| HS2.... 18:32 - Oct 2 with 5802 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
Do we all have to pretend it was a great idea now? |  |
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| HS2.... on 21:51 - Oct 2 with 1741 views | WeWereZombies |
| HS2.... on 21:46 - Oct 2 by MJallday |
If they wanted people to get to Manchester from london 10 minutes quicker they could have just whacked the speed limit up to 75mph
Someone’s made a hide pile of money out of this sh1t show somewhere |
The way it is going it would have been quicker and cheaper to have rebuilt Manchester on the outskirts of, say, Harpenden... |  |
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| HS2.... on 21:58 - Oct 2 with 1722 views | StokieBlue |
Best thing about that railway is that it's called Whoosh.
That is superb.
For some context it was also built by China with all that entails.
SB |  | | |
| HS2.... on 22:00 - Oct 2 with 1712 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
| HS2.... on 21:58 - Oct 2 by StokieBlue |
Best thing about that railway is that it's called Whoosh.
That is superb.
For some context it was also built by China with all that entails.
SB |
Aren't China building our nuclear reactors now?
Or is that India? |  |
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| HS2.... on 22:02 - Oct 2 with 1708 views | Ewan_Oozami |
| HS2.... on 21:30 - Oct 2 by MK1 |
They had a 12% contingency for that. |
12%??? What planet are these people living on?? |  |
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| HS2.... on 22:11 - Oct 2 with 1696 views | StokieBlue |
| HS2.... on 22:00 - Oct 2 by Nthsuffolkblue |
Aren't China building our nuclear reactors now?
Or is that India? |
It was China but the UK bought them out around 10 months ago I believe.
Slightly different scenarios though, China wanted to build ours to get the ridiculously large contracts, they wanted to build Indonesia's to impart political leverage as part of their silk road project.
Either way, the UK should be fully capable of building both our own railways and our own commercial reactors, something that we were the first to do in both cases. It's farcical that it's no longer the case that we can.
Pathetic really.
SB | | | |
| HS2.... on 22:16 - Oct 2 with 1694 views | Dubtractor |
| HS2.... on 22:11 - Oct 2 by StokieBlue |
It was China but the UK bought them out around 10 months ago I believe.
Slightly different scenarios though, China wanted to build ours to get the ridiculously large contracts, they wanted to build Indonesia's to impart political leverage as part of their silk road project.
Either way, the UK should be fully capable of building both our own railways and our own commercial reactors, something that we were the first to do in both cases. It's farcical that it's no longer the case that we can.
Pathetic really.
SB |
It's the inevitable conclusion of decades of 'let the market decide'.
So much of our nations infrastructure and utilities is now run by foreign companies it is insane. |  |
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| HS2.... on 22:21 - Oct 2 with 1685 views | Leaky |
| HS2.... on 20:11 - Oct 2 by DanTheMan |
They could have spent the money they've already spent improving or adding to the infrastructure that was already there.
But now we've started it seems bloody pointless to make a train line that goes from just outside Birmingham to outside London slightly faster than the line that's already there.
What a waste of time and money. I'm sure some private companies made lots of money though. |
It's what happens when the government of the day runs things. The victoriana seem to have got things done ok |  | | |
| HS2.... on 22:29 - Oct 2 with 1669 views | Swansea_Blue |
| HS2.... on 21:58 - Oct 2 by StokieBlue |
Best thing about that railway is that it's called Whoosh.
That is superb.
For some context it was also built by China with all that entails.
SB |
It’s on a par with their President being called Joko Widodo. It’s the sort of name that should feature in songs.
The stats for that rail link are nuts. 88 miles long, with top speeds of 220 mph. Or in other words, they’ve built a new railway for a 24 minute journey (probably a bit longer with acceleration and deceleration plus any stops, in fairness!). |  |
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| HS2.... on 22:36 - Oct 2 with 1657 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| HS2.... on 22:11 - Oct 2 by StokieBlue |
It was China but the UK bought them out around 10 months ago I believe.
Slightly different scenarios though, China wanted to build ours to get the ridiculously large contracts, they wanted to build Indonesia's to impart political leverage as part of their silk road project.
Either way, the UK should be fully capable of building both our own railways and our own commercial reactors, something that we were the first to do in both cases. It's farcical that it's no longer the case that we can.
Pathetic really.
