Waiting for the Eurostar outside St Pancras.During October 2011, along with my wife, brother and sister in law, we did a train journey from our part of Walsall in the Midlands to Strasbourg, which is close to the French border with Germany.
We were picked up in the morning by a family member who kindly gave us a lift to the station where we caught our Virgin train to London. As the weather was good we decided to walk from Euston station where the Virgin trains terminate to Paddington, where the Eurostar trains operate from.
From there we caught the train to Paris and again, as the weather was good, we decided to find our way on foot from the Gare du Nord railway station to Gare du L’est, with a bit of intricate map reading in between, where we were due to catch the French TGV to Strasbourg.
So what, by now you may be asking, has this tedious tale of a family trip across the Continent got to do with anything? There is a point, so please bear with me. The reason for this tedious tale of travel is to highlight what it will be like for those using the new HS2 rail line as the EU intends.
That is correct, as the unelected EU, not our elected Government intends. When the announcment came that HS2 has the go-ahead there was no mention this project has the sticky little fingers of the EU all over it despite the BBC and our Government not passing the dreaded words EU across their lips. Like so much of what is inflicted upon us these days this project to build the high speed rail line from London to Birmingham, then at a later date on to Manchester and Leeds, is an EU project as it is part of the EU’s TEN T plans but made to look as if it is a British Government initiative. This is the deceit of EU membership we live under these days.
Our Transport Minister, Justine Greening referred to the line as "the most significant transport infrastructure project since the building of the motorways". She also said, believe it or not: "By following in the footsteps of the 19th Century railway pioneers, the government is signalling its commitment to providing 21st Century infrastructure and connections - laying the groundwork for long-term, sustainable economic growth,"
Let’s have a look at those statements. The building of the motorway system was a major step forward which this country needed. Before the motorways journeys of long distances we now do in a relatively short time-span were epic trips, those of us of a certain age can remember journeys of thirteen plus hours from the Midlands to Cornwall for our holidays. A similar journey I recently undertook from my home in Walsall to St Austell took around four hours without all the old problems of bottlenecks in Oakhampton and being stuck for miles on end in a long line of traffic all stuck behind a dawdling tripper. So the motorway system was a major transport improvement.
So too, as our Transport Minister says, were the building of the railways. When the first rail lines were laid it was a massive step forward as the only other transport options at the time were horse drawn carts and coaches over some pretty rough tracks. Being able to shift a relatively large number of people and goods in one go at speeds of up to 20 MPH was something completely revolutionary at the time.
Now let’s compare HS2 with those two major transport leaps and my family outing to Strasbourg. As stated the original train services and motorways have noticeably speeded up travel over the years, as too has air travel. Without doubt flying over long journeys is the fastest way to travel of all – but strangely no one is mentioning flying which was probably the most significant global transport improvement of the last century and all time so far.
So how much time will the spending of £32billionto construct the HS2 track, the building of new stations and other infrastructure and new trains and carriages save? According to HS2 supporters about twenty minutes – which is not quite the revolution in speeding up travel the original trains and motorways gave us, which brings us to the point – is it really worth spending £32billion (that is if the project comes in on budget as adventures like this seldom do) to save twenty minutes between London and Birmingham? The answer has to be no.
There is of course the fact the proposed time savings are negated by the fact most people will spend longer than the twenty minutes saved to actually connect to the HS2 train services. For a start the major train route in to Birmingham is to New Street station, the other stations are Snow Hill and Moor Street. The new HS2 train will not connect to them as a brand new station will be constructed on the site of Birmingham’s original station, in Curzon Street which was opened in 1838, but surpassed by New Street a few years later in 1854, ironically, in a much better located site in the city centre. Using Curzon Street as the main HS2 terminal is like taking step back in time as its location is out of the way and inconvenient. Those travelling to Birmingham to connect with HS2, who do not know the city, are going to have a confusing time trying to find their way from one station to the other, which is about a twenty minute walk if you know your way. Other than that the potential high speed commuters will have to add to their journey costs using taxis.
HS2 will not link to Coventry leaving regular London travellers from that city in the lurch as their current fast links to London, it is predicted, will be reduced. By the time they have used a shuttle service to the nearest HS2 link any time saving will be long gone.
Then of course there is the cost, not just of building the track and all the rest, which is bound to go way over budget as all these projects do, and ignoring the cost to the damaging of our countryside, the wrecking of homes and villages, there is going to be the cost of the tickets. Even at today’s prices long distance train travel is not cheap, in some cases flying is cheaper as well as faster – so what will be the cost of using these trains? This could be a train line for the wealthy and privileged, not for the ordinary working man.
Birmingham airport will cease to be a local airport for the benefit of the people of the Midlands, it will be classed as a London Hub to relieve the pressure on Heathrow and Gatwick. Investment will not flow out of London to the Midlands and the North in the years to come when HS2 is finally completed in full, it will draw investment the other way as the line becomes a commuter route and turns the Midlands into a London suburb.
The EU wants this as it sees Europe as one nation with links to all its outlying parts, it visualises people getting a train in a city in one part of Europe and travelling far and wide over what the EU wants as the United States of Europe – but flying will still be the best option. How do I know? Let’s go back to where we started with that family outing to Strasbourg and the need for speed.
When we travelled time was a consideration, but not essential. Although we used high speed trains for most of the journeys, the week points to the plans for fast train travel across Europe are the links which slow things down considerably. When HS2 is completed there will be no option of getting on a train in the Curzon Street backwater in Birmingham and some hours later stepping off the same train in Strasbourg, travellers will still have to repeat our route, even less so.
We caught our Virgin train from Sandwell and Dudley straight to London which took around ninety minutes. When HS2 is open there will have to be a change in Birmingham and around a one hour time span between trains to allow the commute from one station to the other. The time span for the changeover in London has to be longer as this is an international station, around ninety minutes needed. There are the options of changing to the Strasbourg TGV either in Paris or Lille, but it all depends on the time of travel. Lille is better as people can connect using the same station but the times, as in our case, were not convenient. Connecting at Lille needs an hour time span while connecting at Paris, where you have to go from one station to the other, needs over an hour connecting time span to be on the safe side. This means to do the journey between three and a half to four hours are spent connecting from one train to another and messing about getting from one station to another – not so high speed after all.
This is yet another example of an EU dream that is in reality an EU nightmare, as most of the EU’s plans turn out to be. It is also yet another example of the disgrace of how subservient to the EU our Government is by committing the British taxpayers to this high speed white elephant, which in realty shows it is a fast track to EU domination.
We were picked up in the morning by a family member who kindly gave us a lift to the station where we caught our Virgin train to London. As the weather was good we decided to walk from Euston station where the Virgin trains terminate to Paddington, where the Eurostar trains operate from.
From there we caught the train to Paris and again, as the weather was good, we decided to find our way on foot from the Gare du Nord railway station to Gare du L’est, with a bit of intricate map reading in between, where we were due to catch the French TGV to Strasbourg.
So what, by now you may be asking, has this tedious tale of a family trip across the Continent got to do with anything? There is a point, so please bear with me. The reason for this tedious tale of travel is to highlight what it will be like for those using the new HS2 rail line as the EU intends.
That is correct, as the unelected EU, not our elected Government intends. When the announcment came that HS2 has the go-ahead there was no mention this project has the sticky little fingers of the EU all over it despite the BBC and our Government not passing the dreaded words EU across their lips. Like so much of what is inflicted upon us these days this project to build the high speed rail line from London to Birmingham, then at a later date on to Manchester and Leeds, is an EU project as it is part of the EU’s TEN T plans but made to look as if it is a British Government initiative. This is the deceit of EU membership we live under these days.
Our Transport Minister, Justine Greening referred to the line as "the most significant transport infrastructure project since the building of the motorways". She also said, believe it or not: "By following in the footsteps of the 19th Century railway pioneers, the government is signalling its commitment to providing 21st Century infrastructure and connections - laying the groundwork for long-term, sustainable economic growth,"
Let’s have a look at those statements. The building of the motorway system was a major step forward which this country needed. Before the motorways journeys of long distances we now do in a relatively short time-span were epic trips, those of us of a certain age can remember journeys of thirteen plus hours from the Midlands to Cornwall for our holidays. A similar journey I recently undertook from my home in Walsall to St Austell took around four hours without all the old problems of bottlenecks in Oakhampton and being stuck for miles on end in a long line of traffic all stuck behind a dawdling tripper. So the motorway system was a major transport improvement.
So too, as our Transport Minister says, were the building of the railways. When the first rail lines were laid it was a massive step forward as the only other transport options at the time were horse drawn carts and coaches over some pretty rough tracks. Being able to shift a relatively large number of people and goods in one go at speeds of up to 20 MPH was something completely revolutionary at the time.
Now let’s compare HS2 with those two major transport leaps and my family outing to Strasbourg. As stated the original train services and motorways have noticeably speeded up travel over the years, as too has air travel. Without doubt flying over long journeys is the fastest way to travel of all – but strangely no one is mentioning flying which was probably the most significant global transport improvement of the last century and all time so far.
So how much time will the spending of £32billionto construct the HS2 track, the building of new stations and other infrastructure and new trains and carriages save? According to HS2 supporters about twenty minutes – which is not quite the revolution in speeding up travel the original trains and motorways gave us, which brings us to the point – is it really worth spending £32billion (that is if the project comes in on budget as adventures like this seldom do) to save twenty minutes between London and Birmingham? The answer has to be no.
There is of course the fact the proposed time savings are negated by the fact most people will spend longer than the twenty minutes saved to actually connect to the HS2 train services. For a start the major train route in to Birmingham is to New Street station, the other stations are Snow Hill and Moor Street. The new HS2 train will not connect to them as a brand new station will be constructed on the site of Birmingham’s original station, in Curzon Street which was opened in 1838, but surpassed by New Street a few years later in 1854, ironically, in a much better located site in the city centre. Using Curzon Street as the main HS2 terminal is like taking step back in time as its location is out of the way and inconvenient. Those travelling to Birmingham to connect with HS2, who do not know the city, are going to have a confusing time trying to find their way from one station to the other, which is about a twenty minute walk if you know your way. Other than that the potential high speed commuters will have to add to their journey costs using taxis.
HS2 will not link to Coventry leaving regular London travellers from that city in the lurch as their current fast links to London, it is predicted, will be reduced. By the time they have used a shuttle service to the nearest HS2 link any time saving will be long gone.
Then of course there is the cost, not just of building the track and all the rest, which is bound to go way over budget as all these projects do, and ignoring the cost to the damaging of our countryside, the wrecking of homes and villages, there is going to be the cost of the tickets. Even at today’s prices long distance train travel is not cheap, in some cases flying is cheaper as well as faster – so what will be the cost of using these trains? This could be a train line for the wealthy and privileged, not for the ordinary working man.
Birmingham airport will cease to be a local airport for the benefit of the people of the Midlands, it will be classed as a London Hub to relieve the pressure on Heathrow and Gatwick. Investment will not flow out of London to the Midlands and the North in the years to come when HS2 is finally completed in full, it will draw investment the other way as the line becomes a commuter route and turns the Midlands into a London suburb.
The EU wants this as it sees Europe as one nation with links to all its outlying parts, it visualises people getting a train in a city in one part of Europe and travelling far and wide over what the EU wants as the United States of Europe – but flying will still be the best option. How do I know? Let’s go back to where we started with that family outing to Strasbourg and the need for speed.
When we travelled time was a consideration, but not essential. Although we used high speed trains for most of the journeys, the week points to the plans for fast train travel across Europe are the links which slow things down considerably. When HS2 is completed there will be no option of getting on a train in the Curzon Street backwater in Birmingham and some hours later stepping off the same train in Strasbourg, travellers will still have to repeat our route, even less so.
We caught our Virgin train from Sandwell and Dudley straight to London which took around ninety minutes. When HS2 is open there will have to be a change in Birmingham and around a one hour time span between trains to allow the commute from one station to the other. The time span for the changeover in London has to be longer as this is an international station, around ninety minutes needed. There are the options of changing to the Strasbourg TGV either in Paris or Lille, but it all depends on the time of travel. Lille is better as people can connect using the same station but the times, as in our case, were not convenient. Connecting at Lille needs an hour time span while connecting at Paris, where you have to go from one station to the other, needs over an hour connecting time span to be on the safe side. This means to do the journey between three and a half to four hours are spent connecting from one train to another and messing about getting from one station to another – not so high speed after all.
This is yet another example of an EU dream that is in reality an EU nightmare, as most of the EU’s plans turn out to be. It is also yet another example of the disgrace of how subservient to the EU our Government is by committing the British taxpayers to this high speed white elephant, which in realty shows it is a fast track to EU domination.
4 comments:
It's funny how you state (yet again) that the EU is unelected, but as you know full well, we get to vote for our representative in the EU every five years. You also state that our Government was elected, but as we all know, nobody voted the Coalition in as an entity because they had to join forces in order to take power. How do you explain this paradox?
HL
The High Speed Train. 10.1 2012.
Today we were told of things that are new
We are at last to have the H.S 2,
No matter the cost of this new Train,
Money for this will be found once again.
Bridges are crumbling, they are so old,
Disasters waiting as my tale unfolds,
Motorways closed as repairs are done,
‘Tis the HS2 where the money has gone.
Our roads are neglected and have been for years,
Many are the ‘pot-holes’ that cause many tears,
For money is needed for the High Speed Train,
Never for Roads to have money again.
People’s homes that stand in the way,
Will be demolished, for those folks have no say.
All to save those thirty minutes of travel,
But there is more as my tales unravel.
Lights not lit in the dark of night,
To save more money, yet it isn’t right
For in the dimness it is hard to see,
The hazards that are waiting for you and me.
Hard shoulders on Motorways into use have come,
No widening of motorways will now ever be done,
Maybe nothing on our roads will e’re be the same
But Hey! We are to have the High Speed Train.
The cost from each house-hold, so we are told
Will be a thousand pounds whether young or old,
Yet perhaps none of us can afford to pay,
But we have never yet been allowed a say.
Not one High Speed train into Birmingham City,
Time saved on the Journey, will be lost, ‘tis a pity
The half-hour saved will be needed however,
Through another mode of travel, not so clever.
Whose great idea was this big spend on Trains?
That many people travel on just now and again?
Our Politicians never said the words to me or you,
That our sovereign Government have to obey the EU?
Don't you,'The Euro Sceptic', see the comic irony of blogging about catching a train from Walsall to Starsbourg?
(I'm not anonymous, I'm Martin)
Martin, Irony yes as it is the home of one of the EU's two Parliaments, but it still doesn't Strasbourg being a beautiful city. I love Europe and have no problem with the other nations on that land mass, it is the European Union which I have a problem with.
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