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America, as it turns out, was Made for HSR | 95 comments (95 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Was Europe built for High-Speed Rail? (4.00 / 2)
The EU has defined strategic corridors, and earmarked fixed percent support for projects in those corridors, but indeed it doesn't seem enough.

It's taken nearly 25 years to get CTRL I+II built.

After Maggie Thatcher's insistence on a private-financed project (wqhich the Major government at least turned into a PPP scheme). I submit that if a new high-speed line would be built in the West Coast corridor, there would be a lot of protests, but I would bet it would cause delays of significantly less than 25 years. (Also, with the use of some tunnels, maybe the bulk of potential protests could be avoided.)

The Tories are raring to go, and even talking about Maglev.

Heh, I missed that :-) My personal opinion is that when non-German politicians talk about Maglev, they aren't really serious (and the German ones only want it as prestige).

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Sat Mar 24th, 2007 at 06:35:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Was Europe built for High-Speed Rail? (none / 1)
The point about High Speed in the UK is that you wouldn't get significant time savings by upgrading either the East Coast or West Coast lines, because they're not nearly direct enough.

So to make it worthwhile, you'd have to go cross country. Which is where it gets very complicated.

The Tory Shadow Transport Minister went to see the German maglev system and is apparently quite serious. But considering the state of the technology and the distances, the idea is a little - shall we say...? - ambitious.

As for Crossrail - even though it's a relatively minor London commuter upgrade, the endless revisions and political reworkings it has been through are typical of UK rail projects that aren't controlled by a single authority.

Transport for London seems good at getting things done. And CTRL I+II have been managed successfully. But everything else is a mess, and there's really no strategic planning lead from the Dept of Transport at all - because cars are better, and air is better still, apparently.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sat Mar 24th, 2007 at 07:32:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Was Europe built for High-Speed Rail? (none / 1)
Put at very big bulldozer at Charing cross and point it at Edinburgh, or whatever. Drive forward until you reach you target. Build rails in the wake of destruction.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid on Sat Mar 24th, 2007 at 07:38:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

America, as it turns out, was Made for HSR | 95 comments (95 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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