SB |
Apart from we had to outsource all that dirty industrial stuff as part of project globalisation and to feel good about ourselves....thanks EU. | |
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| HS2.... on 22:45 - Oct 2 with 1645 views | Swansea_Blue |
| HS2.... on 22:36 - Oct 2 by BanksterDebtSlave |
Apart from we had to outsource all that dirty industrial stuff as part of project globalisation and to feel good about ourselves....thanks EU. |
Lol. Now you’re being silly. | |
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| HS2.... on 23:26 - Oct 2 with 1633 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| HS2.... on 22:45 - Oct 2 by Swansea_Blue |
Lol. Now you’re being silly. |
See 'recycling!'
Edit...unless you mean the EU bit which was a cheeky added extra! [Post edited 2 Oct 2023 23:28]
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| HS2.... on 07:07 - Oct 3 with 1589 views | BlueBadger |
| HS2.... on 22:21 - Oct 2 by Leaky |
It's what happens when the government of the day runs things. The victoriana seem to have got things done ok |
So, what you're saying is that instead of cutting in order to fund tax cuts for the very well off and bungs for their mates they should have been investing in infrastructure for the last 13 years? |  |
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| HS2.... on 07:29 - Oct 3 with 1575 views | keanekipper |
| HS2.... on 20:00 - Oct 2 by RegencyBlue |
Because like all government contracts the costs will initially have been based on everything going exactly to plan with no delays/problems/excessive inflation and the contractors will have over promised on delivering.
Corruption? Possibly, but more likely that government ministers and senior civil servants are just not experienced enough in the areas they are making decisions on and the firm’s building this thing are running rings around them.
It was ever thus, unfortunately! |
im abit ITK here, i heard from an auditor at my place of work that there are no fixed contracts in place and contractors and companies are having a field day. |  | | |
| HS2.... on 08:09 - Oct 3 with 1535 views | DJR |
| HS2.... on 20:00 - Oct 2 by RegencyBlue |
Because like all government contracts the costs will initially have been based on everything going exactly to plan with no delays/problems/excessive inflation and the contractors will have over promised on delivering.
Corruption? Possibly, but more likely that government ministers and senior civil servants are just not experienced enough in the areas they are making decisions on and the firm’s building this thing are running rings around them.
It was ever thus, unfortunately! |
I'm not sure if was ever thus.
Maybe it's a feature of public/private partnerships where the odds seem too heavily stacked in favour of the private sector.
Don't forget that when we had nationalised industries with great in-house expertise, the world's first nuclear station was built in three years, something which strikes me as being pretty impressive, given how long nuclear projects take these days. [Post edited 3 Oct 2023 10:37]
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| HS2.... on 08:12 - Oct 3 with 1527 views | DanTheMan |
| HS2.... on 08:09 - Oct 3 by DJR |
I'm not sure if was ever thus.
Maybe it's a feature of public/private partnerships where the odds seem too heavily stacked in favour of the private sector.
Don't forget that when we had nationalised industries with great in-house expertise, the world's first nuclear station was built in three years, something which strikes me as being pretty impressive, given how long nuclear projects take these days. [Post edited 3 Oct 2023 10:37]
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"Don't forget that when we had nationalised industries with great in-house expertise, the world's first nuclear station was built in three years."
I imagine this is one of the biggest issues, just a brain drain from years of cuts and privatisation.
Anecdotally, I saw a senior developer job being touted around in my area working for the civil service. Paid a good 20k under what you'd expect in the midlands, let alone London. |  |
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| HS2.... on 08:15 - Oct 3 with 1513 views | GeoffSentence |
| HS2.... on 21:34 - Oct 2 by Rob88 |
I’m sure we could do that if we paid everyone a bowl of rice. |
And they would all work harder with a gun at their back. |  |
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| HS2.... on 08:17 - Oct 3 with 1509 views | DJR |
| HS2.... on 08:12 - Oct 3 by DanTheMan |
"Don't forget that when we had nationalised industries with great in-house expertise, the world's first nuclear station was built in three years."
I imagine this is one of the biggest issues, just a brain drain from years of cuts and privatisation.
Anecdotally, I saw a senior developer job being touted around in my area working for the civil service. Paid a good 20k under what you'd expect in the midlands, let alone London. |
And it should be noted that once they were privatised many people with years of expertise were given early retirement to cut costs, with the costs of early retirement being funded out of enormous pension fund surpluses.
My dad was a case in point.
