General News Thread

(18-06-2025 21:06 )dundeered Wrote:  The thing is compared to countries like China we are really pathetic when it comes to constructing big infrastructure.

Indeed. We have inconveniences like decent working conditions, Health & Safety and an aversion to slave labour.

(18-06-2025 19:02 )skully Wrote:  It's a money pit of a project, all involved should be ashamed of the giant failure this thing is, ''beyond 2033'' they say, at a cost possibly somewhere around £100 Billion they say, what the actual fuck I say. Think of all of the good that money could be used for, how many smaller, cheaper projects that could be done, or could have already been done.

I said when it was announced (possibly in a post here?) that it would cost 2 to 3 times the initial estimate, just like most major Government Projects do. Anyone who has ever dealt with a Government Dept on a project will know the kind of bullshit that goes on. Interference, changes for the sake of changes, wanting gold plated bolts when galvanised are perfectly adequate (I jest...maybe)

(18-06-2025 21:10 )Tumble_Drier Wrote:  

(18-06-2025 21:06 )dundeered Wrote:  The thing is compared to countries like China we are really pathetic when it comes to constructing big infrastructure.

Indeed. We have inconveniences like decent working conditions, Health & Safety and an aversion to slave labour.

Yes, that is disadvantage of China, they can’t even form trade unions. However, they have managed to lift 800 million of their own people out of poverty.

^ I've been on Chinese high Speed trains. Very impressive. Stations are impressive too and ticketing for foreigners is all linked to your passport which you scan like at airports. If they deem it national infrastructure they move everything out if its way - and rehouse people usually in better homes than they had. I know people who remember the days of famine - they fully understand how far China has modernised and how much better off they are.

I bet the Japanese bullet trains are just as impressive and there are way better stations there than here too. Would a bullet train beat a HS2 train in a race?

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(18-06-2025 21:14 )Tumble_Drier Wrote:  I said when it was announced (possibly in a post here?) that it would cost 2 to 3 times the initial estimate, just like most major Government Projects do. Anyone who has ever dealt with a Government Dept on a project will know the kind of bullshit that goes on. Interference, changes for the sake of changes, wanting gold plated bolts when galvanised are perfectly adequate (I jest...maybe)

I just wonder how much bloody red tape is in involved in all of it right now - just add in the odd railway strike into the mix and you have the perfect recipe for financial disaster, bet even if they scaled things down again now, it'd still never be delivered on time and on budget, not to mention all the houses they bulldozed in the first place, trust me it'll never acheive the 2hr travel they promise from London to the North - be more like 2.5 hours. Successive Tory Governments faffed about on it way too much and it looks like Starmer's lot will do the same. I remember it was just over 2 hrs on the I C 125 from Stevenage to Doncaster for then another 45 mins or so from Doncaster to Sheffield to visit a friend for me. Whether this HS2 service will ever be VFM when finally up and running will be the bigger question. And at this stage all I can say is : - the country is not getting the VFM in bloody building it.

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(18-06-2025 19:02 )skully Wrote:  It's a money pit of a project, all involved should be ashamed of the giant failure this thing is, ''beyond 2033'' they say, at a cost possibly somewhere around £100 Billion they say, what the actual fuck I say. Think of all of the good that money could be used for, how many smaller, cheaper projects that could be done, or could have already been done.

A lot of that money could gone into improving the health service, etc - and some could have gone into improving as much of the existing railway infrastructure especially some stations to bring it up to 21st century standard.