High speed 2 across the Pennines?

[Metroland]

Transport Minister Andrew Adonis has urged rail planners for High Speed 2 not to be bound by geographical constraints when plotting the alignment of a new route from London to the north of England.

Speaking at an event organised by Arup, the engineering consultancy credited with coming up with the final route for High Speed 1, he said that most other European countries were undertaking rail engineering projects comparable in scale with the Channel Tunnel in order to overcome historic transport impediments and create a trans-European high speed rail network.


Lord Adonis said: "There is no reason to be mprisoned in our thinking of future rail corridors by the fact, for example, that the Victorians built the West Coast and East Coast main lines and didn't go across the Pennines, which separate the two largest conurbations in the country after Greater London."

The transport minister said the UK needed to develop a single body of expertise in high speed rail, not only to meet engineering challenges but to control costs. "It is very important that policy-makers in Britain can call on a serious body of expertise in the detail of other countries' practice and plans in everything from funding and engineering to station design, location and spacing, and arrangements for freight, rolling stock and interoperability with the existing network."

http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/news/story?id=5929

 

[Waverley125]

HS rail does need to be taken across the Pennines. But it needs to be as part of a new Trans-pennine main line, serving Newcastle/York/Hull-Leeds-Manchester-Liverpool.

Despite the tories being the first party to propose it, the best route north is NOT to go to Leeds via Manchester, simply as that route will put at least 50 miles on the journey, in the end, giving very little reduction in journey time between leeds and London, but a much higher ticket price.

 

[mumrar]

I think it would be much easier to go through the Pennines in places than over them, it would ease the gradients . It is quite sad that the country who invented and nurtured engineering in modern times is now hamstrung by an obstacle such as this, when European nations have overcome the Alps. Also, look at that new line in China, it was never going to be easy but they did it.