HS2 - Government proposals, alternative routes and general discussion

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Euston HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) demolition in pictures - https://www.building.co.uk/news/in-pictures-hs2-makes-progress-on-euston-demolition/5098915.article

http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/10/hs2-euston-demolition-milestone-as-workforce-tops-1000/

[Lee]

Mum and son team to walk HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) route in bid to derail line - https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/news/mum-and-son-team-to-walk-hs2-route-in-bid-to-derail-line-12423/

EDIT to fix link.

[Lee]

Notice to Proceed this year on HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) Phase 1 work - https://www.railmagazine.com/news/network/notice-to-proceed-this-year-on-hs2-phase-1-work

Guardian opinion piece - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/16/scrap-hs2-north-hs3-rail-commuter-journeys

[Red Squirrel]

Simon Jenkins has been a consistent critic of this project, as I recall. However one of his points does rather resonate:

It is commuter railways, especially in the provinces, that are screaming for investment. The government’s obsession with another London-oriented mega-project is baffling.

[Lee]

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) spends £600m on route properties - http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/2036961-hs2-spends-600m-on-route-properties

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-south-yorkshire-47965920/what-s-it-like-to-be-in-the-way-of-the-hs2-route

Workers on HS2 are threatening to escalate a pay row which has broken-out on the Costain/Skanska joint venture (CSJV) enabling works site at Euston - http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/18/pay-row-set-to-escalate-on-hs2-enabling-works-site/

[Celestial]

Many of these properties will be those close to the line, but won't actually need to be demolished. But they are hard to sell because people don't want to live so close to a construction site, and they fear the noise once trains are running will be unbearable. So I suspect they will be rented out and once the line is up and running sold at a reasonable price.  Once trains are passing I expect the actual disturbance will be much less than feared and that will be reflected in the sale price.

So whilst it may be true to say that £600m has been spent buying properties, I expect the eventual cost of those properties will be mainly limited to those that need to be demolished. 

[Lee]

An irreverent look at one of HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s))'s first planned buildings - a vent shaft - https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2019/01/hs2s-first-london-building-is-a-mystery-cube/

[Lee]

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) Ltd accused of accepting ‘abnormally low’ bid for station contract - https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/hs2-ltd-accused-of-accepting-abnormally-low-bid-for-station-contract/10042151.article

[Lee]

https://www.building.co.uk/news/hs2-procurement-blunders-have-cost-us-100m-bechtel-says/5099129.article

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) procurement blunders have cost us £100m, Bechtel says

US giant goes to court after £1.1bn Old Oak station job awarded to Balfour Beatty team

Bechtel has said that its chance of winning the £1bn contract to build HS2’s Old Oak Common station was scuppered because of blunders the client made in its procurement process.

It has now gone to court to get the decision reversed and wants HS2 to award it the job instead – or stump up damages as an alternative.

[SandTEngineer]

....and now more.  Looks like its going to cost us a lot....
https://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/french-rail-giant-sncf-threatens-to-sue-after-being-kicked-off-hs2-trains-bid/

[Robin Summerhill]

....and now more.  Looks like its going to cost us a lot....
https://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/french-rail-giant-sncf-threatens-to-sue-after-being-kicked-off-hs2-trains-bid/

So it revolves around the issue of pensions again.

Being unwilling to take newspaper reports (or government statements for that matter...) at face value, have we any "insiders" around here who can explain/ amplify what the issue with pensions actually is, and how it has change since previous franchise awards?

[stuving]

....and now more.  Looks like its going to cost us a lot....
https://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/french-rail-giant-sncf-threatens-to-sue-after-being-kicked-off-hs2-trains-bid/

I can't see that getting anywhere. If you don't like the terms of an ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender), don't bid - that's how it works. Making a bid that doesn't comply with the ITT is no way to get it changed; that would have to be done by a public argument beforehand. If DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) have done something that could be proved (e.g. by judicial review) not in the public interest, or not allowed by some obscure bit of legislation, it's us the public that need compensating (with our own money, of course), not any of the bidders.

And if their bid had been left in the competition, and the award had gone to them - or, even worse, to a compliant bid - the compliant bidders would have a very strong legal case against DfT.

[Lee]

....and now more.  Looks like its going to cost us a lot....
https://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/french-rail-giant-sncf-threatens-to-sue-after-being-kicked-off-hs2-trains-bid/

So it revolves around the issue of pensions again.

Being unwilling to take newspaper reports (or government statements for that matter...) at face value, have we any "insiders" around here who can explain/ amplify what the issue with pensions actually is, and how it has change since previous franchise awards?

Lots of discussion including some explanation from long-time rail industry workers in this seperate topic.

[TaplowGreen]

....and now more.  Looks like its going to cost us a lot....
https://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/french-rail-giant-sncf-threatens-to-sue-after-being-kicked-off-hs2-trains-bid/

So it revolves around the issue of pensions again.

Being unwilling to take newspaper reports (or government statements for that matter...) at face value, have we any "insiders" around here who can explain/ amplify what the issue with pensions actually is, and how it has change since previous franchise awards?

It'll most likely be a (completely understandable) reluctance to take on very expensive final salary pension commitments. These pretty much only now exist in the public sector and for those with preserved rights in privatised industries (thank you Gordon Brown), and in many cases are massively underfunded with huge deficits. Taking them on involves similarly huge risk.

My Business has declined to bid for contracts in the past due to this being part of the deal as it's potentially financially crippling.

Most of these schemes are now closed to new entrants so it's not a problem that will last forever.

[Chris125]

Simon Jenkins has been a consistent critic of this project, as I recall. However one of his points does rather resonate:

It is commuter railways, especially in the provinces, that are screaming for investment. The government’s obsession with another London-oriented mega-project is baffling.

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) *is* an investment in commuter lines - by putting long distance passengers on new, separate tracks there is significantly more capacity and timetabling possibilities for commuter and regional services that previously had to share. The potential is huge.