subject: High Speed Rail: Indefinitely Delayed? British Rail And The Changing Times [print this page] Back in August 2009 when Lord Adonis, the Transport secretary, unveiled plans for HS2, Britain's answer to high speed rail already implemented and functional in Asia and Europe (most notably, in Japan and France). Although undergoing revision under new government, the white papers on this project can be found at www.dft.gov.uk. In the summary published earlier in March we find a projected 25 billion to be spent in the overhaul of rail transport over the next seven years, with in situ development of existing lines being undertaken parallel to the proposed integration of high speed rail.
In understanding all this, what we have to get clear is that this last clause shows that there are in fact two main projects going on; renovation and upgrading, simultaneously. Though optimistic and general assertions that the success of other countries' HSR solutions shows that results are possible, the challenge of introducing a high speed rail capability into an outdated infrastructure is rather like conducting spot repairs on an outmoded piece of equipment.
One of the main justifications for the integration of high speed rail is that of the sustaining of economic growth; high speed trains to Manchester, Birmingham and London, trains running between Edinburgh and the Pennines will shoulder the growing commuting traffic that is a result of scarcity of jobs and the financial climate's effects on the shuffling of personnel around the country. On the comment boards of many national news websites, the reality of this is understood by more people than detractors would wish for.
The challenge for providers is not an easy one; wean a large group of customers "" generally well-informed about competition and price "" from the stopgap solution of internal flights. The small average of the public debating online is generally behind the push, if only they not find themselves having hauled high speed rail up the hill from whence it will run on inflated fares that exclude its supporters.
One valid point that has been offered during this debate is whether we're perhaps applying a fantastic tool to the repair of a system that could do without it. Though it may sound pessimistic, it makes sense to postulate that a move to high speed rail, despite being ideal, would be extremely difficult without the groundwork of radical change to the existing rail system; bottlenecks attended to, pricing brought to undercut air fares, efficient and swift development of passport authorities in transcontinental journeys.
The way things will go with HS2 integration remains to be seen, but perhaps those at the helm should take courage from the fact that, above all, its would-be passengers are hanging on in the hope that the reality of high speed rail doesn't dissolve into thin air.
