. How many stations are places where you could meet someone special for lunch or a business meeting? It is a list of two; St. Pancras and Liverpool Street. Although to be fair, some could be there fairly easily with vision and a small investment.
4. Scrap all of the dreadful rolling stock like Pacers, used in the North, East Anglia, the West and Wales that connect a large part of the country to the fast network and replace them with modern comfortable trains.
5. Whether HS2 is built on not, Euston should be rebuilt and be properly connected to King’s  Cross and St. Pancras.
6. Safeguard the proposed route of HS2.

March 1, 2011 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | High Speed Two, Nimbies, Trains