HS2

[lmsforever]

Thanks for the shot of viaduct around Aylesbury will be quite a bit of engineering when finnished.

[Ron Ron Ron]

Wendover Dean Viaduct looking south.....

 

 

 

....Looking north....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How the finished article should look......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[martin_wynne]

Waiting for HS2:

 

 

[lmsforever]

A while since I went through the Wendover Gap works they are coming on very fast the viaduct will look very smart when built  and the greenery has returned.

[Ron Ron Ron]

 

 

 

Further along, new piers are being completed right across the lakes and valley.

(At the bottom of this photo, you can see the luxury housing on the site of the former Denham film and TV studios)....

 

 

 

 

 

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[Ron Ron Ron]

The Chilterns Tunnels, north portal at South Heath.

Looking north from the portal site (bottom of the photo)........

 

 

 

The tunnel portal headwall under construction....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Ron Ron Ron]

Meanwhile, at the south portal, it looks like construction of the "porous portals' on the Up bore, is well underway.

These will reduce the effects of the pressure wave, created by trains entering and leaving the tunnels, at very high speed and are meant to reduce the resulting noise  produced.

 

(Note; the tunnels currently extend nearly 12km from this point, with just over 3km left to go)

 

 

 

 

 

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[Ron Ron Ron]

On the left of this photo, you can see the northern abutment, at the start of the Colne Valley viaduct.

 

To the right is the large area that is being landscaped to create new chalk downs, using the spoil produced from the tunnelling excavations.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Ron Ron Ron]

 

 

Short and sweet, but worth a look.

 

 

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Edited June 29, 2023 by Ron Ron Ron

[big jim]

17 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

 

 

 

 

 

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we dont need HS2

 

 

 

 

 

(looks at traffic on motorway in backgorund)

[Ron Ron Ron]

A concrete segment fabrication facility, has stated producing sections for the flyovers and viaducts that will form (a) the "Delta Junction" at Water Orton and (b) the grade separated junction to the (now foreshortened) eastern arm, just to the north.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[KingEdwardII]

On 30/06/2023 at 13:11, big jim said:

we dont need HS2

The sad thing is that HS2 will only deal with a limited range of journeys in the UK, since it ain't part of a comprehensive scheme.

 

For folk living in the south like me, the hassle of getting to the nearest HS2 station (Old Oak Common, I assume) will outweigh any gains from the speed of HS2. Similarly, it doesn't go anywhere near Northumberland, our most frequent long distance journey. We'll probably keep on using the car, since it's faster & less hassle.

 

I'm still minded of South Korea where it was hard to find a flight from Seoul to Busan (most notherly/southerly cities) because the high speed trains were so fast and so frequent. Everyone used the train. "That's the way to do it"

 

Yours,  Mike.

[Dunsignalling]

2 hours ago, KingEdwardII said:

The sad thing is that HS2 will only deal with a limited range of journeys in the UK, since it ain't part of a comprehensive scheme.

 

For folk living in the south like me, the hassle of getting to the nearest HS2 station (Old Oak Common, I assume) will outweigh any gains from the speed of HS2. Similarly, it doesn't go anywhere near Northumberland, our most frequent long distance journey. We'll probably keep on using the car, since it's faster & less hassle.

 

I'm still minded of South Korea where it was hard to find a flight from Seoul to Busan (most notherly/southerly cities) because the high speed trains were so fast and so frequent. Everyone used the train. "That's the way to do it"

 

Yours,  Mike.

Very true, from where I live in Devon, I can get to Birmingham faster than OOC by car and almost as quick by train.

 

John

[Ron Ron Ron]

2 hours ago, KingEdwardII said:

The sad thing is that HS2 will only deal with a limited range of journeys in the UK, since it ain't part of a comprehensive scheme……

 

Rail in total, can only deal with a limited range of journeys in the UK.

 

HS2 has never been, or intended to be part of any comprehensive scheme.

It was conceived, purely to address the future capacity issues, primarily  on the WCML and secondly, to provide relief for the ECML to Leeds (now canned for the time being).

The original intention was to take away the highest volume of passenger traffic from the busiest city pair connections on that route.

i.e. Specifically London- Birmingham, London- Manchester, London-Leeds (originally), Birmingham-Manchester and Birmingham-Leeds; with the added capacity to accommodate London-Liverpool and WCML services to Scotland, south of the Greater Manchester and Cheshire boundaries.

The idea was to introduce high capacity, point-to-point connections on those routes, to free up the classic network and provide improved capacity for local, commuter, regional, inter-regional and other long distance passenger services, in addition to providing additional freight capacity.

It was a later addition to include the East Midlands destinations, Sheffield, Crewe etc.

Journeys from Devon or South Hampshire to the midlands, NW or NE , we’re not intended to be part of that plan.

 

 

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Edited July 2, 2023 by Ron Ron Ron

[woodenhead]

39 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

It was a later addition to include the East Midlands destinations, Sheffield, Crewe etc.

Journeys from Devon or South Hampshire to the midlands, NW or NE , we’re not intended to be part of that plan.

 

And where HS2 began to go wrong as politics became the main driver over the actual theory of a high speed railway.

