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Mark   16/01/2013 at 14:39

I was very interested to read your article about Dick Keegan’s comments on HS2 recently. I agree that there is much wrong with the proposed route. Since it needs many tunnels it is £10 billion more expensive. Also when the trains travel in these tunnels they have to go at about half speed, adding over 20% to the journey time! One central problem with the proposed route is an obsession with linking the high-speed line to Heathrow airport. (A Heathrow connection was in the original HS2 remit.) This goes against the ethos of high-speed lines, which is to run in competition with airports, taking people away from them. In both Japan and France the high-speed networks have no connection with their major airports. The great success of these networks shows how wrong-headed a Heathrow connection is. I have been in touch with the Department of transport, many MPs, papers and technical people, but no one seems willing to see further than the bureaucratic inertia of the HS2 proposals. (Some local papers, Professional Engineering and Rail Staff have published my letters.) Extending the HS2 railway line from Stratford through the Lee valley to Ware, Welwyn Garden City, Luton and Milton Keynes is a much better route because it will pass close to modern industrial cities, which would benefit from the HS2 and will save ruining much loved countryside. It also saves much money by not duplicating a London HS2 station. Since there are so many benefits to this alternative route, I do feel it ought to be discussed openly, hopefully preventing adopting the recently proposed system which is second rate and vastly more expensive. I do feel that publicising this alternative route would do the country and many people a big favour.

James   23/08/2016 at 10:14

@ Mark "This goes against the ethos of high-speed lines, which is to run in competition with airports, taking people away from them" This is true for domestic flights such as London to Manchester yes, however a lot of travelers travel from Manchester to Heathrow for long haul flights which high speed rail clearly can't compete with. Without a direct link to the HS line, many passengers would still choose to fly. Whilst it may be true that Japan doesn't have high speed rail connections to airports, the same isn't true in Europe. Paris CDG, Amsterdam Schipol and Frankfurt airports are all located on high speed rail lines connecting the airport both to the city they serve as well as other cities. The best way to integrate Heathrow into a HS rail network would have been to route the line directly to Heathrow then follow the M40 up to Birmingham. This route was proven to add less than 10 minutes to the total journey time. As for the London Terminus, I would suggest looking at the Euston cross station concept.