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High Speed Train 2

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Interesting to read about and follow the progress. I suppose until the work gets underway in Birmingham (rather than Solihull or Warwickshire) then it will be peripheral to BHF. Fortunately the Forum has a few dedicated spies who will keep track on events for everyone's benefit.
 
The former Stupids (Students ) Accommodation Flats that were on on Curzon St, its demolition is well under way and the demolition of Lawford Close and the small businesses will soon start, all to Make way for the HS2 Railway

I have taken a few photos for my archive
 
Work is well on its way in my area, hundreds of beautiful trees have been cut down between Coleshill and the A45. Saw the scaffold being erected today for the gantries that will go. over the M6 where the railway will cross it, just on the outskirts of Coleshill and Chelmsley.. There is quite a little town of portacabins in the nearby fields
 
There's some work going on on Aston Church Road where one of Taroni's scrapyard was. I think that has something to do with HS2.
 
horsencart said:
The former Stupids (Students ) Accommodation Flats that were on on Curzon St, its demolition is well under way and the demolition of Lawford Close and the small businesses will soon start, all to Make way for the HS2 Railway

I have taken a few photos for my archive
Click to expand...

hope the nearby white tower pub is safe

lyn
 
The pub is still there and as it is on the other side of the road it should be all right, but have said that it is not looking at its best I did take a few photos of the pub my one thought was will this pub be here in a few years?


Astoness said:
hope the nearby white tower pub is safe

lyn
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my thoughts as well horsencart...this is a pub i have been meaning to visit for a few years but never go round to doing it...thanks for the update

lyn
 
The contract has still be let for the main construction work. What is being done is preparing the route for that event. Hence the closures at Euston and the exhumation of the bodies in the graves at the former church yard near Curzon Street.

The student accommodation at Curzon Street was built, at least in part, I believe on what was railway land. There were some sidings there used as a cement terminal and in earlier times were storage sidings. The various parcels vans would be kept there. Some of these parcel vans were prewar. I recall seeing makers plates on these vehicles, some of which were ex GWR SIPHON then used to carry parcels.
 
Photo of the new taxi rank outside of Moor Street Station (moved from Moor Street to Moor Street Queensway due to new bus stops), but you can see the HS2 station works behind, including the demolition of Curzon Gate student accommodation.

 
HS2 land clearance either side of Lawley Middleway, seen from the Cross City line. Raining on the way into Birmingham New Street.



The student accommodation is gone.



Took these more for stars on Millennium Point than for HS2.



 
I thought I recently read that HS2 was on hold pending further Governmental decisions ? because of escalating costs etc... did I read it wrong. Eric
 
I noticed from the train on thursday that there were men working on the old burial site, possibly just tidying up. But also men with bulldozers and things on the Curzon st station site. so do not know whether something has been decided, but not yet announced
 
cookie273uk said:
I thought I recently read that HS2 was on hold pending further Governmental decisions ? because of escalating costs etc... did I read it wrong. Eric
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Existing contracts would have to be paid for anyway, so work may as well continue whilst ongoing decisions are being made. "On hold" will mean no new contracts to be let out as yet.
 
Whilst the debate goes on in the media, the Queens Speech has indicated that it will go forward, the main issue is cost, though. Meanwhile the demolition continues. The Eagle & Tun closed on January 4th, 2020 and is to be demolished to make way for the HS2. It may have been an iconic venue associated with the music band UB40, the exterior has not escaped the attention of the graffiti vandals.
 
At least the Woodman is saved. Work stopped on the site for some time after the project was in suspension, but started again before Christmas, some time before the official announcement of it continuing. On Saturday this could be seen from the train. Sorry for the annoying reflections

P1010452A.jpgP1010455A.jpgP1010457A.jpg
 
good job the woodman was not in its path mike because i have no doubt that if it had been in the way it would also have gone

lyn
 
OH my old town,What have they done to you.Looking at the photos couldn't remember any part.The last time I was there was Sept 2018 down the Old Fish & Meat Mkt.Every time I see pictures on here it looks so strangely different :joy::joy::joy:
 
Signed Petition. It is coming near here too. Through Burton Green club and small holding, woodland, public footpaths, disused railway nature trail and farmland. Through my cousin's friend's house which will be bought by compulsory purchase for much much less than it's real value. Plus they will have to find somewhere else to live and they have this at the back of their mind all the time. And no one will buy it now of course. Strangely they have built 2 or 3 new boxy houses. I was told that the surrounding area will need temporary housing or find lodging for the large amount of construction workers needed.
 
So as someone that's been out of the loop both on the new trams and HS 2 and reading the Eagle and Turn thread I thought some education on the subject for me was needed.
I've read the fors and the against arguments both sides have valid points.
The current cost estimate for me is still low do not get me wrong 88 Billion is no small number but I fear the further we get down the rails the larger the cost will become
If all goes well and high speed rail gets completed in 2035 ?, that would be 25 years from the germ of the idea and forecasting costs that far ahead bothers me

Let me switch tracks here and float a thought
The CES show has just taken place here in America ( consumer electronics show ) and one of the big items getting a lot of buzz was small drones capable of carrying people
Shown was a collaboration drone between Hyundai and Uber, with a estimated realized time of 10 years.
Look how quick technology is moving two brothers at the beginning of the last century had the first powered flight on a beach, 70 years later we were walking on the Moon.
We had CD players that at first would skip if you hit a bump in the road that got fixed with a chip, well that chip had more computing power than the Apollo Rocket that went to the moon.
Look what's in your handbag or front trouser pocket a hand held device there let's you communicate any where in the world and God knows what else.
We already have self driving cars and trucks on our roads, what's stopping us from having self flying drones and if that's the case why bother with rails at any speed.
Do not misunderstand I can see a need for short rail journeys and jumping on a tram
How about I live in Rednal and I want to travel to London I go to Cofften Park hop on a Uber drone fly to London hop off in Hyde Park just like a rock star.
 
Robert Ensor (bob) said:
So as someone that's been out of the loop both on the new trams and HS 2 and reading the Eagle and Turn thread I thought some education on the subject for me was needed.
I've read the fors and the against arguments both sides have valid points.
The current cost estimate for me is still low do not get me wrong 88 Billion is no small number but I fear the further we get down the rails the larger the cost will become
If all goes well and high speed rail gets completed in 2035 ?, that would be 25 years from the germ of the idea and forecasting costs that far ahead bothers me

Let me switch tracks here and float a thought
The CES show has just taken place here in America ( consumer electronics show ) and one of the big items getting a lot of buzz was small drones capable of carrying people
Shown was a collaboration drone between Hyundai and Uber, with a estimated realized time of 10 years.
Look how quick technology is moving two brothers at the beginning of the last century had the first powered flight on a beach, 70 years later we were walking on the Moon.
We had CD players that at first would skip if you hit a bump in the road that got fixed with a chip, well that chip had more computing power than the Apollo Rocket that went to the moon.
Look what's in your handbag or front trouser pocket a hand held device there let's you communicate any where in the world and God knows what else.
We already have self driving cars and trucks on our roads, what's stopping us from having self flying drones and if that's the case why bother with rails at any speed.
Do not misunderstand I can see a need for short rail journeys and jumping on a tram
How about I live in Rednal and I want to travel to London I go to Cofften Park hop on a Uber drone fly to London hop off in Hyde Park just like a rock star.
Click to expand...

Bob it was a race with both subjects being in the pipeline for three years each Brexit/HS2 which one would get moving first . Thankfully Boris eased the first part , I'd like to ask though why do we need a HS2 when the lines we have can hardly cope with the normal trains we have . Plus the trains leave a lot to be desired punctuality wise, conditions also to the detriment leaves from trees on the line , wrong type of snow or sleet . This is some of the dross commuters have to listen to as to why the 10.35 to Runcorn turned up late . Will HS2 alleviate the problems of punctuality and flora and fauna , I doubt it . We never had these problems with steam and leaves , punctuality was a bit better also.
 
I wonder with HS2's fine tuning if it will keep breaking down or won't be able to manage leaves and frozen points?
I was a passenger in a car which drove itself on a cruise position, in France, I felt very uncomfortable and it flagged up a disabled parking spot on a raised pavement on a five way junction at traffic lights except it was only accessible from the opposite direction. The driver, Captain Fearless crossed the junction on the diagonal, heading the wrong way in to oncoming traffic at the lights and parked it, the other drivers were in a state of shock. As were we.
Point I am trying to make is with this surge of new technology ''I" think it brings more opportunities for accidents. The legislation and safety is not as yet keeping up with new invention. (in this case here of inapropiate snooping) Or am I old fashioned? I could go on that drone flyers are up to no good as they no laws have been made for them. We also are getting rising bad reports about Uber drivers where I live.
 
Nico said:
I wonder with HS2's fine tuning if it will keep breaking down or won't be able to manage leaves and frozen points?
I was a passenger in a car which drove itself on a cruise position, in France, I felt very uncomfortable and it flagged up a disabled parking spot on a raised pavement on a five way junction at traffic lights except it was only accessible from the opposite direction. The driver, Captain Fearless crossed the junction on the diagonal, heading the wrong way in to oncoming traffic at the lights and parked it, the other drivers were in a state of shock. As were we.
Point I am trying to make is with this surge of new technology ''I" think it brings more opportunities for accidents. The legislation and safety is not as yet keeping up with new invention. (in this case here of inapropiate snooping) Or am I old fashioned? I could go on that drone flyers are up to no good as they no laws have been made for them. We also are getting rising bad reports about Uber drivers where I live.
Click to expand...
Technology is only as good as the person operating it. Remember the old computer adage; 'Rubbish in, rubbish out'. p.s what car were you in that was 'driving itself'?
 
Williamstreeter said:
I'd like to ask though why do we need a HS2 when the lines we have can hardly cope with the normal trains we have.
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That is the whole point of HS2, add NEW lines that relieve some of the congestion on the existing lines.

The West Coast main line is crowded with trains so no room to add new routes / stations. A few years ago Virgin wanted to add a new route from Shrewsbury to New Street / London and there was no capacity on the West Coast main line.

Also New St station is full to capacity and they cant add more platforms.

By building a new HS2 TRAIN LINE from London, AND a new HS2 station in Birmingham it frees up capacity on the West Coast line AND at New St station to add more routes and stations.

Most of our train routes in the UK were laid 80 to 100 years ago, we have had very few NEW track laid since WW2.

Some countries have had High Speed lines for decades (Japan built theirs just after WW2 and have continued to improve and adapt it). You can virtually go from one end of Japan to the other on High Speed trains and we are still arguing about a line from London to Birmingham.
 
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