Recent content by steamdrivenand

I do wish that detractors of HS2 would think before they post their negative waves and stop applying the current situation to something that's 20 years out in the future.

I think the Scots can whistle for getting the UK to pay for their line, unless the UK supporters see political advantage at the referendum in committing to the line. Something like if independence is voted down UK pay and if independence goes ahead Scotland pays.

New Street the only station in the UK where I've never entered from any direction without the train stopping beforehand on approach. That's high speed (not). --- old post above --- --- new post below --- H, are you going round your carriage this morning surveying your fellow passengers about...

Small world Paul. There's an excellent book called 'The Pilmoor Boroughbridge and Knaresborough Railway' by Patrick Howat published by Martin Bairstow in 1991. RRP is £6.95 but the only two available via Amazon are at a rip off price of £20 and £33. You should be able to find it at a better...

It's like the premium fare myth. Will Birmingham Interchange/International/Intercontinental/Interplanetary be no good for incoming NEC traffic etc?

Sadly no longer up there H. Daughter http://howtobeadomesticdisgrace.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/hello.html produced a grandson nearly 4 years ago and Mrs SDA just had to be nearby. So we ended up in a village 5 miles south of Crewe, midway between the M6 and WCML. Appropriate really because my...

I think Haydn will have taken early retirement by then:lol: Seriously though I spent a large portion of my life commuting from near Hemel Hempstead into Central London and I never could get the trip down below 75 minutes or so. Hemel to Euston to Goodge St Chalfont & Latimer to Gt Portland St...

The thing is though, should we be thinking of 'fighting back'? I think you're missing the whole point of adding HS2 to the network. It's not about preserving or fighting to keep service patterns that have existed for centuries (well maybe century and a half), it's about a total change in the...

Well we've lived with the WCML about half a mile west of us for the last 3 years or so and you only hear it when the winds in the right direction, even then it's not at an invasive level. The plans for HS2 have it running a few hundred yards even further west behind a small line of hills, so I...

My grandparents lived in a bungalow backing onto the Uxbridge Met line when I was a lad. The line was in a cutting and my grandad used the land between his back fence and the cutting as an allotment. In fact he used the land behind his two neighbours as well. Their garden wasn't massively deep...

I've just read an article on the BBC News site that says that a property in Turweston nr Brackley (Phase One) has been valued at £0 for mortgage purposes, making it virtually unsellable. I've had a look at the property on Google Maps and also where HS2 is to run near the village. It's a...

Sort of taking that thought, could you see Compatibles leaving KGX and acting as a stopper until it reaches the wider spaced station sections north of PBO, then running @ 125 between ECML stops until turning out onto HS2 Phase 3 and running at HS to the north east.

I'm sorry but what are you 'future proofing'? I can see no way that high speed lines will become the norm in this country. It will always remain a network connecting a sparse number of regional stations. Those regional stations require large populations to make the whole thing worthwhile...

Oh and going to Classic OHLE Crewe to Chester means you can potentially benefit from the improved electric service well before the 20 years for HS2, with through running to Bangor and Holyhead if appropriate. Once HS2 arrives then there'll be potential for a Compatible service to London that...

I think it might be down to a number of factors: 1. Natural dislike of change 2. A perception that they or their locality is being demoted 3. A natural cynicism 4. A dislike of feeling manoeuvred into altering habits of travel (actually that's probably an amalgam of 1, 2 & 3). Me, I...