If you are concerned about any part of HS2, even the parts which haven’t been designed yet, this is
your one and only chance to take part in a formal consultation on the principle of High speed Rail in
the UK. Many people are concerned about various aspects of HS2, but if you stay quiet now, you will
not have a chance to take part in a consultation like this later.
Whatever the flaws in the HS2 consultation, and whatever the bias in the questions, this is the only
consultation like this that the Department for Transport will hold. When the Y-Route is finally
announced, this, the one and only consultation on the principle of HS2 will have been and gone. All the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd will be interested in are minor tweaks, just like the
minor tweaks they have made on the route between London and Birmingham.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE If you do just one thing to help Stop HS2, filling in the consultation has to
be it! We want people to reply in their own words (do not copy and paste) but it can be as simple as saying ‘No’ to the first five questions,providing your name and postcode. You can download a consultation form from here, or fill in the online form.
Remember when answering the questions, make your opposition to HS2 clear. Make sure you say
you think HS2 is a bad idea. We’ve suggested many things to think about, but you will have concerns
about the different aspects yourself. Please make them clear to the Department for Transport and
HS2 Ltd.
Nick it is obvious that if folk from coventry had even a link to HS2 itwould take them longer than it does now .And if they were working on the train ,breaking off from what they were doing packing it away ,getting off probably trecking to another platform,waiting and boarding HS2 great fun .If there are no folk boarding this so called wonderfull train along the route to and from London it will be little used as the present trains pick up at a number of stops.As it also, to help to TRY to make the numbers work is supposed to be going every 4 mins.Tell me where the hell all these passengers are coming from?do they intend giving free tickets to make people want to go further to get on it ,driving further to get to the station car parks.
Please correct the typos. I am on an iPad keyboard.
“and aspire to the carbon consuming..”
Thank you
If there were a political party standing purely to stop HS2 I would vote them. I will vote against the Conservatives who are my party purely because of this.
I am from considering moving back to Coventry to commute to London. I am told that the service from Coventry to Euston which is excellent and runs every 20 minutes in under an hour, will now only be once and hour, maybe less and slower. I am advised to take a train to Birmingham to get on HS2 to get to London, effectively doubling my journey time. It will make more sense to stay in London. This project will draw committed back to the south.
I think they should spend the money on a new airport to the East of London. That would give Londoners a bit more peace at night rather than perpetual aircraft noise 19 hours a day.
As regards copying China, China has high speed rail as the distances are so huge. Britain is small. Travel times are much less.
As for carbon emissions, while India and China continue their coal based energy expansion and the populations of India, Indonesia and China continue to become wealthier and to the carbon consuming lifestyles of the West then this train will have a zero impact on climate change. All it will do is spoil some of the best rural areas we have left.
If we want to develop business in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Scotland then give companies tax incentives and set up trade zones. That in my opinion will have a much more immediate impact.
Today I read about David Cameron talking in the press about how much of the UK felt that our best days were
behind us. When I see huge amounts of money being spent on projects described by independent think tanks as “huge white elephants” I think that I agree.
This consultation will be ignored whatever it says and that annoys me.
This project is being marketed as the only way to sustain economic prosperity and that is nonsense.
– There are not any plans to reduce london coventry to one train an hour when hs2 opens. Since you apparently work in london and already live there it doesnt seem much of an idea to move to coventry.
– the independent think tank you mention is an unelected lobby group who wants to build more roads which would be private (so tolled in some way) and also wants to slash billions of spending. these policies combined may seem plausible in theory but in reality are both ecologically and economically damaging.
– if according to you high speed trains are not required in the uk because distances are small then I dont know why you want to build another airport unless you are planning to fly from london to coventry ! and i dont know if people who live in the east of england and london would welcome another airport near them – we know how people react to that dont we ! and even though the uk is small i dont know why hs2, which will reduce a train journey by 33 to 36 minutes or over 1/3rd less then now, would not be welcomed by passengers. especially when they will have a seat and the existing lines will have extra capacity released by hs2.
No doubt there will be some reduction in service from Coventry during the middle of the day, even with predicted increase in passenger numbers, three an hour from Cov would not be economically viable with all Birmingham – London passengers on HS2. You ask Mr Fairbrother why does he want to live in Coventry and commute to London, then why do people in Birmingham want to commute to London, one of the main reasons for HS2 running there?! Also the journey saving is not over a third, its slighter under that at 49 minutes from the fastest journey and just about a third on average peak journey time.
Actually Mr Fairbrother is correct, HS2 Ltd themselves say that Coventry could lose 2 of its 3 fast London services each hour when HS2 opens. Hammond claimed this frees up capacity for local services but that makes no sense at all. You claim £17bn must be spent to allow Birmingham residents to get to London 30% faster to grow the economy there, then take away fast frequent London services from Coventry. Will that damage Coventry’s economy then?
Due to the capacity constraints that hs2 will reduce considerably, there is currently only one train in one direction only that does the journey in 72 minutes. All the other trains take between 82 and 85 minutes. all hs2 trains with two stops will take 49 min and even less if non-stop trains were to be offered (as phillip hammond has mentioned). Since 49 minutes is 40 % less then 82 minutes I stand by what i said – that journeys will be at least one third quicker by hs2 then they are currently. .
As far as services to coventry are concerned that would be up to the demand. however, since people from coventry would likely still travel over the west coast line to reach london i dont see why there would necessarily be less trains. and of course the lack of capacity at the moment means some stations with lesser usage miss out on some services that can be provided once hs2 eases the strain.
It is interesting that you are saying “Coventry’s fast trains” because Andrew Fairbrother did not make this distinction. He implied that there would only be one train an hour. I am not sure why he thinks that a train operator would reduce the service if there were passengers to be had. Many critics of hs2 say that they are against it as it will be subsidised (they claim). So i dont think we should subsidise Coventry commuters if less people use the trains.
I believe that a link should be built where HS2 is planned to cross the Kenilworth line (this would need doubling and electrifying) and a new non HS2 station could be built there. Similarly another link could be built where the Coventry to Birmingham line crosses HS2. Selected Birmingham (and Manchester) trains could then call at Coventry off the classic lines then regain HS2 near Kenilworth. I don’t know what is the minimum size of habitation that would justify a further station stop on HS2. I think Coventry would be better off lobbying for an HS2 link rather then opposing the scheme. They dont seem to be against the idea of hs2 only that they will miss out on the benefits. That is an understandable position.
The reason i queried why he wanted to move to coventry and commute to london is that he implied that he lived in london, so moving away from the place you work in seems a bit counterproductive unless the move is prompted by the price of property in london.
No HS2 Ltd said that Coventry will lose out. Currently there are 3 Pendolinos per hour to London, not stopping any more than Rugby, MK and Watford, with most only stopping once before London. If HS2 is built, these trains will be slowed down to stop at more places, and only one will stay at the current sort of journey time. Therefore Coventry comes off worse.