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HS2 progress 2020 and beyond

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Just had a letter from Severn Trent to say that our water will be discoloured until 16th Feb as they have to alter a major pipeline on the route pf HS2.
I presume that is somewhere near Coleshill Hall because work has really ramped up there in recent days.
 
The Department of Transport has advised that Bromford Tunnel is being extended 100 metres on the east side to avoid making a cutting.

So changes are still being made.
 
Alberta said:
Just read that the Saltley viaduct built 1895 is being demolished to make way for HS2, it used to be a toll road, the toll cottage being at the junction of Saltley High street and Washwood Heath Road.

They have started to clear the land almost under the M6 on the Newport road towards Castle Vale in preparation for a tunnel.
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Short time lapse video showing the demolision.

 
I think you will find that Saltley Viaduct over the Midland Railway, replaced the previous level crossing there.

Railway companies in towns started to improve road communications through making viaducts to replace level crossings a contemporary example would be the London & North Western Railway improvements at Smethwick where two Level Crossings were replaced by a new road structure which included Rolfe Street and Brasshouse Lane
 
I was reading about Network Rail and that next year it will be superseded by Great British Rail. Is that a name change or is there more to it than that and will it affect to new high speed system?
 
I think the main difference is that the franchise system, whereby the companies "bought " a franchise to run a section of trains and (hopefully for them) made a nice profit, is replaced by a system where the companies are just subcontracters. Others more knowledgable than me please coreect
 
mikejee said:
I think the main difference is that the franchise system, whereby the companies "bought " a franchise to run a section of trains and (hopefully for them) made a nice profit, is replaced by a system where the companies are just subcontracters. Others more knowledgable than me please coreect
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That's about right. It is refered to as 'similar to the Transport for London (TfL) system' where a governing body sets timetables, fares (which it collects all of) and then requests tenders from operating companies for specific routes or areas. This should ensure a simpler fare structure and interavailability of tickets on different operators' trains, thereby allowing through ticketing between journey start & finish even when different operators are used for parts of the journey.
 
Lloyd said:
That's about right. It is refered to as 'similar to the Transport for London (TfL) system' where a governing body sets timetables, fares (which it collects all of) and then requests tenders from operating companies for specific routes or areas. This should ensure a simpler fare structure and interavailability of tickets on different operators' trains, thereby allowing through ticketing between journey start & finish even when different operators are used for parts of the journey.
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Thank you both!
From a distance it seems like quite a complex methodology.
 
Are the HS2 propagandists who produce these films also celebrating HS2's destruction of or threat to 693 Classified Local Wildlife Sites, 33 Sites of Special Scientific Interest, 108 Ancient Woods and 18 Wildlife Trust Nature Reserves?
 
mikejee said:
Two photos taken from the train yesterday of the Curzon St site
View attachment 168545View attachment 168546
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Progress is being made since I last saw this view in July 2021. I had an office which overlooked the site and saw the excavation of the railway turntable. There is a canal to the left of this photo, the Digbeth Branch Canal, is there going to be a bridge over it or does the new works end before the canal?
 
Martyn said:
Are the HS2 propagandists who produce these films also celebrating HS2's destruction of or threat to 693 Classified Local Wildlife Sites, 33 Sites of Special Scientific Interest, 108 Ancient Woods and 18 Wildlife Trust Nature Reserves?
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Doubtless they will commission greenwash films. HS2 have an environmental section to their site which indicates that they intend to remove ancient woodland soils and transport them to new sites. I'm no expert, but as far as I know there is zero evidence that this would produce a new wood. Such woods take hundreds of years to grow. I expect lots of trees will be planted and lots will die as there is no maintenance or watering. I think the most we can expect is a new park in central Birmingham. I have seen foxes, rats, crow, magpie, wren, pied wagtail and goldfinch in the newly established Eastside Park outside Millennium Point, but I understand that this space will contract or be removed as Curzon Street Station will have a high security wall. But any green space in Birmingham city centre is welcome and will attract wildlife. (Some welcome, some like gulls more problematic for humans) The canal provides a green corridor which I hope can be maintained even as the area is redeveloped. There are many wild flowers there and considerable bird life. This certainly does not mitigate the loss of ancient woodlands and SSSIs, but redevelopment should make space for nature. As well as a safe walkway for people. A small park is mooted at an area called Smithfield next to proposed housing. This and the following link are not part of HS2, but part of the Birmingham context.

There is also a 30 year plan to develop a National Park in Birmingham - blue skies thinking.
https://www.nobregafoundation.org/west-midlands-national-park
 
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Stokkie said:
I'm no expert, but as far as I know there is zero evidence that this would produce a new wood. Such woods take hundreds of years to grow. I expect lots of trees will be planted and lots will die as there is no maintenance or watering.
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In my experience 'neglect' any land for a few months and tree seedlings will begin to grow. Leave it for a few years and buildings will be crushed, pavements and roads broken up and grass shaded out. That's what trees do.

On the other hand, plant saplings and they will die of dehydration and predation by animals and vandals.

Given that HS2 has been legally authorised and is being in the process of being built I see nothing wrong with celebrating the building of its new structures, (oh that Brunel etc. had had film crews!). No-one is stopping anyone producing videos of empty stables being fitted with locks, should they so desire.
 
Spargone said:
In my experience 'neglect' any land for a few months and tree seedlings will begin to grow. Leave it for a few years and buildings will be crushed, pavements and roads broken up and grass shaded out. That's what trees do.

On the other hand, plant saplings and they will die of dehydration and predation by animals and vandals.

Given that HS2 has been legally authorised and is being in the process of being built I see nothing wrong with celebrating the building of its new structures, (oh that Brunel etc. had had film crews!). No-one is stopping anyone producing videos of empty stables being fitted with locks, should they so desire.
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No, just leaving land results in scrub, not ancient woodland which is a completely different habitat.

The economic position of the country is very different from when the scheme was projected. It has produced the biggest archeological dig ever in the UK which I'm happy to celebrate. The National Audit Office calculate the cost at about £88 Billion so far.

But the decision was made to build and I guess we are stuck with it. The trains and infrastructure could be marvellous, but the project itself might not be a cause for celebration. A Concorde rather than a Channel Tunnel? I'm keen to encourage more green space in Birmingham.
 
An interesting historic reference to the Birmingham & Liverpool Railway which eventually after a change of engineers became the Grand Junction Railway and a different route into Birmingham!

There were quite a few failed schemes for railways serving Birmingham, which some are regarded as "bubble" schemes. One of the perhaps more obscure was the Great Eastern and Western Railway of 1845 which promised to link Yarmouth with Swansea through Birmingham, but did not make it as far as the parliamentary committees.

With HS 2 the work goes on
 
For me the historical reference was of interest, not about the line itself or the route involved, but with the great pains taken to avoid intrusion of the landed proprietors. And of course the imaginary evils of those who were unfavourable to the scheme.
 
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