Tag Archives: HS2

Dwindling justification for HS2

Posted on 9th March 2021 by Martin Cassini

An internal survey found that 12,000 of 18,000 Nationwide employees prefer working from home, and home-working is at least as efficient as office working. It also improves quality of life. The main justification for HS2’s scorched earth policy was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

H not HS2

Posted on 17th May 2020 by Martin Cassini

With social distancing, public transport is an increasingly less viable option. Let’s pull the plug on HS2, and spend the money on eliminating bottlenecks, creating a hydrogen fuel infrastucture, redesigning streets to integrate road-users on a level playing-field, and turning … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Sorry – the easiest word?

Posted on 17th May 2020 by Martin Cassini

The Public Accounts Committee has criticised senior DfT officials for failing to come clean about the spiralling cost of HS2. Apparently they have said sorry and will do better in the future. Well that’s that then.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

HS2 v H20

Posted on 3rd May 2020 by Martin Cassini

The car is a self-isolating transportation device par excellence. Instead of pouring billions into 19C technology – trains – shouldn’t the state be investing in 21C tech, redesigning the public realm to express equality, eliminating bottlenecks, and creating infrastructure for … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Corona bullet points

Posted on 25th March 2020 by Martin Cassini

We’re safer in our cars than on public transport – another reason for scrapping HS2 and using the money to transform our road infrastructure along the lines advocated here. Corona also shows, as if we didn’t already know, that a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Blithering Boris

Posted on 11th February 2020 by Martin Cassini

When you know about a subject, you are usually dismayed by the media’s portrayal or politicians’ grasp of it. Boris’s self-satisfied vauntings about his transport infrastructure plans are no exception. “Tree-dappled” my foot! What a disappointing bunch they are, Johnson, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

HSPoo

Posted on 11th February 2020 by Martin Cassini

So the HS2 juggernaut set in motion by Adonis is going ahead. Johnson lacked the balls to pull the plug. Over £100 billion, which could be invested so much more constructively elsewhere, will be sunk into ripping up pristine countryside … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Calling Grant Shapps!

Posted on 20th January 2020 by Martin Cassini

When I first blogged about HS2, in 2012, the estimated cost was £32bn. Today a leaked report put the figure at £106bn. Grant Shapps, show your mettle and stamp it out now, and talk to me about how to spend … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Unbearable Smugness of HS2

Posted on 8th August 2018 by Martin Cassini

While the last ten years has seen the loss of 135 million miles of rural bus routes, a quarter of the staff at HS2 – that high-cost vanity project which does nothing to improve rural connectivity – are on six-figure … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Buffoons in charge of transport

Posted on 17th July 2014 by Martin Cassini

It’s a mark of the low esteem in which transport is held that Patrick McLoughlin, transport secretary, retained his role in the recent reshuffle. He thinks most if not all accidents are caused by mobile phone use. I heard him … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment