Travelling on the train as I do from time to time the continuing controversy over the HS2 London-Manchester high speed service continues to intrigue me.
As I experienced this week the problems that can happen on a very busy stretch where I train has a breakdown or similar difficulty often has a knock on effect on other services such as delays or even cancellations.
On the other hand a report of MP's suggests the proposed new line and service should operate no faster than 185 MPH for environmental reasons (C02 emissions) rather than the original reducing considerably the 'improved' journey times for being say not more than twenty minutes and as some of these stations are not going to be the existing ones, passengers may need to pick up connecting services or taxis to traditional business destinations making any savings over the standard services pretty much academic being unlikely to encourage such users to switch.
One alternative might be to increase capacity on the existing networks by introducing and in some instances restoring twin track working in which was removed for cost reasons in the 70's and 80's and finishing of electrification allowing trains to operate to a maximum of 125 MPH which would still offer advantages over the road network.
This could benefit a wider geographic area and customer base.
