Re: Election 2019 Exit Poll
 

'eventually the north ', mmm, sounds like a Tory policy ! . Failing branch lines in the North are more in need of any investment going than this vanity project.

Re: Election 2019 Exit Poll
 

HS2 is not a good brand name as it's about capacity not speed.

Re: Election 2019 Exit Poll
 

Approximately 10% of the U.K. is developed.

https://fullfact.org/economy/has-92-...ot-been-built/

A train line is not going destroy the greenery of the nation.

China can build 2,300 km of high speed rail per year.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/pr...ther-countries

Because they are an Autocratic regime, if they want it done, it gets done. It’s for the prosperity of the country and they do it.

We, thank god, are not an autocratic regime, but I do think for projects of national importance we should be able to do what’s required instead of trying to appease everyone.

Re: Election 2019 Exit Poll
 

Also HS2 isn't the end of it. Once completed we could build connections to those hubs, either high speed or normal speed, to further connect the country. Also people downplay the speed but it is important. Even 30 mins from Birmingham means a day trip to London takes an hour less. From Manchester it's a two hours less. If it goes up to Scotland then the benefits are greater still. It makes trips around the U.K in a day a lot more feasible.

Re: Election 2019 Exit Poll
 

Actually the origin of the plan to build out from London to Birmingham and then the north is in 2009, and the last full year of Labour government. Given the treasury’s standing orders since forever, it’s not surprising that the business case for starting with the London-Birmingham link was easier to make. A Tory government has just changed those standing orders. That’s one of the reasons I think the project is going to continue.

---------- Post added at 22:09 ---------- Previous post was at 22:01 ----------

Indeed.

We need to move stuff out of London. State owned or controlled concerns like government departments and the BBC can simply be ordered to do so. Private businesses need incentives. With Birmingham and Manchester reliably less than a day trip away, businesses can have the confidence that moving operations out of the capital doesn’t disconnect them from it.

Getting the Edinburgh/Glasgow-London journey time comfortably below 4 hours from centre to centre, with no security checks, queueing and checking in, makes the journey, even on mostly non-high speed track, competitive with flying, especially as you can get productive work done on the train.

---------- Post added at 22:39 ---------- Previous post was at 22:09 ----------

I don’t think we need a general purpose political thread now the election is done with. Feel free to start a new thread to discuss any specific issues.