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HS2 progress 2020 and beyond

Mark Tooze said:
It seems that when (???) the trains finally run they have to go at a slower speed than designed as it will be too expensive to run them at full pelt. Next we will have to have a person with a red flag walking in front of the train for health and safety reasons....... Also - am I the only one that sees no attraction of going nearly-but-not-quite to London by train only to spend (I think) 38 miles of the journey in tunnels? A traditional part of a train journey is to look out of the window in my view. Don't think current journey providers will have too much competition at this rate.....
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It Will be Outdated before it’s finished, whenever that is.
 
Disappointing but you can see a lot of progress being made all along the route - there is loads great of drone footage available.

No doubt the people responsible for the mess will be/are still getting a hefty pension for their monumental incompetence.
 
MWS said:
Disappointing but you can see a lot of progress being made all along the route - there is loads great of drone footage available.

No doubt the people responsible for the mess will be/are still getting a hefty pension for their monumental incompetence.
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Yes and fid you see today's update on what the end cost will be MWS . What a waste of money in my eyes
 
Doesn't make it right but the cost of all major products seem to be underestimated.

I don't think you can say it's a waste of money until it is completed and then see if it does what it was intended to do. I will say that I'm not sure it will.
 
MWS said:
Doesn't make it right but the cost of all major products seem to be underestimated.

I don't think you can say it's a waste of money until it is completed and then see if it does what it was intended to do. I will say that I'm not sure it will
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MWS when you look at what the original was this year , then last year they said nearer 2033 , seem s doomed for failure from the start
 
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Reactions: MWS
That moving completion date is shocking I can't disagree. Again is it down over optimism of the original backers, lack of appreciation of the complexities or incompetence of the builders (past and present)?

Mainly the first two in my opinion.
 
MWS said:
That moving completion date is shocking I can't disagree. Again is it down over optimism of the original backers, lack of appreciation of the complexities or incompetence of the builders (past and present)?

Mainly the first two in my opinion.
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Well whatever the reason MWS , will we be here in another 12 months discussing later dates and more increased costs ?
 
It is unfortunately true in estimates by commercial companies for government contracts that estimates are usually low compared to the actual expected cost, usually I believe deliberately so as they think they can always increase it later and the government will pay. This is common in the defence industry. I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that the recent increase in the cost of new frigates is having to be born by the company . This contract was given long after the HS2 contract, but does at least indicate that there is some common sense being driven into the thick heads of government. That said, a considerable proportion of any increase must be inflation over the 3-decade length of incompetence. In addition land land was purchased for the Manchester link at probably inflated prices, much of which cannot be reclaimed as it is unlikely that it can be resold at anything like the purchase price, while "planners", who were presumably employed for that link, always seem to charge their customers many millions of pounds to carry out their work
 
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