CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD PRIORITISE HIGH SPEED RAIL OR MORE AIRPORT CAPACITY? January 11, 2012 JOE BATTLE | ANTARES “Personally I think the high-speed rail, because there has never been a real problem with airport capacity, only a bit of hustle and bustle. A decent rail network around the UK would be fantastic.” DAN SILVEY | AXA “I think the government should favour high speed rail because it is a [...]
RAPID RESPONSES January 11, 2012 Capacity challenge The real issue facing the UK is how to increase capacity in our public transport system. Few transport professionals would support the newly approved High Speed Rail 2 project (HS2) compared to Rod Eddington’s highly regarded policy proposals from December 2006, which would make a genuine difference to public transport. These are all [...]
£33bn rail scheme faces legal threat January 10, 2012 LOBBY groups said yesterday that legal challenges to a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham are already in the pipeline, after the controversial new route was given the green light by the government. Campaigners against the planned rail link, dubbed High Speed 2 (HS2), will attempt to place the Department for Transport’s approval [...]
Six reasons this rail plan is a mistake January 10, 2012 IF money grew on trees, the government’s London-Birmingham HS2 high-speed rail scheme would be a good thing. Unfortunately, the nation faces fiscal Armageddon; so here are six reasons (there are many more) why the coalition is wrong to back HS2. 1) Like virtually all government infrastructure projects, the costs of this grandiose white elephant will [...]
FOR HS2 AGAINST HS2 January 10, 2012 JOHN CRIDLAND Director general, CBI “Without new capacity, by the 2020s the main west coast line would be gummed up, and rail freight would be likely to be squeezed out. We are right to plan for the infrastructure which the next generation will need, and the biggest prize will come from phase two. This will [...]
JEREMY IRONS SHORTED BY TRADER AT MARGIN CALL’S RISKY PREMIERE January 10, 2012 TO LEICESTER Square for the premiere of Margin Call, the film set in the last days of an over-leveraged investment bank that has “no relation” to any actual financial institution that went to the wall in 2008. Just as well – because Jeremy Irons, who plays the bank’s pragmatic CEO John Tuld, would have had [...]
High speed rail line gets the green light January 10, 2012 A new £32bn high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham has been given the go ahead by the government. Transport Secretary Justine Greening has announced extra tunnelling for sections of the 90-mile (140km) link in response to environmental concerns. This first phase of High Speed Two (HS2) could be built by 2026. The first phase [...]
HS2 go-ahead expected today January 9, 2012 THE DEPARTMENT for Transport is today expected to give the thumbs up to High Speed 2, the £32bn project which will link London with the north by high speed rail. Justine Greening will also reveal measures to soften the worst effects of the planned railway, which has been criticised in the belief it will disrupt [...]
No recessions for 80 years: The fanciful world of High Speed Rail 2’s business case January 9, 2012 AFTER the well-flagged decision this afternoon to press ahead with the first stage of the High Speed 2 rail project (HS2), the City and business will be pressed to “contribute” to the strong business case. An aspect that MPs are singularly ill-equipped to consider, but that the City will focus on, is the way the [...]
High speed railway plans split nation January 8, 2012 TRANSPORT secretary Justine Greening could make a decision as soon as tomorrow regarding HS2, the proposed high speed railway linking London with the north which has been dividing the UK. The £32bn project would see a 100-mile connection created by 2026 between London and Birmingham, cutting the journey time down to 49 minutes, with extensions [...]