EWR Meets HS2 May 2024

[@davidwatson8292]

Brilliant film showing us from all angles.

[@theboy-uk]

Thanks, I'd be meaning to get back to the area for ages, as noticed my last video of this intersection was exactly a year ago, where did that time go!

[@robodrone5662]

I always admire such constructions. Great flight.

[@theboy-uk]

I love "big engineering", and EWR is progressing well. HS2 remains stubbornly slow though.

[@CRIMSONANT1]

​@@theboy-uk.. fingers tightly crossed that HS2 grinds to a complete halt in the very near future 🤞

[@CRIMSONANT1]

​@@martinsloman6905.. given HS2's incompetence when it comes to the environment, I'm afraid I don't share your confidence. HS2 Ltd have already incurred multiple fines for numerous breaches of environmental issues.. thousands of trees planted along the route in Warwickshire where the vast majority perished due to lack of aftercare. The pollution of streams, rivers & other waterways with toxic chemicals. The bulldozing of mile upon mile of hedgerows containing nesting birds when they specifically promised to wait until the nesting season was over .. the list goes on. This monstrous vanity project is an environmental disaster of epic proportions & Britain's biggest infrastructure mistake in half a century.

[@theboy-uk]

@@CRIMSONANT1 We can only hope. Not that HS2 construction has actually progressed at all in the areas I'm covering!

[@theboy-uk]

@@martinsloman6905 HS2's biggest problem from the outset - and what changed my mind on the entire project when I went to the roadshows - was how unneeded it was, and how catastrophically expensive it was going to be, not only to build, but also to run. Quite simply, the wrong project completely, but was a must because the UK rail industry wanted a high speed line at any cost, and were having issues getting people to believe that HS1 was either successful or essentially down to the UK rail industry. Having watched the viaduct "progress" every time I pick Chiltern to take me to London, it seems they are dragging it out as much as possible, as if they think it's a job for life. I'd say the same of the rest of the route TBH as well. Even HS2 have said its been utterly mismanaged from the start, and I'd say its because the entire project was just jobs for the boys.

[@VERY_VARIOUS_VIDEOS]

Wonderful flight, places, shots, music soundtrack. Thank you very much for sharing. Video like 👍

[@theboy-uk]

Thanks Very_Various_Videos, glad you liked it.

[@VERY_VARIOUS_VIDEOS]

@@theboy-uk You are welcome new friend 🙂

[@Carlos-im3hn]

The Boy great views and music, added blue text and header markings ! now I know what I'm looking at and picking out landscape features. Once complete these great rail lines will be beautiful, fast, and with filled-in green landscape. Hopefully in the future they can upgrade and electrify the EWR (and TRU) too. In the USA we are much further behind. In the USA I don't know if we have any 225mph train lines ? Also these electrifications will need some new modern baseload power plants as well (controversial but necessary).

[@theboy-uk]

The EWR will soon look the same as the old Varsity line close to passengers in the 1960s, once the initial "new-ness" wears off. HS2 will most likely look like a bramble ridden wasteland if the rest of the UK rail industry's spare land is anything to go by, unless the tax payer picks up the perpetual land management costs...

[@MrRichUK]

Thanks for this. I note you say the Bedford-Cambridge section is in some jeopardy. Have you any information on the proposed EWR connection from Aylesbury? I can see the tree line marking the old GCR route and lament the destruction of so many lines that could have been usefully serving a purpose today. Those that are being restored are costing a fortune.

[@theboy-uk]

The link to Aylesbury has been permanently postponed. HS2 are using the route, and don't want to link with EWR. So Aylesbury to Oxford, Bedford or Cambridge will mean a train into London, and back out. Or use alternative forms of transport.

[@Carlos-im3hn]

@@theboy-uk yes, EWR and TRU are not electrified yet either...but maybe soon !

[@theboy-uk]

@@Carlos-im3hn There are no plans to electrify EWR, so will remain DMUs for the next few decades at least. Mind you, if they never do the bit from Bedford to Cambridge, it might not survive too long, sadly. HS2 in its current planned form has no future either, due to the impossibility of hitting the required passenger numbers to be deemed viable.

