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HS2 'could cost taxpayer £80bn' 
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jonbwfc wrote:
bobbdobbs wrote:
thats equivalent to the responses about building the channel tunnel.

Not really, The channel tunnel provides an obvious improvement - both in time, convenience and functionality - to what was there before. HS2 provides an improvement in time over what was there before, no extra convenience and no extra functionality. The channel tunnel produced a qualitative benefit, HS2 doesn't.

bobbdobbs wrote:
Some projects need to be done even if the cost is never recouped.

True, but the question is : Is HS2 the best of those projects we can come up with? Frankly, the people in favour of HS2 haven't really made that argument very well at all. We have a massive housing shortage, how many houses and jobs could £30bn and years ofl building provide? How many power stations to ensure our energy needs for the future? How much of the country could be covered by a high grade wireless broadband network to allow rural areas access to high speed communications? How many technological research advances? Are any of those things a worse use of the money than a slightly faster train service between London and Birmingham, a change hardly anybody was crying out?

HS2 is a vanity project. It's a big shiny thing politicians can point to and say 'See! we did that. We made that happen. Aren't we brilliant.' Well no, you aren't. You wasted pretty much all the country's spare cash for a decade, you idiots.
hs2 is not the best project and will never be the best project but as both main parties won't build new homes or power stations thats the private sector to do and they wont do anything like that without huge subsidies but as long as its not on the books it doesnt count.

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Mon Aug 19, 2013 10:42 am
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bobbdobbs wrote:
Spreadie wrote:
Nonsense. £80bn versus an initial cost of ~ £30bn. Some projects don't need doing at all.
olympics original cost 3 bill final cost 12 bill

Please explain to me how that justifies HS2.

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Mon Aug 19, 2013 12:35 pm
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Frankly, off the top of my head, I can think of at least 5 better ideas for new railways than HS2 - none of which involve London.

I really am sick and tired of watching the lion's share of the entire nation's spare cash being spent to add connections to a city with 4 international airports and at least 8 mainline stations.

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Mon Aug 19, 2013 1:03 pm
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Spreadie wrote:
bobbdobbs wrote:
Spreadie wrote:
Nonsense. £80bn versus an initial cost of ~ £30bn. Some projects don't need doing at all.
olympics original cost 3 bill final cost 12 bill

Please explain to me how that justifies HS2.
it doesnt. It's an example of government budgeting. Start at a number then see how high it can actually go before claiming youve done it under budget. Its all imaginary numbers.

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johnwbfc wrote:
I care not which way round it is as long as at some point some sort of semi-naked wrestling is involved.

Amnesia10 wrote:
Yes but the opportunity to legally kill someone with a giant dildo does not happen every day.

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Mon Aug 19, 2013 1:23 pm
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rustybucket wrote:
Frankly, off the top of my head, I can think of at least 5 better ideas for new railways than HS2 - none of which involve London.

I really am sick and tired of watching the lion's share of the entire nation's spare cash being spent to add connections to a city with 4 international airports and at least 8 mainline stations.
is it because the lion share of wealth creation goes on in the capital and surrounding areas.



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johnwbfc wrote:
I care not which way round it is as long as at some point some sort of semi-naked wrestling is involved.

Amnesia10 wrote:
Yes but the opportunity to legally kill someone with a giant dildo does not happen every day.

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Mon Aug 19, 2013 1:26 pm
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bobbdobbs wrote:
is it because the lion share of wealth creation goes on in the capital and surrounding areas.

Only because the numbers are massively skewed by The City. Doubt any of the people who work there are going to spend much time shuttling back and forth between Birmingham and London.


Mon Aug 19, 2013 1:30 pm
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i have heard a rumour and only rumour ...

its that Parliament has to be rebuilt maybe brick by brick because its sinking and that Govt. may (i repeat may) move North while Parliament is rebuilt
hence HSR2

again i repeat only 'rumour' ...

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Mon Aug 19, 2013 2:13 pm
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jonbwfc wrote:
bobbdobbs wrote:
is it because the lion share of wealth creation goes on in the capital and surrounding areas.

Only because the numbers are massively skewed by The City. Doubt any of the people who work there are going to spend much time shuttling back and forth between Birmingham and London.

The numbers will be minor but it will expand the commuter belt up to Carlisle and so boost home prices in the northern regions. /s

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Mon Aug 19, 2013 2:19 pm
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I think most people assumed it would be this costly when it was first announced.

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Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:59 pm
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l3v1ck wrote:
I think most people assumed it would be this costly when it was first announced.

A big part of that is when has a major government policy come in on budget in the last few years? Most are double or treble the original budget.


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Tue Aug 20, 2013 2:16 am
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bobbdobbs wrote:
rustybucket wrote:
Frankly, off the top of my head, I can think of at least 5 better ideas for new railways than HS2 - none of which involve London.

I really am sick and tired of watching the lion's share of the entire nation's spare cash being spent to add connections to a city with 4 international airports and at least 8 mainline stations.
is it because the lion share of wealth creation goes on in the capital and surrounding areas

And is that because, for the last century, the lion's share of infrastructure spending went on in the capital and surrounding areas?

London needs more infrastructure because there are too many people in (or near) London. There are too many people in (or near) London because nowhere else in Britain is as attractive in terms of airports, rail, roads and the attendant public services. For instance, London is pretty much the only place with a public transport system that isn't sh!te.

The answer is not to continually concentrate on London but to look towards other places. For instance, how about a fast Trans-Pennine route? How about a fast freight system from Immingham/Hull/Newcastle to Liverpool/Southampton/Milford Haven via Magna Park/DIRFT etc? How about Northampton getting a ring road at last?

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Tue Aug 20, 2013 6:46 am
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Northampton desperately needs a proper ring road. Having been there for car-related stuff, I've found at traffic time it's a nightmare.

I agree that money should be best spent on instrastructure to benefit the majority of the population.

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Tue Aug 20, 2013 7:06 am
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How much would it cost to raise all rail bridges so we can have double decker trains on commuter routes?

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cloaked_wolf wrote:
Northampton desperately needs a proper ring road. Having been there for car-related stuff, I've found at traffic time it's a nightmare.

I agree that money should be best spent on instrastructure to benefit the majority of the population.

Having seen Hitlers reaction to Northampton I would have thought levelling the place would be a start.


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Tue Aug 20, 2013 7:38 am
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HS2 costs could mean rail nightmare, says Darling

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23808993

I wonder is the BBC doing Sun headlines now with their drive for page clicks...

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