HS2

[admiles]

1 hour ago, caradoc said:

 

£148 is an awful lot, but checking Anglia Trains website for the next available weekday, ie Monday 9th March, cheaper fares are available, eg £37 single on the 0717 from Ispwich and coming back, £19 on the 1600 from Liverpool St. Still more than the car (although vehicle tax,  insurance, perhaps parking too also have to be added to the cost) but (hopefully) considerably less stressful !

 

I phoned GA to check the online price. There weren't any cheaper available. To my mind for just over an hour on the train that's nuts!

[Mike Storey]

7 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Sorry, it still doesn’t change the fact that the courts have NEVER declared Brexit illegal.

 

Memory loss doesn’t come into it - being able to appreciate the importance of following procedures correctly does!

 

All the courts have ever said is that the Government did not follow the correct procedure for carrying Brexit out. They have NEVER said Brexit cannot happen, merely that correct procedures must be followed to make it happen.

 

The two things are ENTIRELY separate - it’s lazy journalists and people with vested interests who try and claim that the two are the same.

 

Similarly the decision about Heathrow was effectively simply a matter of procedure, and the Government to follow its own rules, rather than ignore them because it suits certain business interests.

 

 

Brexit is a procedure.

 

The decision to leave has not been called into question, legally, other than for highly suspect funding of certain groups.

 

The question about following its own rules for Runway 3, was all about what the rules were. HMG claimed that the rules were that it need not take into account international agreements. That turned out out to be incorrect. Whether it chose to do that to "suit certain business interests" is pure speculation.

 

The issue with HS2 will be whether those same rules will practically apply to a "do nothing" scenario. Much the same case as for Heathrow, but I doubt it will have the same result.

[billbedford]

2 hours ago, woodenhead said:

I think he means his company have deemed travel to dangerous in general and suggest working from home instead.

 

This virus could markedly alter the workplace as more and more companies take the plunge and reduce their need for office space - working from home you are generally less likely to pick up contagious conditions as you're not spending large parts of the day in close proximity to others - in the office, on a train or the bus.

 

 

 

...and, of course, you can be at death's door and still be expected to put in a full day's work. 

[woodenhead]

20 minutes ago, billbedford said:

 

 

...and, of course, you can be at death's door and still be expected to put in a full day's work. 

I've not been off sick in 8 years I don't think, if I have it's one day.

 

I created a whole time tracking solution wrapped up in blankets once, I probably should have been off sick but it was a last minute piece of work for a large piece of new business so I kept at it.

 

I can also work in the dead of night when my brain is at it's most focussed and sometimes it is the best thing to overcome a difficulty or resolve being wide awake at at 4am.

 

But then I am not a conventional person.

[Mike Storey]

7 hours ago, Lantavian said:

"HS2 fly-through of the Phase One route between Birmingham and London"

 

Interesting, I hope, to supporters and opponents of HS2 alike.

 

https://youtu.be/1bkoGvw9kbA

 

Very interesting indeed - thanks. Just the amount of tunnelling is breathtaking, let alone all the crossings of so many motorways, rail lines and other obstacles.

[APOLLO]

Interesting video - Railways enhance the landscape far better than motorways, more so in areas of outstanding natural beauty  (which ain't south of Birmingham) !!

 

 

Brit15

[melmerby]

Lune Valley.

Know it well

Taken from this pull in I assume?

https://goo.gl/maps/BfdXFEEBzHzEn6d26

Edited March 7, 2020 by melmerby

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, melmerby said:

Lune Valley.

Know it well

Taken from this pull in I assume?

https://goo.gl/maps/BfdXFEEBzHzEn6d26

I remember as a 6 yr old having a picnic where the motorway is now and watching maroon Duchesses.  A great spot.

 

Jamie

Edited March 7, 2020 by jamie92208

[melmerby]

"World's oldest roundhouse" discovered:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-51820160

 

Two years older than current claimant in Derby!

 

[The Stationmaster]

17 hours ago, melmerby said:

"World's oldest roundhouse" discovered:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-51820160

 

Two years older than current claimant in Derby!

 

And about to be built over for the second time because it was presumably first dempolished to make way for Curzon Street goods depot - definite remains of which can also be seen on the drone footage.

[scottystitch]

Information already on the thread - deleted.

Edited March 11, 2020 by scottystitch
Deleted - duplicate information

[Siberian Snooper]

On 07/03/2020 at 08:11, Lantavian said:

"HS2 fly-through of the Phase One route between Birmingham and London"

 

Interesting, I hope, to supporters and opponents of HS2 alike.

 

https://youtu.be/1bkoGvw9kbA

 

 

Wow, I have just watched the fly through. No wonder the costs are so high, all the extra land that is being taken  over for landscaping, landscape mitigation and habitat mitigation. On top of that two lengthy tunnels, one under the Chilterns and the other under London. I also note that there will be one hell of a lot of tree planting, that should keep a few tree huggers happy in years to come.

 

 

 

 

[Siberian Snooper]

13 minutes ago, scottystitch said:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/03/hs2-legal-challenge-launched-by-chris-packham

 

Packham, is off his rocker, the amount of land being taken for mitigation and tree planting, must far out weigh the amount of trees being cut down. I do appreciate that the trees will take time to mature, but whilst doing it they will still be sucking up carbon.

 

 

[scottystitch]

3 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said:

 

Packham, is off his rocker, the amount of land being taken for mitigation and tree planting, must far out weigh the amount of trees being cut down. I do appreciate that the trees will take time to mature, but whilst doing it they will still be sucking up carbon.

