Which Train Concept or Pre-Existing Should Run on Hs2

[Nottingham59]

I've always thought they should build the infrastructure of HS2 so that it is 100% compatible with the standards used on the CRH high speed services in China. And then order exact copies of whatever the Chinese are currently making, off the same production lines, where all you have to do is change the labels to English. That should get economies of scale that European manufacturers cannot possibly match.

 

[JonathanH]

I've always thought they should build the infrastructure of HS2 so that it is 100% compatible with the standards used on the CRH high speed services in China. And then order exact copies of whatever the Chinese are currently making, off the same production lines, where all you have to do is change the labels to English. That should get economies of scale that European manufacturers cannot possibly match.

In the context of some of the other decisions made about buying in Chinese technology, sometimes it is better to use UK or European manufacturers to ensure that we retain skills in our own market.

Much the same as it probably isn't a good idea to only purchase things from Amazon to the detriment of other sellers.

In this case, it appears that the shortlist is based on suppliers known to the UK market (other than Talgo but perhaps that is more of an outsider in any case).