For my next trick, I will.annoy both sides of the HS2 debate..... at the same time!!!!!
The concept of building new mainlines to relieve capacity and speed up services ia sound.
The specific plan for HS2 is flawed, thanks to the obsession with providing far more capacity than is needed between a select few points. It is unlikely to address inter-regional imbalances, in the absence of any broader policy addressing this, and is likely to heighten intra-regional imbalances (with a knock-on effect of increasing strain on transport infrastructure round tge cities served). It is ludicrously and needlessly expensive.
A better plan would be to build a series of bypass lines round existing capacity blackspots - a better-aligned new London-Birmingham mainline,.with spurs to the WCML north, would form part of this, but so would a new line from Liverpool to Manchester and across the Pennines, some sort of bypass around the area between Piccadilly and Stockport, some sort of solution for central Leeds etc.
Much more emphasis should also be given to developing local transport around the regional cities, in tandem with this. Perhaps we should be questionning whether it is time to reduce economic concentration in London, instead of pouring yet more money into its infrastructure.