 

 

It is a strange one.  I'm generally inclined to back him with most things, but this seems bizarre.  He cites the govt. not taking carbon neutrality seriously, but a new, efficient, electric railway, increasingly supplied by renewable sources would appear to be at least part of the answer...

 

Best

 

Scott.

[pete_mcfarlane]

There does seem to be a lot of talk of 'ancient woodlands' from those campaigners, which suggests that they don't see cutting down an acre of existing trees and planting two acres of replacements as being a good thing. I've no idea if this is grounded in science or not, although there's obviously going to be some disturbance to the local wildlife.  But then environmentalist groups tend to have a very narrow focus on one specific issue, so a group campaigning to save ancient woodlands isn't going to know/care/understand if there's a wider environmental benefit. 

 

I also wonder if we're starting to get certain sections of fringe politics seeing HS2 as a bad thing purely because it's being backed by the current Government and PM (despite all 3 parties having been involved in its development and supporting it). 

[D1059]

43 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said:

 

 

that should keep a few tree huggers happy in years to come.

 

 

 

Tree huggers are NEVER happy unless you do what they want, and even then they'll still moan

[KeithMacdonald]

31 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said:

Packham, is off his rocker, the amount of land being taken for mitigation and tree planting, must far out weigh the amount of trees being cut down. I do appreciate that the trees will take time to mature, but whilst doing it they will still be sucking up carbon.

 

23 minutes ago, scottystitch said:

It is a strange one.  I'm generally inclined to back him with most things, but this seems bizarre.  He cites the govt. not taking carbon neutrality seriously, but a new, efficient, electric railway, increasingly supplied by renewable sources would appear to be at least part of the answer...

 

I would agree that it does (at first sight) seem bonkers and bizarre. That is, until one digs a little deeper into his enviromental connections and projects he actively supports. Some of which are involved with population control. Some might call it "quasi-eugenics" but I could not possibly comment any further without the risk of going seriously off-topic (again)!

 

Keep Calm And Carry On.

 

[Zomboid]

23 minutes ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

There does seem to be a lot of talk of 'ancient woodlands' from those campaigners, which suggests that they don't see cutting down an acre of existing trees and planting two acres of replacements as being a good thing. I've no idea if this is grounded in science or not, although there's obviously going to be some disturbance to the local wildlife.

You get greater biodiversity in woodland which has been there for longer - freshly planted obviously only has what you put there. Though it doesn't take long for nature to take over and all sorts of other things will grow. Not necessarily the stuff that was there before though.

 

I don't think you could expect HS2 to do much more about the issue though. The design is mature enough that you'd think they'd have avoided everything that could be avoided, and includes mitigations for the stuff that can't.

 

I've heard it said that rail embankments are pretty inaccessible to most people, and are consequently some of the most biodiverse bits land we have in this country. No idea if it's true or not, but if it is then HS2 will be home to an awful lot of wild plants and butterflies...

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

And about to be built over for the second time because it was presumably first dempolished to make way for Curzon Street goods depot - definite remains of which can also be seen on the drone footage.

Warwickshire Railways site has some interesting existing information about the original terminus.

I note that the turntable was quoted as just 15' diameter and each of the 16 radial roads could stable 2 locomotives.

[KeithMacdonald]

2 minutes ago, melmerby said:

I note that the turntable was quoted as just 15' diameter and each of the 16 radial roads could stable 2 locomotives.

 

Teeny-weeny locos?

[billbedford]

1 hour ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

There does seem to be a lot of talk of 'ancient woodlands' from those campaigners, which suggests that they don't see cutting down an acre of existing trees and planting two acres of replacements as being a good thing.

 

I'm not sure how 'ancient' these woodlands are. Certainly most will have been managed for growing timber and hazel rods. Whether any pre-date the 18th century enclosures I'm not sure of.  

[jamie92208]

It may well have been answered in detail before but IIRC  there are very few complete ancient woods being felled. I think that most of the effected ones are justblosing some part. However who among the activust comminuity would let facts get in the way of a good headline.

 

Jamie

[corneliuslundie]

There is one issue in cutting down trees and replanting, which is that planted trees are usually much less successful than those which have grown "naturally". So you probably need a bigger acreage to have the same amount of (eventual) mature trees. And of course while they are growing they do not absorb so much carbon dioxide.

But none of that is new and it would have been taken account of in the original design brief, I hope.

Agreed though that there is very little "ancient" forest in the UK. We were clearing the forests a couple of thousand years ago and haven't really stopped except where they were "farmed", ie replanted so that there would be a continuing supply for ship building, mining etc. such as in the Forest of Dean.

As it happens I am just reading a book from the library on British rain forests. Yes, apparently we do have some, mostly on the west coast of Scotland though a few in England and Wales, but actually I find I have visited a few without realising they were special.

And of course we have spent many years removing deciduous woodland and replacing it with coniferous plantations, only to discover in a good many cases that the conifers didn't do at all well. At least we seem to have learned that lesson.

Anyway, back on topic please. Apologies for the diversion.

Jonathan

[Trog]

1 hour ago, corneliuslundie said:

 

..................And of course while they are growing they do not absorb so much carbon dioxide.

.....................

Jonathan

 

I thought that it was while they were younger and growing fastest turning CO2, sunshine, etc into wood that they soaked up the most CO2?

[APOLLO]

DOWN with the trees

 

UP with the OHLE masts !!

 

Brit15