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Trees Around HS2

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There were reports in yesterday's papers saying that the Government is going to plant two million trees around HS2 between London and Birmingham, to mitigate the issues of noise and visual blight.

Have they really thought this through?

If they plant the trees too close to the line, they will really struggle with "leaves on the line" and if they plant them further away, they will take more land and risk vastly increasing the cost of building the line.

It might sound like a great political move, but it's not really that practical, is it?

I'm wondering whether, for a forty minute journey I could live without the view from a train window (after all, we put up with it on the tube and we'll probably have our head in a laptop or a book). If so, couldn't the whole route be put in pre-cast concrete boxes placed end to end, which could then be dealt with like a cut and cover tunnel and landscaped over?
 
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Invincibles

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Actually it probably would be possible to spend 40 minutes on a train in the dark. However, it would be expensive to build it in that way?

I think it would be better to cover the line through beauty spots then have it open for most of the route, the tree idea does seem to have a lot of problems.

If they ever invent an effective way, maybe they can use one of those "green walls". Or just plant Leillandi (sp)
 

Peter Mugridge

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They say they will not use broadleaf close to the track ( they've never heard of wind or train turbulence suction effects then have they?! ) and the trees will be in woodland clumps, not a straight line mile after mile along the trackside.

Speaking personally I wouldn't mind having a house with a decent sized garden that backed onto HS2 provided there was no solid screening to block the view of the line! Standard railings fence will do me. Could probably get a fairly good bargain on such a property, but I don't really want to wait that many years to move...
 

185

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I'm trying to imagine leaves on the line on HS2.... brake at Oxford - stop at Wigan :o(
 

route:oxford

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They say they will not use broadleaf close to the track ( they've never heard of wind or train turbulence suction effects then have they?! ) and the trees will be in woodland clumps, not a straight line mile after mile along the trackside.

Well, they'd have to be in clumps rather than continuous... Can you imagine a tinder-dry summer with continuous trees between London & Birmingham?

It would be a real wildlife corrdior though. The greens would tolerate it too - practical carbon-offsetting.
 

WatcherZero

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Careful choice of the trees and leaves on the line wont be a problem at all.
 

caliwag

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Suspect it's a bit of "hey what a nice idea, we'll plant trees to reduce the sound". In reality to seriously reduce noise from a high speed railway you would need over 15m of dense planting, as close to the line as possible, and probably more...it's not just a row of trees.
There has been a fair bit of research on traffic noise, but unless the Spanish have carried out tests, there's not been much on trains...given that we are talking a train every three minutes each way. So that's a big land take if you really want to attenuate the noise!
Suspect they'll wait for complaints, run tests, then erect timber barriers, and that'll be yer view gone. (but hey they're all lap-topping anayway). They use glass on the continent, but you can imagine how well that would go over here...would never be cleaned anyway!!
Will never happen anyway!!
 

LexyBoy

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The land wouldn't have to be purchased by the Govt though - it could be leased relatively inexpensively or in the case of farmland could be incorporated into set-aside.

Maybe the best use would be to hide concrete sound barriers near built-up areas. I expect most of the trees would be planted to cover up large-scale earthworks and on the site of temporary works once the line's complete.
 

WatcherZero

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Well yes, trees help strengthen the sides of cuttings, minimising erosion and generally strengthening.
 

cle

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Those could be in turn covered by some greenery, for aesthetics and scoring some carbon PR points.

A wall of bamboo might look cool, it has small leaves and grows tall and straight!
 
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Those could be in turn covered by some greenery, for aesthetics and scoring some carbon PR points.

A wall of bamboo might look cool, it has small leaves and grows tall and straight!

What a good idea. The bamboo could be brought in on the same ship as the trains.... and a couple more giant pandas. :lol:
 
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