What is suddenly happening in politics???

Same here in Scotland. Electrified East and West mainline as far as Edinburgh and Glasgow with electric services from Glasgow to Edinburgh - Glasgow to Clyde coast and Glasgow to Helensburgh. The remainder of Scotland is all diesel, many areas with semaphore signalling and some with single track.

 

I recently visited Sunderland and Newcastle. We've been to Newcastle plenty of times but only to specific sites. So recently when we decided to explore we decided to use the metro system.

I was thoroughly impressed. One system rapidly connects Sunderland, Gateshead, north and south Shields, the airport, and several little towns around the edges. I wonder how many metro systems could be built, reusing existing branch lines and a few new lines connecting them together, for the final price of HS2. That would really make a massive difference. HS2 might be beneficial for people that live along the route (if their homes haven't been cleared to make way for it) but in real terms, in my personal experience, it is not the main trunk lines that's really an issue, it's getting to and from the main stations which are usually miles from where you need to be.

 

High speed lines aren't for people who live along the route, they are a modern version of intercity as British rail used to call it.
They are to connect the big cities.
If people along the route start wanting a station here and a station there it no longer becomes high speed.

 

Exactly my point. We have lines connecting the cities. But not everyone lives right next to the station.

My nearest access point to a main trunk line is Darlington. From there I can get to London king's cross in a little over 2 hours. Not bad. Way faster than I can do it in my car. Except to get from my house, which is actually only a few hundred yards from the main road, it's a 40 minute drive to the station, assuming I don't travel at peak time, when it would be more like an hour or more. For the folks at the other side of town, they've got a 20 minute drive just to get out to the main road.

Or, how about this. There's a train between where I live and where I work. It takes about 40 minutes. It also takes me about 40 minutes to drive. So why don't I get the train? Because to get from my house to the nearest station it's 2 miles. That's a good half hour walk. I could drive there but if I'm getting the car out I might as well drive to work. At the other end, it's more like a 40 minute walk from the station to work.

Contrast this to places that have a good metro system. You hop on a metro or tram, jump off at the main station, get your train, and another metro at the other end. It's fast and convenient.

I think the planners of HS2 looked at a map and failed to comprehend that a few inches on a page represents many miles.

I look forward to my life being better when there's a faster train going between two of Britain's largest cities that only a tiny minority will benefit from. It'll be great.

 

I don't think everyone can expect to have a train station within 5 minutes walk of their home.
I'm a couple of miles from the train station and the more they build houses out and out from town centres the further away they are going to be.

 

Solved by better local transportation like a metro system, to connect localities to the existing main trunk lines

 

Impractical in most towns.

 

He was born here in Southampton, one of our local lads.

 

Only just English his parents came here in the 60's .

 

He was born here and is a British citizen.....just as my children are , albeit it slightly different as I'm British. Hubs is too now. My children have had this 'query' put to them at times in the past, thankfully not so now .Some people felt the need to query their surname and ask where they were from.......Britain!!!!

What is ' only just English'....that's a new one on me?

Sorry Jenny ....but I have faced this kind of issue before and find it offensive.

Please don't take it personally......it's the way some people were brought up to think. Times are changing now thankfully.

 

UKIP once tried to define 'British'. They said people descended from the first settlers here after the ice age. That would be Africans I guess. Unless you count the many identities that developed along the way.

 

I dont mind anyone examining my origins.

 

You should see my belly button.