Longcol Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 4 minutes ago, tinfoilhat said: I get that - I go where the best clients are, which this weekend involves driving down to the South coast in a lightly loaded Luton van which will be entertaining. But when I'm sat in traffic, it often looks, and looks can be deceiving, that I'm not queuing up with high powered movers and shakers but call centre drones and the like. In my 15 min drive to the warehouse, I drive past umpteen industrial estates - I walk the dog past one and could walk to a couple of others (a mute point when I've a ton of equipment to shift but its not always the case) but the price difference in rent is HUGE. How many locals in drive past say, Holbrook industrial estate, to do a similar job in Rotherham or chesterfield, when 70 years ago they'd have walked to work. We're lining up different ways to get people to a job 40 miles away, 20 years down the line when maybe we should be incentavising business to hire local? It always strikes me as odd when I come back to England. The ferry lands in Portsmouth and on a weekday at 7am the M27 is chokka - it seems like half the population of Southampton is going the 20 miles to Portsmouth and half the population of Portsmouth is going 20 miles to Southampton - once you turn N on the M3 the traffic thins out considerably. It can take an hour on a weekday to get to the M3 from the ferry - on a weekend less than 20 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 The Chinese state owned railway builder have said they can knock up the entire HS2 in 5 years. The UK government has held preliminary talks about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melthebell Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 5 minutes ago, taxman said: The Chinese state owned railway builder have said they can knock up the entire HS2 in 5 years. The UK government has held preliminary talks about it. And safety will be at the bottom of the list sigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron99 Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 (edited) 27 minutes ago, taxman said: The Chinese state owned railway builder have said they can knock up the entire HS2 in 5 years. The UK government has held preliminary talks about it. I've no doubt the Chinese company could get the project done in 5 years & at less cost - if they were doing in China with a Chinese workforce & the backing of the Chinese Govt. You only have to look at the 3 Dams Project. Millions lost their homes when villages were simply wiped out. We do things a little bit differently here. Safety, as Melthebell points out. We have H&S regulations first & foremost. Then we'd be looking to employ a substantial UK workforce, with union representation for a start. I could just imagine future talks between the UK Govt & the Chinese: UK Govt: "So you're guaranteeing a direct line from London to Birmingham then up to Sheffield & on to Leeds & you only forsee one problem? What is it? Chinese company: "Chesterfield! It's in the way. It'll all have to go but we can get rid of it in a fortnight!" Edited February 15, 2020 by Baron99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the Cat Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 (edited) 33 minutes ago, melthebell said: And safety will be at the bottom of the list sigh If you think HSE legislation will not apply in our own country then you're being pretty naive. They can build it in 5 years because they are simply better at it and they have the materials to hand. If the Chinese build it, they will use their steel in order to meet the timescales. It will far cheaper as well. Bring it on, let the Chinese build it so we don't have £100bn+ around our necks. 11 minutes ago, Baron99 said: I've no doubt the Chinese company could get the project done in 5 years & at less cost - if they were doing in China with a Chinese workforce & the backing of the Chinese Govt. You only have to look at the 3 Dams Project. Millions lost their homes when villages were simply wiped out. We do things a little bit differently here. Safety, as Melthebell points out. We have H&S regulations first & foremost. Then we'd be looking to employ a substantial UK workforce, with union representation for a start. I could just imagine future talks between the UK Govt & the Chinese: UK Govt: "So you're guaranteeing a direct line from London to Birmingham then up to Sheffield & on to Leeds & you only forsee one problem? What is it? Chinese company: "Chesterfield! It's in the way. It'll all have to go but we can get rid of it in a fortnight!" We have no recent experience at building high speed rail. The Chinese do, they are simply better engineers than us in this regard. Hard to imagine is it? We are not as good as you think. Edited February 15, 2020 by Albert the Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron99 Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 2 minutes ago, Albert the Cat said: If you think HSE legislation will not apply in our own country then you're being pretty naive. They can build it in 5 years because they are simply better at it and they have the materials to hand. If the Chinese build it, they will use their steel in order to meet the timescales. It will far cheaper as well. Bring it on, let the Chinese build it so we don't have £100bn+ around our necks. If the H&S & everything else can be guaranteed from what we'd expect of a major UK tax payer funded project on UK soil, then fine? Mine & many others' objections to HS2, HS2a & HS2b have been on the grounds of cost against the perceived reduction in travel times, so I've no objection to such a project coming in 15 years ahead of schedule & well below current estimated costs, thereby making the project more cost effective & improving the lives of travellers. While they're at it, set the Chinese to work improving the daily commute in a tandem project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Get 'em to knock up those 50 extra hospitals Boris promised while they are at it. 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Bynnol Posted April 15, 2020 Share Posted April 15, 2020 (edited) On April 14th the Government and HS2 Limited have announced that full scale construction of HS2 will start as soon as Public Health England rules restrictions allow. This is the route to Birmingham. This is regarded as a 'tipping point' as the hundreds of small and medium sized businesses can now plan to set up their workforce, business and financial plans with certainty. Edited April 15, 2020 by Annie Bynnol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest busdriver1 Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 The latest proposal for HS2 is to scrap the Eastern leg from the midlands to Leeds and instead Extend the Western leg over the pennines to Leeds and on to Newcastle. Link Looks like common sense has come to the fore although i reckon Sheffield Council will now want a tunnel through the pennines so they will still be "connected" 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchresearch Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 More details and map here. That first link is behind a paywall. https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/alternative-hs2-piccadilly-hub-could-save-billions/#article-images-2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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