HS2 Given Govt Approval

[-:Undertaker:-]

The scheme has been deemed viable and economic, hence why they are going ahead with it (Rather than so called vanity reasons which don't stack up). Realistically I cannot see how a £32bn railway project could be funded by the private sector, no matter how it is divided up between firms and financed by various banks, the money just isn't there. I personally doubt a project of this scale has ever been carried out by the private sector for the reasons I've outlined. The government has to build some major infrastructure as otherwise it simply won't come about, infrastructure is vital to the economy after all.

The scheme has been deemed viable and economic by the government? is this the same government which believes the Olympics is a viable project? I am sorry but the private sector could finance this scheme (or the profitable parts) if it were to be profitable and viable, which it just isn't. The railway system of this country in itself needs major overhaul as it stands as even now some lines are still subsidised while they are owned by 'private companies' which aren't private at all. The truth is that, before long, the airline industry will continue to expand and will crush this white elephant so that not only will the taxpayer be paying for it in the first place, it will be forever paying for its repairs/upgrades of an expensive unviable railway line which serves no economical purpose.

If this is going to be a successful project and is not a vanity project, why don't we simply link every major city with HSR?

That is why even the French and Japanese high speed rail systems which have shown to be great successes have not been funded by the private sector either.

Because as with France, the government subsidies industry such as rail heavily (hence why France is facing a looming industrial crisis similar to our own in the 1970s) and Japan, well just look at their debt.

This government has no excuse for dumping this £40bn+ turd on my generation just so that the wealthy can travel in style.

[Jordy]

The scheme has been deemed viable and economic by the government? is this the same government which believes the Olympics is a viable project? I am sorry but the private sector could finance this scheme (or the profitable parts) if it were to be profitable and viable, which it just isn't. The railway system of this country in itself needs major overhaul as it stands as even now some lines are still subsidised while they are owned by 'private companies' which aren't private at all. The truth is that, before long, the airline industry will continue to expand and will crush this white elephant so that not only will the taxpayer be paying for it in the first place, it will be forever paying for its repairs/upgrades of an expensive unviable railway line which serves no economical purpose.

If this is going to be a successful project and is not a vanity project, why don't we simply link every major city with HSR?



Because as with France, the government subsidies industry such as rail heavily (hence why France is facing a looming industrial crisis similar to our own in the 1970s) and Japan, well just look at their debt.

This government has no excuse for dumping this £40bn+ turd on my generation just so that the wealthy can travel in style.

Well I'm sure if you looked into it, the plan is to link the major cities on HSR yes, it's likely by the end of this parliament, extensions to Manchester, East Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds will be pushed through. Anyway it does provide benefits to other cities anyway if you were to look into it. For instance a train from London to Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow could travel on High Speed 2 London to Birmingham before transferring on to traditional track for the rest. Therefore providing benefit to not just Birmingham but cutting down times to other cities too (particularly in the North-West).

You're talking like it's the 90s, the airline industry will not crush the railways at all, for the past decade the railways have been crushing the domestic airline industry (and international to extent, think London to Paris). On the likes of Birmingham to Glasgow, London to Manchester, the number of flights has drastically decreased in the past decade and the number of trains dramatically boosted. High Speed rail will definitely mark the end of flights between London to Manchester it seems. Low-cost airlines aren't as brilliant as they initially seemed with all their additional fees and many taxes, domestic air travel has been on the decrease for along-time and it only continue. The awful leg-room, overly complicated security process which many people find quite stressful and the fact airports aren't in city centres providing additional time and cost to people journeys (unlike rail) mean that in many situations it isn't better. The price of fuel will continue to rise anyway (Regardless of the enormous taxes on it) so air travel will just continue becoming less attractive.

[GoldenMerc]

woo house prices drop.... not