So far in this thread we have the following suggestions for new conventional speed rail alignments:
Morpeth bypass
EWR central section
Dawlish avoiding line
Do we have any more?
Inverkeithing to Halbeath (i.e. following the M90 so that services from Edinburgh to Dundee/ Aberdeen would avoid the twisty bits of the Fife Coast and also overtake the Kirkcaldy-bound services - non-stop from Inverkeithing to at least Markinch).
For personal selfishness (and not necessarily in the national interest!), a chord around Dove Holes to allow a direct service from Sheffield/ Hope Valley to Buxton.
Ther has been no new motorway in County Durham since 1970. However the upgrade to motorway of the 12-mile section between Leeming Bar and Barton in North Yorkshire, including through Scotch Corner, was completed earlier this year. As a result there is continuous motorway from the south end of the M1 at Brent Cross to a couple of miles south of the Angel of the North.
Having checked online, the continuous motorway was only completed (as far as Gateshead) six months ago (by upgrading the existing A-road) - the fact that London to Gateshead has only just become a continuous motorway in 2018, and Newcastle to Edinburgh still relies on long stretches of single carriageway A-road, is worth remembering when we see people claim that new roads are ten-a-penny - if they were then North East England motoristis wouldn't be reliant upon such poor infrastructure (whilst the region has had 125mph electrified trains on the ECML for some time now).
Grass is always greener.
Yes, really. Every settlement of 10,000 population should be rail served by having a convenient railhead to encourage use of rail and reduce use of the car
So you've decided that every place around a threshold that your small town conveniently meets should have rail station?
Despite the three stations you already have within about a dozen miles?
Convenient.
Completed in 1970! You really ought to get out more and sample the real world or update your road atlas.
Really?
Your road atlas showed a continuous
motorway from London to Newcastle in 1970? (rather than the piecemeal combination of A-road and Motorway that has only allowed London - Gateshead to be done all on motorway in March 2018)
I wish I had a 1970s map that predicted the future!
If the Victorians were doing HS2 (not that I agree with it, but that's irrelevant)
It seems that most proponents of re-opening old Victorian lines are against HS2 for some reason.
If HS2 followed the Grand Central route then I'm sure people's objections wouldn't be quite so vociferous (though that's obviously a terrible alignment to follow, managing to avoid Birmingham as it does)
What about Welwyn Viaduct and Tunnels, and Bradford crossrail?
Bradford Crossrail is prime Crayonista (IMHO) - drawing a line to link places on a map without worrying about inconveniences like height differences/ what lies between them/ whether it actually solves any problems (e.g. that huge untapped market of people wanting a direct service from Ilkley to Halifax).
Bradford Crossrail is a solution without any problems which would complicate things (e.g. would we end up running DMUs under the wires from Leeds to Bradford via Shipley because they continue through to the Calder Valley, which means EMUs replaced by DMUs? Or is it contingent on wiring the whole line from Leeds - Pudsey - Bradford - Rochdale - Manchester? where are the additional paths at Leeds for any new services? What actual demand is there to get from Keighley to Hebden Bridge or from Pudsey to Saltaire that this would provide?)
Welwyn sounds good, but (AIUI) would push the bottleneck slightly further up the line, given the three track sections north of Huntingdon. Welwyn certainly seem to be a problem though.