It was probably the starting point for the idea that we don't need experts. And no wonder the privatised utilities have performed so badly ever since. [Post edited 3 Oct 2023 8:19]
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| HS2.... on 08:35 - Oct 3 with 1473 views | leitrimblue |
| HS2.... on 07:29 - Oct 3 by keanekipper |
im abit ITK here, i heard from an auditor at my place of work that there are no fixed contracts in place and contractors and companies are having a field day. |
Irish archaeological consultancies have made a absolute fortune.......  |  | | |
| HS2.... on 08:59 - Oct 3 with 1437 views | GlasgowBlue |
Absolute shambles that we can’t build decent infrastructure in this country. |  |
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| HS2.... on 09:21 - Oct 3 with 1407 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| HS2.... on 08:59 - Oct 3 by GlasgowBlue |
Absolute shambles that we can’t build decent infrastructure in this country. |
Thatcher and privatisation hey! | |
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| HS2.... on 10:27 - Oct 3 with 1361 views | brazil1982 |
| HS2.... on 07:29 - Oct 3 by keanekipper |
im abit ITK here, i heard from an auditor at my place of work that there are no fixed contracts in place and contractors and companies are having a field day. |
Indeed. My o/h is involved, lightly, as a Consultant on HS2. There are hundreds of "consultants", and HS2 is made up of around 40 separate companies. It's a farce.
Planning rules have been a real blockage in the system, as has the price of raw materials and construction.
She doubts this will ever go to Manchester. |  | | |
| HS2.... on 10:48 - Oct 3 with 1321 views | Tractor_Buck |
| HS2.... on 20:39 - Oct 2 by DanTheMan |
But that's the thing, who does this benefit? From what I've seen they won't extend it into Euston where at least it would make some small amount of sense. We'll have a train going from Birmingham to Old Oak Common.
Truly what the country has been crying out for. |
To be precise, Digbeth to Wormwood Scrubs but that doesn't sound as attractive.
The Birmingham end has been a joke from the start. Curzon Street is outside the city centre, a half mile walk from the main rail hub at New Street, so passengers will have to disembark at New Street, get out of the station which can take ages during the rush hour, then walk or get the as yet unbuilt Midland Metro to Curzon Street. They will then travel to a park on the edge of London on HS2 where they will then have to get on the Lizzy (already pretty crowded) to get anywhere useful.
I suspect it will actually end up being quicker overall to stay on the train you came in to Brum on/get the Avanti from New Street and go straight to Euston, than it will to go through all that hassle just to get on the HS2. |  | | |
| HS2.... on 10:58 - Oct 3 with 1300 views | Pinewoodblue |
Never really thought it was a good idea in the first place. High speed tracks are good for long distances but longer distances than London to Manchester.
On an average day there are 48 direct trains each way between London & Liverpool. How many people who make that journey are going to change trains in Manchester, very few I suspect?
The need is for increased capacity to all major cities. Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow , Edinburgh etc. HS2 doesn’t meet that need.
I note very few, if any , have answered the original question are you waiting for Starmer to tell you what to think? |  |
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| HS2.... on 10:59 - Oct 3 with 1300 views | StokieBlue |
| HS2.... on 08:09 - Oct 3 by DJR |
I'm not sure if was ever thus.
Maybe it's a feature of public/private partnerships where the odds seem too heavily stacked in favour of the private sector.
Don't forget that when we had nationalised industries with great in-house expertise, the world's first nuclear station was built in three years, something which strikes me as being pretty impressive, given how long nuclear projects take these days. [Post edited 3 Oct 2023 10:37]
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Small pedantic point:
The first nuclear power station was built outside of Moscow in 1954. The first commercial nuclear power station was built in the UK in 1956.
I suspect that regulations in 1956 were a bit more lax but as you say, the speed of construction was impressive.
The real issue here is short term thinking. We should have nationalised companies building infrastructure (wind, solar, nuclear, rail etc) offering jobs at all levels from university graduates to apprenticeships.
It would solve many issues.
SB | | | |
| HS2.... on 11:12 - Oct 3 with 1262 views | giant_stow |
| HS2.... on 10:59 - Oct 3 by StokieBlue |
Small pedantic point:
The first nuclear power station was built outside of Moscow in 1954. The first commercial nuclear power station was built in the UK in 1956.
I suspect that regulations in 1956 were a bit more lax but as you say, the speed of construction was impressive.
The real issue here is short term thinking. We should have nationalised companies building infrastructure (wind, solar, nuclear, rail etc) offering jobs at all levels from university graduates to apprenticeships.
It would solve many issues.
SB |
I'd add nationalised house-builders to your list too. Anything to disrupt this construction gravy train. Even on a local level, the pavement on my road is getting dug up for 4th time in a year for some sort of road works - cha-ching! |  |
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