Quality journalism from stophs2

[All Line Rover]

I have attached a screenshot of a 'news article' on the stophs2 website, which comments on the recent disruption at Finsbury Park station. Have a read. It's a good laugh. For example:

"Passengers could have been advised to travel from Euston and change at places like Tamworth, Birmingham or even Manchester to get to Scotland and the Eastern side of the England. If enough passengers could have been diverted to Euston to start their journey on West Coast routes, the number of trains needed from Finsbury Park would have been reduced."​

That sounds like a terrific idea. Who cares that the line north of Euston is closed? And it appears that England is now called 'the England'.

"As someone who left London via Finsbury Park Station on the day of the London Bombings in July 2005, it seemed amazing that this situation was being handled worse than that day, when of course both Kings Cross and Euston were in lockdown."​

Perhaps that's not the best comparison.

"Whilst the DfT have been trying to make out [that alternatives to HS2] will lead to '14 years of weekend closures', they miss off the fact almost all of it can be done over night when it will cause no disruption at all."​

Precisely. Which is why the author hasn't noticed the irony of saying this in a 'news story' on the subject of overrunning overnight engineering works!

 

[NSEFAN]

I wonder if any of the stophs2 campaign believe that incidents like Finsbury Park are staged to make us all think that HS2 is necessary

 

[NotATrainspott]

There's really no point listening to any of the anti-HS2 campaign groups now. They've used all their political capital on opposition to the concept of the scheme at all so they're not going to get much thrown their way when mitigation measures are considered.

 

[All Line Rover]

It is unfortunate that, with the integration of the official HS2 website into the awful 'gov.uk' website, much of the useful information on HS2 has been lost from public view (although it is still available from The National Archives) and the fourth result on Google for 'HS2' is now the stophs2 website.

 

[MidlandMainlie]

Anyone understand what he is banging on about in this paragraph here (espically the bolded part)?

To get around that, there are these options; you accept much longer turnaround times for trains to get in and out of the station, the train services have to be cut during the rebuild, or the trains or passengers have to go elsewhere. HS2 Ltd and Network Rail have come to this realisation all too late, with the DfT saying a couple of months ago that they were looking into diverting commuter services to Tring onto Crossrail, but the problem there is that the two systems are not compatible, with one using Direct Current and the other Alternating Current. The problem with this of course, and other potential re-routing options such as sending more trains from the West Midlands down the Chiltern Line into Marylebone, Paddington, or onto the new North London Line at Northolt, is that they would help demonstrate that the fundamental argument for HS2, that it is needed for capacity, is totally false.

He either thinks that Crossrail is using DC or thinks that the Tring stoppers go via the Watford DC lines. Even if they did use different voltages dual voltage stock isn't exactly hard to come by these days.

Shows the level of rail expertise at Stop HS2 :roll:

 

[UrbanWorld]

There's really no point listening to any of the anti-HS2 campaign groups now. They've used all their political capital on opposition to the concept of the scheme at all so they're not going to get much thrown their way when mitigation measures are considered.

Not one piece of infrastructure has been built yet. They still haven't determined to the route 100%. There is still a lot of miles to cover before the brick wall. They must keep going.

Rail is a means to an end, not the means.

 

[Geezertronic]

The only people who win as a result of the frequent legal challenges are the lawyers - I wonder how many of those live in Buckinghamshire...

Stupid comments like the ones mentioned by the OP do nothing to help their "case", it only makes them look stupid

 

[nuneatonmark]

Where were all these HS2 NIMBYs when they built a 6 lane motorway through the same countryside they claim to be protecting?

 

[Geezertronic]

Where were all these HS2 NIMBYs when they built a 6 lane motorway through the same countryside they claim to be protecting?

You could say it is 8 lanes including the hard shoulder

Check out http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/8...xtension_opened_linking_Oxford_to_Birmingham/ if you are bored - with the internet it's just a lot more visible to those of us outside the area now. The article refers to Oxford but the same applies I guess

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Who or what is "stophs2" when it is at home?

 

[AM9]

Who or what is "stophs2" when it is at home?

The Buckinghamshire Nimbys as in 'Stop HS2'.

Its home is in the rich people's bit of the Chilterns

 

[Snapper]

Folks might find today's blog post on the failing anti Hs2 campaign of interest:

https://paulbigland.wordpress.com/2015/01/17/the-anti-hs2-campaign-dying-by-degrees-pt1/

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The Buckinghamshire Nimbys as in 'Stop HS2'.

Its home is in the rich people's bit of the Chilterns

Oh dear, I looked at the word used and immediately read the "ph" as an "f" sound, similar to the girl's name "Stephanie".

 

[Ingleborough]

Want some good sport? Walk into a local country pub in the Chilterns just before Sunday lunchtime, and ask what all those red 'Stop HS2' signs are all about. The reaction is usually wide eyed astonishment, then you get asked where you are from. I usually say Leeds.
As the conversation progresses, slip in a few, "So I'll be able to get to London and back far quicker than I can now? Wow, when is it due to open?

or

"Well it's better than having a big motorway through here."

or

"Oh that railway, they're opening a big engineering training school near us, seems like a good idea to me."

There are some with genuine concerns, and they absolutely must be compensated. But the noisiest ones are often those who will not be affected to any real degree.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

There are some with genuine concerns, and they absolutely must be compensated. But the noisiest ones are often those who will not be affected to any real degree.

Can I quote you on the part of your quote that I have emboldened if you have actual examples of this happening to pass on to this thread?

 

[Ingleborough]

Rukin, lives in Suffolk when last checked.

Gaines in Dorset, but did have a property a mile from the planned route.

Farage in Kent, but he changed Ukips policy from building three HS lines to being anti HS2 when he thought it would win him votes against Bercow in 2010.

Holden wanted HS2 to take a different route, one where the consortium he was part of would make a couple of billion in land options, but would mean thousands more houses and businesses affected.

 

[Snapper]

Can I quote you on the part of your quote that I have emboldened if you have actual examples of this happening to pass on to this thread?

If you want to see some classic examples of this, just follow the #hs2 hashtag on Twitter. There you'll find a rabid selection of antis & it soon becomes clear that (despite what they say & claim) the overwhelming majority are either:

a)Nimbys who are directly affected by the route

b) Those who are far enough away to miss out on any compensation and are livid about it so want the compensation scheme extended so they can trouser some cash. The fact they're not really affected as they live 1km plus away doesn't matter...

 

[Geezertronic]

Folks might find today's blog post on the failing anti Hs2 campaign of interest:

https://paulbigland.wordpress.com/2015/01/17/the-anti-hs2-campaign-dying-by-degrees-pt1/

Quality and accurate as usual

 

[Snapper]

Thanks Geezertronic!

 

[krus_aragon]

Oh dear, I looked at the word used and immediately read the "ph" as an "f" sound, similar to the girl's name "Stephanie".

Likewise here.