Frequent rail user in London and the south east of England. Supporter of electrification, new or reopened lines, and other rail investment.
Joined October 2021
- Tweets 5,165
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- Followers 859
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859 Photos and videos
Jun 1
A good rule of thumb is that the answer to any comment about #HS2 starting with “Why didn’t they just….” is that they looked at it and it turned out to be a bad idea.
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May 26
Shocking scenes at Dover as cars queue up to pass through new EU border checks…..Err, wait a minute…Where is everybody???
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May 25
#HS2 Old Oak Common station works from the Grand Union Canal yesterday - the underground high speed platforms in the foreground
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May 25
#HS2 Old Oak Common station works from Old Oak Common Road yesterday - looking more or less at where the front of the station will be
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May 25
A nice aerial view of it all from this drone video (not mine....)
youtu.be/PoBCoeaA8rE?si=Kg64…
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May 25
#HS2 Euston approaches, looking south and north from Mornington Road bridge yesterday.
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May 22
The real reasons why HS2 costs have overrun, according to Heidi Alexander’s statement to parliament on 19 May: one third inflation: the rest things being added [by parliament…] to the spec, and poor cost control. Nothing about how much cheaper the line would be if slower 🧵1/3
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May 22
Interesting extract number 2 from Heidi Alexander’s speech on 19 May: the government still thinks HS2 is a good idea. 🧵2/3
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May 22
And finally, Mark Wild’S HS2 reset is already producing results: more work done at less cost. (And he, incidentally, has told his staff to work to an OOC to Curzon Street opening in late 2037, with a cost of £93.2bn for the whole project to Handsacre Junction)
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May 20
A lot of this today. As US essayist HL Mencken said: “there is a well-known solution to every human problem - neat, plausible and wrong”.
May 20
The reason why HS2's route had to be incredibly straight & intrusive was because it was absurdly over specc-ed for 250 mph line speeds. Rather HS1's 186 mph or 140 mph on a conventional mainline with in-cab signalling. It was fundamentally the wrong project from the outset.
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May 20
If anyone actually wants to read the facts on this topic, page 23 and following if this document is informative…
assets.publishing.service.go…
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May 14
This is still my favourite #HS2 video. The dream is not dead. The Chilterns tunnel and Colne Valley Viaducts are now complete. The Delta Junction and Curzon Street are under construction. The Euston tunnels are being dug. It is all happening! youtu.be/m0-A5hXFMKk?si=fMi6… via @YouTube
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May 14
Once we have built the trunk, and proved it a success, the business case for adding the limbs will be excellent.
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Apr 30
A reminder that it wasn’t just Beeching who closed railways….
Apr 29
The Decline Of French Railways 1930 to 2014, BUT at least they have high-speed trains!
More about why this happened: brilliantmaps.com/the-rise-f…
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Apr 16
The M20 and HS1 at Harrietsham in Kent. Interesting to note that the high speed rail line is both going round a curve and descending, despite this being a 300kph section of the track. So this idea that high speed lines have to be built dead straight and flat is not correct.
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Apr 16
It is also interesting that when you travel this section of line it feels perfectly flat
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Apr 1
At Liverpool Street today. So who thinks these views will be improved by having an office block built on top of them?
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Railrider retweeted
Mar 24
It's all nonsense. Check out the new Green Signals podcast on Thursday at noon, when we'll lay waste to this utter rubbish. Here's one Janet-and-John fact to start you off. Slow the trains and you need more of them to run the same service. Costs MORE! youtube.com/@GreenSignals
Mar 23
Only the UK would be mad enough to plan a high speed railway, and then slow the trains back down again to save money.
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Mar 23
It is worth reading this story carefully. It says the trains may be tested on slower track (186mph presumably) so they can enter service sooner. It does not say they will NEVER run at 225mph, just that they won’t do so initially….1/2 bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czex…
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Mar 23
….Otherwise a substantial section of phase 1 has to be completed and ready for use BEFORE testing can start. If the trains are tested elsewhere, the testing can be done at the same time as the kitting out of the line.
This is what I am reading anyway. Am I incorrect? 2/2
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