High speed 2 - East & West Coast route being examined

[Pesmo]

Something of a surprise, as I thought we were only going to have a west coast route but now they are looking at splitting it North of Birmingham. It seems a decision will be made after Xmas

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...ow/8361131.stm

[John H-T]

If we ever do get HS2 I think it will have a lot to do with Lord Adonis's bravery!

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[klordger1900]

There is absolutely no point trying to push a high speed line direct from Manchester to Glasgow that is so old hat! Now the Government are running the ECML it is only a matter of time before they start planning where the new HS2 will dovetail with the existing route since it is so much more practical to run up the east coast than the west coast. They obviously cant do much south of Huntingdon where the central route is a must but after that a split west can serve Birmingham and Manchester whilst the eastern route would easily cover places like East Midlands Sheffield/Leeds and beyond.
This country needs to encourage direct rail services between mainland Europe where German ICE can run from Berlin to Manchester and Spanish/French services Madrid to London via Paris.