HS2 Heathrow Hub is junk
Economic secretary to the Treasury Sajid Javid, Labour MP Liam Byrne, and Stephanie Boston, director of Conserve the Chilterns and Countryside, were the guests discussing HS2 on BBC television’s Daily Politics show (broadcast date 9 Jan 2013). The discussion was prefaced by a short film in which Chiltern resident Geoffrey Palmer recounted that the Department for Transport had been forced to release figures showing Inter City West Coast trains were half empty, even in the peak.
Mr Javid’s proclivity for clichés, and Mr Byrne’s use of the term “marshalling yard” for the proposed HS2 depot at Washwood Heath again demonstrated politicians’ woeful grasp of technical issues. Judging by what Ms Boston had to say, if the Conserve the Chilterns and Countryside group isn’t a front organisation for Heathrow Hub Ltd, it might as well be one.
Somewhat oddly, on its website Conserve the Chilterns and Countryside contact address is given as 21 St Thomas Street, Bristol BS1 (Avon). Anyway, there is absolutely no reason to build HS2 via Heathrow, and/or the M40 corridor. Because not enough people want to travel to Heathrow from northern England to justify building a high speed railway via Heathrow. And not enough people want to travel from northern England to London to justify building a new high speed railway. Via Aylesbury, the M40, or anywhere else.
Greengauge 21′s 2007 “High Speed Two proposition” – criticised on the Go HS2′s weblog – resembled the Heathrow Hub HS2 concept
An interesting and useful contribution to the debate as always Beleben. Perhaps you could examine how the environmental impacts are minimised by following existing motorways and railways. It’s something we hear asserted but little evidenced.
Evo
January 9, 2013 at 8:16 pm
I think any speculation about there being an ‘if’ re CCC and ARUP being in bed together is more than over following their press release today, which oddly enough does not feature (at least yet) on their website;
http://www.conservecc.org.uk/documents/Pressrelease130910.pdf
Joe Rukin
January 10, 2013 at 2:33 pm
Apologies, this has shown up today on searches as a new release, but is indeed an old one, i.e. it is an archived story which must have been edited today for whatever reason…..
Joe Rukin
January 10, 2013 at 2:37 pm
In 2010, Arup called the government’s HS2 LWM route “deeply flawed“. Yet now they have contracts for environmental impact assessments, and design, on that same route.
beleben
January 10, 2013 at 4:39 pm
[...] Part one [...]
HS2 Heathrow Hub is junk (part two) « beleben
January 15, 2013 at 3:46 pm