In reply to a post by MHC:

But there is no reason why they did not consider using double deck trains on HS2. There are many failings on HS2 planning, scheduling and roll out wit a total lack of "joined up thinking".

I'm not aware of any high-speed services that use double-deck trains.

Quite a few in Europe, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Luxembourg at up to 320km/h.

edit to add:

https://www.alstom.com/our-solutions/rolling-stock/a...

Edited by MHC (Sat 13-Feb-21 18:42:10)

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

In reply to a post by broadband66:

"HS2 is way more important that HS2" ?????

Lockdown has proved that there is no need to arrive in an office half an hour earlier when meetings, etc can be carried out via video conferencing software.

The point that most people miss is that the construction of HS2 (a passenger railway) dramatically improves the capacity of the railway to handle freight traffic which is a situation of significant importance as we try to reduce our carbon footprint. When HS2 is open a lot of the passenger trains will be removed from the conventional railway network freeing up space for a more freight. At the moment the conventional railway from London to the Midlands and North West is actually running at over capacity so there is very little opportunity to add further freight trains. HS2 will bring that opportunity.

HS2 is only important to the elites and bungs for their mates ,The country will not benefit from this waste of money It would from Full fibre, Bit like his bridge to NI across the Irish sea, lol it would spend more time closed

In reply to a post by heathrow:

Here: https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/eddie-mair/ca...

The Telegraph is a rag for the Tories - it won't ever challenge stuff they say.


I'm afraid Boris Johnson is untruthful. He;s done this stuff before:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8692103.stm


- claim that every bus stop and lamp post would over 'free wifi' was always a nonsense.

He lies frequently especially last year, but when he has ZERO credible opposition he can get way with doing anything he likes, And CTP Hindsight is even worse, There is only 1 MP who is vote worthy out of the 650 of them

I'd be amazed if there were not many complaints regarding the effect of Eurostar trains on the South East rail network. Indeed many people may not have realised their regular timetable or route was changed specifically to accommodate Eurostar trains

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

There is quite and interesting article in todays Daily Telegraph about the poor support the government is providing for the roll out of FTTP broadband.

I hope everyone can read the article but authorized access to the website may be needed.

It appear that the government would rather spend up to £170 billion on HS2 rather than £5 billion on FTTP.

We can't read it as it needs a subscription, I would not buy the Torygraph as a printed newspaper, so I certainly would not subscribe to it.

My idea in another thread was to have a FTTP network laid by one company or at first I thought it would be a good thing for the government to do it. But I don't think the Tax payers should pay for private companies to run it, no more than I think the tax payers should pay for HS2 for private companies to run their trains, unless they pay an amount to use the network.

So if the government put money into a new network, be it train or FTTP, then the companies should pay the government back, not that I agree with having a need for a HS2 no more than i agreee4d with the need for a by-pass for this city, which have now been cancelled

On the one firm running it the problem is not money but rather who and how its run. People want AAISP but likely to be Tiscali style

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

The problem with HS2 is that it has a significant adverse environmental impact. The problem of route capacity could gave been addressed by using double decker trains as on the Swiss railways.

The UK rail network suffers greatly from being the first. What you suggest would require the lifting of many bridges and raising the ceiling of many tunnels as while the track gauge might be the same as on the continent, the loading gauge (aka the size of carriage that can go down the track) is much smaller in the UK.

There is a legitimate and valid beef with HS2, and that centres around it's top speed. Basically a 250mph railway is a *LOT* more expensive (like tens of billions) than a 200mph railway. However due to the relatively small size of the UK and the distances between stations means the trains will only spend very short times at 250mph. You are spending 10's of billions to cut 3 minutes of the journey time to Birmingham from the numbersI have seen.

Consequently the top speed needs cutting down to 200mph at least on the sections up to Manchester (get the trains for 250mph speed as north of Manchester there is long runs up to Glasgow that make it worth while) and spend the money saved on fibre broadband.

Unfortunately the 250mph is a willy waving contest.

It's the joy of capitalism.

In a nationalised undertaking you wouldn;t have the likes of AAISP (premium service, premium price - I was a happy customer for many years).


You'd have PO Telephones - long delay for stuff, homogenised product. Expensive and poor,.

You want a new broadband line? 18 months wait.

To see why a nationalised provider was a bad idea, and why allowing the incumbent to do what it ikes, check out this 2004 Channel 4 documentary: https://youtu.be/-zHAj0XoHy8

Power Behind The Button? My [censored].

The issue with HS2 is relatively few people will have a faster or easier journey. If you are lucky to live close to one of the HS2 stations your journey time might improve but hardly an earth shattering time saving, however for many people getting on to the HS2 line will require a train from their local station or some other form of public transport/car first, removing any speed advantage from just staying on a train from their local station as they might do now. If the government/rail companies start to force people onto HS2 by removing services from existing lines, many people will have a much longer and frustrating commute to work.

Given the pandemic and how many people are now working from home, HS2 is looking more like a waste of money than it was before, and investing in other infrastructure like FTTP would be more beneficial. Surely it is more environmentally friendly to have people travelling less from home to work rather than being at work everyday but a bit faster.