 

It ceased to be a point to point network and became a stretched commuter railway adding stations for parliamentary votes.

 

To me the east Midlands and Sheffield could have had a very good case to argue for wiring the whole route with fill ins on the Hope Valley to Manchester and Doncaster routes.  This would have benefitted Sheffield citizens way more than HS2, similarly Derby and Nottingham because not only would the intercity routes go electric but it would also mean more electric commuting services within the Midlands getting rid of many if not most diesel units.

[Ron Ron Ron]

4 hours ago, woodenhead said:

And where HS2 began to go wrong as politics became the main driver over the actual theory of a high speed railway.

 

It ceased to be a point to point network and became a stretched commuter railway adding stations for parliamentary votes……

 

Mission creep….or gilding the Lily.

East Midlands, Sheffield, Crewe hub, services to Stoke and Macclesfield, unnecessary green tunnels (not all are unnecessary), all added for mostly political reasons.

 

Reminds me of the Mary Rose and the Vasa Ship……and what happened to those?

Vastly expensive and over- budget, over embellished, over loaded and top heavy, ………they toppled over and sunk !

 

 

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[Pete the Elaner]

On 02/07/2023 at 08:54, KingEdwardII said:

The sad thing is that HS2 will only deal with a limited range of journeys in the UK, since it ain't part of a comprehensive scheme.

 

For folk living in the south like me, the hassle of getting to the nearest HS2 station (Old Oak Common, I assume) will outweigh any gains from the speed of HS2. Similarly, it doesn't go anywhere near Northumberland, our most frequent long distance journey. We'll probably keep on using the car, since it's faster & less hassle.

 

I'm still minded of South Korea where it was hard to find a flight from Seoul to Busan (most notherly/southerly cities) because the high speed trains were so fast and so frequent. Everyone used the train. "That's the way to do it"

 

Yours,  Mike.

 

1 line cannot fix everything & could you imagine the uproar if a network of 10 countrywide long distance lines was suggested at once?

The first section of motorway back in 1959 was the Preston bypass. This did nothing to relieve heavy traffic around Manchester or Birmingham, but Preston was a terrible bottleneck & it was not possible to build all the motorways in 1 go. It showed the way forward for more to follow & they did just that.

The most congested long distance line is the southern section of the WCML so surely that is the best line to relieve first? Who knows what the railway network will look like in 100 years time?

[Ron Ron Ron]

24 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 

……….Who knows what the railway network will look like in 100 years time?

 

 

 

 

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[Bucoops]

Something I never thought would happen - HS2 has got cars off the road!

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-66089314

[figworthy]

On 01/07/2023 at 15:46, Ron Ron Ron said:

A concrete segment fabrication facility, has stated producing sections for the flyovers and viaducts that will form (a) the "Delta Junction" at Water Orton and (b) the grade separated junction to the (now foreshortened) eastern arm, just to the north.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Interesting, but one thing that it didn't mention was how the segments will get from the factory to the site.

 

Adrian

[Ron Ron Ron]

37 minutes ago, figworthy said:

 

Interesting, but one thing that it didn't mention was how the segments will get from the factory to the site.

 

 

The factory, is very close to where the viaducts will be built, just alongside the M42, near its junction with the M6 Toll.

No doubt that each segment will be transported on dedicated transporter vehicles, for the short journeys to the various viaducts that will be built within a few miles of Kingsbury.

(note that the Delta junction, is the furthest away just over 3 miles, as the crow flies).

 

 

 

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[jamie92208]

34 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

 

The factory, is very close to where the viaducts will be built, just alongside the M42, near its junction with the M6 Toll.

No doubt that each segment will be transported on dedicated transporter vehicles, for the short journeys to the various viaducts that will be built within a few miles of Kingsbury.

(note that the Delta junction, is the furthest away just over 3 miles, as the crow flies).

 

 

 

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I think there was an article about this in one of the Modern Railways supplements. IIRC the factory is connected to all the sites by dedicated haul roads. 

 

Jamie

[martin_wynne]

 

 

[Ron Ron Ron]

The first TBM (dubbed "Mary Ann") being used to dig the Bromfiord tunnels, on the approach into Birmingham, is being readied for launch.

The second TBM to be used here, is "Dorothy", which was used to tunnel both bores of the Long Itchington tunnels.

Dorothy is currently somewhere in the process of being dismantled, transported to the Water Orton site and being overhauled, before being reassembled with a new cutting head and shield, ready to start work on the 2nd Bromford bore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[The Stationmaster]

17 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

The first TBM (dubbed "Mary Ann") being used to dig the Bromfiord tunnels, on the approach into Birmingham, is being readied for launch.

The second TBM to be used here, is "Dorothy", which was used to tunnel both bores of the Long Itchington tunnels.

Dorothy is currently somewhere in the process of being dismantled, transported to the Water Orton site and being overhauled, before being reassembled with a new cutting head and shield, ready to start work on the 2nd Bromford bore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It strikes me as the height of stupidity to out a railway between two busy roads into a tunnel in order to reduce noise!     No wonder HS2 is costing a fortune when 'someone' decides t0 do somthing that ridiculous