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If my memory serves me correctly – HS2 calculated that a new standard 125mph line would wash it's face financially. However, building to a 225mph standard would increase the cost by around 10% whilst increasing revenues by more than 30%.

Interesting.... Having now read the IRP myself and enjoyed reading many comments, I thought I’d add my own twopences’ worth. I think the most balanced observation came from Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, following the IRP release. He made the point that...

Thank you for providing such a clear analytical framework. The rail investment issues that the IRP seeks to address certainly involve a great deal of complexity and trade-offs between the competing options.

Hopefully we won't have to wait much longer to find out! It will be a disappointment if the IRP (due tomorrow) just sets out a vague aspiration for a new line from Manchester to near Huddersfield without any indication of possible viable alignments.

Agree with all of that. However, any new line could exploit the ability of modern electrified rolling stock to easily handle 1 in 40 gradients at full speed. Assuming reports of this new line are accurate - I'd expect it to be an exclusively all passenger line, max 125 - 140 mph, so fairly...

To Clayton Junction, I think, where it'll join a hopefully upgraded and electrified MML for the remaining section into Sheffield.

OK - so the "The new high-speed routes include: •A 42-mile line from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway •A second high-speed route will run south from Leeds for about 23 miles •A third stretch will run for 33 miles from Crewe to Manchester". Sorry to be pedantic but - if my map reading is...

Let's hope that everybody will be pleasantly surprised. My guess though is that they won't be.... The basic problem is that the Capex Budget for heavy rail is around £90 billion (sorry can't remember the NIC timeline), but completing HS2 Phase 2, NPR, TRU and Midland Express is forecast to be...

The point I was trying to address was whether it was actually realistically possible to provide infrastructure that would easily allow cross-county services from Bristol / South Wales to call at Birmingham and then proceed towards the North-East mainly utilising HS2 rails. I think the answer to...

There is an alternative. Midland Connect are proposing to build chords from Moor Street to the Camp Hill lines to provide additional capacity for local services. Building on that, Greengauge21 are suggesting that Moor Street focus instead on cross-country services. This makes sense given that...

International railway regulations have probably been a major factor. The planned route runs from just inside the M25 near junction 17 for some 15.8km to just beyond South Heath - exiting as you say "on top of the Chilterns". A few years ago there were proposals for a Chilterns Long Tunnel...

I understand your scepticism but I don't think that it is vital to get "all" of the air passengers. An HSR all the way from London to Scotland could well deliver journey times of 2hr 30mins - but would probably be prohibitively expensive. However, sufficient new infrastructure to get the timing...

I think that you might be pleasantly surprised. The 35 mile HS2 Phase 2a section is expected to cost in the region of £4.5bn. I would imagine that the newly proposed 30 mile Lancaster to Oxenholm bypass would come in around the same. Don't know how much the Carstairs to Glasgow link would cost...

I think the London to Glasgow timing following completion of Phase 2b (as currently proposed) is 3hr 40min. The newly mentioned Lancaster / Oxenholm bypass along with the new Carstairs to Glasgow link - both around 30 miles long - will both save around 12mins each - hence the final journey time...

A thought-provoking post. For what it’s worth, here’s my two pennies worth. Although a new more direct XC route west of Yate would reduce journey times it would be hugely expensive. Also, the GWML between Bristol Parkway and Swindon is direct and well aligned and doesn’t need replacement...

Extending the point that what the country really needs is enhanced commuting capacity into our great cities… The released capacity provided by HS2 on the southern sections of the WCML, MML and ECML plus some important and currently congested corridors in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds has a...

It is an interesting point that what the country really needs is enhanced commuting capacity into our great cities rather than faster links between cities. However the reality is that HS2 does both. As planned HS2 is an ideal high-speed railway with dedicated infrastructure from the buffer...

The need for extra capacity on the WCML has long been recognised. British Railways completed a study for a new high-speed line from the outskirts of London to near Crewe back in 1989. The January 2000 issue of Modern Railways called for the WCML to be 6-tracked from Euston to Crewe. HS2 Ltd...

You may indeed be right that the majority of people don't think there is a need for extra capacity between London and Birmingham - the problem is that that view is not shared by those who are actually charged with the responsibility for providing it in the long term.

Thank you for your insightful analysis. Fortunately the majority of our current MPs and decision makers are reasonably good with big numbers. For presentation purposes to the general public though, sometimes I think comparisons are valuable. For instance a while ago I'm sure that Virgin claimed...