SouthEastBuses
On Moderation
In your opinion, due to potential less commuting needed on trains as more people will start to work from home, will HS2 still be necessary?
In your opinion, due to potential less commuting needed on trains as more people will start to work from home, will HS2 still be necessary?
I'd like to say yes because I am, by default, in favour of any expansion of railways.In your opinion, due to potential less commuting needed on trains as more people will start to work from home, will HS2 still be necessary?
So, with great sadness - I don't think there's any point in carrying on with HS2. There will nobody using it. And the moment it eventually opens they will put black and yellow tape over three quarters of the seats and ban anyone except 'key workers' from going on it.
I sincerely hope so. I love rail travel even though I don't get to do it as often as I'd like (and not at all at the moment). It really needs to get back to normal.Out on trains yesterday, and it felt close to a normal Saturday. Leisure passengers *are* returning.
I sincerely hope so. I love rail travel even though I don't get to do it as often as I'd like (and not at all at the moment). It really needs to get back to normal.
In your opinion, due to potential less commuting needed on trains as more people will start to work from home, will HS2 still be necessary?
I think this pandemic and more working from home will increase longer distance commuting because of you only need to visit the office 2 or 3 days a week many will choose to live further away, for housing/family reasons, and tolerate a less frequent although longer commute.
You build a new railway for 50 years worth of growth, not what might happen next year or the year after, so HS2 is still needed.
I think this pandemic and more working from home will increase longer distance commuting because of you only need to visit the office 2 or 3 days a week many will choose to live further away, for housing/family reasons, and tolerate a less frequent although longer commute.
Exactly, less commuting could lead to less car ownership, meaning more leisure journeysRelated to that, we do not know what major events will occur in the next 50 years. There could be some kind of event that has the complete opposite impact to this pandemic, in that it encourages greater overall rail use.
Nah. People who commute by train have a car for other things. Ditto people who use a car for commuting use it for other things.Exactly, less commuting could lead to less car ownership, meaning more leisure journeys
I think Birmingham Interchange might prove particularly useful - it's quite close to the nicest parts of Birmingham's commuter belt. I could easily imagine lots of affluent London commuters living in somewhere like Dorridge or Meriden, driving to Interchange, and travelling into London once or twice a week.
Nah. People who commute by train have a car for other things. Ditto people who use a car for commuting use it for other things.
I have a car and no matter how much I might use public transport, I won't ever be without one. This pandemic has demonstrated exactly why. You rely on public transport, then the government tells you you can't use it.You usually justify purchase of a car (particularly a first car) on expecting to use it reasonably regularly to justify the cost, i.e daily commuting for many.
Take away that "incentive" and many people might not bother, especially with the likes of Zipcar springing up for the "weekly big shop" type use. I'd expect there will be gradual shift in the traditional mindset of the reasons for owning a car.
Nah. People who commute by train have a car for other things. Ditto people who use a car for commuting use it for other things.
I have a car and no matter how much I might use public transport, I won't ever be without one. This pandemic has demonstrated exactly why. You rely on public transport, then the government tells you you can't use it.
Indeed, or moving from a big diesel motorway cruiser for commuting, to a smaller vehicle for around town driving.Families may choose to drop down from 2 to 1 car. I know a couple who have done exactly that by moving nearer to a railway station. This is much, much more likely than giving it up entirely.
Indeed, or moving from a big diesel motorway cruiser for commuting, to a smaller vehicle for around town driving.
Oooh, I'm not sure about that. Look at the "near misses" we've have with swine flu, avian flu, SARS, MERS and Ebola. All of them (except perhaps Ebola) had the potential to be "escape" as Covid19 has. As the human race continue to abuse the natural environment, and as long as unsanitary conditions around the provision and consumption of animals and animal products continues (and probably intensifies in the case of places like China, where "rural" practices are transposed into teeming metrolpolises), there will be the continuing risk of further pandemics. With far more people and far more abuse of the natural world than a century ago, pandemics could become a far more regular occurrence than in history.Annoying though it is, this situation is (quite literally, if you look at the dates of the Spanish Flu) a 1 in 100 years thing. It is infinitessimally unlikely that it will happen again in the way it has in your or my lifetime.
*dreams of EV autorail trains crossing europe*Potentially even a small electric runaround, which due to the faff of charging and limited range may well encourage rail use for long distance travel. Unless there are big improvements in battery tech, a rail journey and the hire of a small electric car at your destination may well become a common model, particularly when you think of holiday destinations like Cornwall, the Lake District etc.
*dreams of EV autorail trains crossing europe*
That’s my take on it too and from what I’ve read it seems to be a generally agreed theory in scientific circles.Oooh, I'm not sure about that. Look at the "near misses" we've have with swine flu, avian flu, SARS, MERS and Ebola. All of them (except perhaps Ebola) had the potential to be "escape" as Covid19 has. As the human race continue to abuse the natural environment, and as long as unsanitary conditions around the provision and consumption of animals and animal products continues (and probably intensifies in the case of places like China, where "rural" practices are transposed into teeming metrolpolises), there will be the continuing risk of further pandemics. With far more people and far more abuse of the natural world than a century ago, pandemics could become a far more regular occurrence than in history.
I have a car and no matter how much I might use public transport, I won't ever be without one. This pandemic has demonstrated exactly why. You rely on public transport, then the government tells you you can't use it.
I would like to think that, whatever 'New Normal' consists of, another situation of advising against public transport use will be very, very exceptional.
I have always been a bit skeptical about people from East Side wanting to travel to Euston or Old Oak Common, compared with KX as depending where you want to be KX may be a better interchange point for many destinations and compared to Euston in particular.
I am not disputing that but the simple fact is many on the eastern side my prefer KX with a time penalty to HS2, and if commuting reduces some capacity may be freed up, which of course is the whole proposition of the thread.Remember it's about capacity. The ECML south of Peterborough is full so by running the fast Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh services via HS2 you enable more capacity for places like Grantham , Retford, Newark, Huntingdon etc to London.
Remember it's about capacity. The ECML south of Peterborough is full so by running the fast Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh services via HS2 you enable more capacity for places like Grantham , Retford, Newark, Huntingdon etc to London.