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I've read the FT article and it is not great reading for HS2. FT claims the Oakervee report just about approves phase 1 and states that phase 2 should be reviewed to see whether improving classic lines is a better option. It states that the economic benefits of the scheme are hard to see...

Birmingham Curzon Street to Euston is 49 minutes according to HS2 Ltd You will need to add in at least a 15 minute interchange from New Street which adds to 64 minutes. On the asumption that your connection is not perfectly timed, you will also need to add an average 10 minutes waiting time (as...

I have some sympathy to the idea of subsuming XC into other franchises for efficiency reasons but would be against removing through trains. Possibly some sort of 'code-sharing' agreement or joint working may be appropriate for the longer distance routes. Routes like Birmingham to Stansted...

I wouldn't be so confident. The national passenger survey records data about passengers' inward and onward journeys to/from stations. This shows that the plurality of rail users who use Nottingham arrive by foot. Not car, bus or tram. For journeys originating at Nottingham, 39% walk in. For...

I think mmh means that the 'relieving the southern WCML' argument feeds into the latent opinion that HS2 is primarily for London and SE England's benefit. Support for HS2 largely falls away the further north you go. For example, in the West Midlands, a recent ITV poll showed only 34% were in...

If HS2 does get built, I'm assuming CR2 would also get built. CR2 would remove the need for the South Western lines to use the international platforms. Of course, considering the general unpopularity of large amounts of infrastructure spending in the London area amongst the electorate outside...

As a stop gap measure, I think re-utilising Waterloo International may be a better option as it saves the cost of a new HS station and is in central London.

I think the 3.1% figure you quote is the growth in the number of tickets sold. It depends whether you believe that equates to passenger loadings. My own experience as a regular VTWC user indicates that there is a lot of 'duplicate' tickets sold i.e. people buy two or three advances or miss their...

Generally, a HGV has an annual mileage of 100,000 miles. Using figures from Motor Transport, a 44 tonne HGV would generally cost £1.63 + £0.08 per mile to operate including capital and staffing costs. Using your Southampton Docks - Trafford Park scenario, the road mileage is about 230 miles. So...

The Guardian have now published an article about the problems of the new Caledonian Sleeper:

Northampton is a no-brainer in my opinion. There is a reason why the A43 is one of the busiest roads in the country. An Oxford - Northampton through service would take under an hour so would be well patronised.

My emphasis This is what modern LUL management think but in reality the Metropolitan is a 'mainline' railway with a bit of underground running rather than being primarily a extended tube line. Arguably it is more like the NR outer surburban lines than any other underground line. The majority...

Once the new platform is available at Coventry, in theory there should be a spare path between Coventry and New Street. I understand XC are planning to route their Reading - Newcastle via Coventry to utilise this path. I guess you could replace this planned re-routing with a new XC New Street -...

Hopefully I can give everyone some insight. I am a regular user of the Manchester - Bournemouth route; I use it about once every fortnight. I would say that about 50-60% vacate at Birmingham with the rest staying on for southern destinations. I would argue against terminating such a service at...

You are right that the Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) had a BCR of less than 1 (0.95 to be precise) in 1991 but it would be wrong to compare this figure to HS2's BCR as the methodology differs between the two calculations. Unlike HS2's BCR's, the JLE's BCR was based on a 30 year appraisal and did...

The internal review by Allan Cook, HS2 Ltd's new chairman, has identified an additional £30bn of costs to construct the railway. The cost now is expected to rise from £56bn to £70bn-£85bn. The FT was the first to break this:

Yes you are quite right. Prior to the new timetable, the wait was over 20 minutes at Nuneaton for your connection. I understand the new timetable has reduced this which is a positive step. If the dive under was restored at Nuneaton, you would be able to have a Coventry -Leicester journey time...

I travel regularly on the line and much of the route can be four tracked with 'relative' ease. Between Moor Street and Lapworth, there used to be at least 4 tracks in the past and this can be restored on railway owned land. As most of the land between Lapworth and Warwick Parkway is greenfield...

Regarding Coventry - Leicester, when there were direct trains, I remember ticketing data suggesting that over 50% of the passengers were travelling between Coventry and Leicester/Nottingham and the rest was local traffic. I only know this because it was published online over 10 years ago but has...

The full FT article quotes the report author. His name is Paul Mansell, an independent adviser who has worked at HS2 Ltd at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s request. (Infrastructure and Projects Authority is a HM Treasury/Cabinet Office agency which advices both departments on big...