[@thomaswykes3647]

Looks like an old disused railway line running alongside. The Great Central?

[@theboy-uk]

Correct. HS2 is demolishing what was left of the GCR in this area from near Aylesbury to near Brackley and rebuilding their own unnecessary and expensive abortion on top of it.

[@theboy-uk]

@@martinsloman6905 But it is the same alignment 😉

[@theboy-uk]

@@martinsloman6905 It doesn't really come out very well from the air, but it is reasonably flat in this area. Flat enough? Who knows, but remember HS2 wanted a totally brand new vanity line ;) As for 400kph, all the HS2 fanatics keep repeatedly saying that HS2 is not about speed, LOL.

[@theboy-uk]

@@martinsloman6905 Vanity in that it is a "must have" unneeded line, just so the UK Rail industry can say it has a proper, purely UK, high speed line ;)

[@ianhart3048]

Great update! Thanks.

[@theboy-uk]

Thanks - been some progress on the crossing since my last video, and all the EWR track is laid in this area. HS2 less impressive, although the new road bridge is progressing.

[@SeanDavies-u5t]

Fantastic video, thanks for sharing 👍

[@theboy-uk]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@transylvanianvistas]

Great drone footage and amazing aerial view. 👍👍👍Thanks for sharing. Subbed and Liked.👍👍👍

[@theboy-uk]

Thanks! I've just had a look at yours, and returned the favour, :)

[@andrewwilliams0619]

Will there be any more chance to the area then before hs2 is ready to use with the road lay out then in this area too then now

[@theboy-uk]

I imagine the next thing to happen is for the road bridge just north of the intersection to be completed and the realigned road to be used.

[@DaveFiggley]

EWR looking neat and tidy amongst the carnage.

[@theboy-uk]

Yup, I think its just waiting on the Milton Keynes section, then the Oxford to Bedford should be ready to go.

[@DaveFiggley]

@@theboy-ukYeah. It will interesting to see how, eventually, they get the line back into Cambridge. Maybe I'm thinking too far ahead.

[@theboy-uk]

@@DaveFiggley I think a route was proposed, but met too much opposition. So I have a concern it will never happen, especially given how the industry have made such a mess of HS2, lots of investment money is going to be hard to find.

[@DaveFiggley]

@@theboy-ukNo surprise there. Maybe EWR will end up with an Old Oak Common-type fudge whereby the railway stops short of Cambridge and passengers transfer to other means of transport to reach their ultimate destination.

[@theboy-uk]

@@DaveFiggley Sadly, I think that will be the case. Which will potentially impact if people use it, which will impact its viability long term.

[@ladyintheskyuk]

Brilliant footage 👍👍

[@theboy-uk]

Thank you Lady Flyer UK 👍

[@cmclewee9518]

Thank heavens at least one set of contractors can actually build a railway and lay some track, a skill that seems to be totally extinct from HS2, they seem very adept at building ponds and bridges and carving up the land scape but the important bit of building the railway seems to have escaped them. I am all in favour of the project to relieve the load on the Victorian infrastructure but they seem incapable of getting it done in any sort of timescale.

[@theboy-uk]

No need to rush when you can milk the magic money tree for as long as the taxpayer will bankroll it ;)

[@TrevorWilliams-fq8mg]

You might think they are incapable of building to any sort of timescale because you don't know what work is involved.

[@theboy-uk]

@@TrevorWilliams-fq8mg Even a layman has a reasonable idea of what is involved here - groundworks, infrastructure installation, and final build. It is no different to any other civil engineering project in how it's constructed, despite its scale.

[@TrevorWilliams-fq8mg]

But we don't know what the programme is or what issues there might be with integrating the work with planning conditions or what issues there might be with diverting any existing services or dealing with unforeseen ground conditions

[@theboy-uk]

@@TrevorWilliams-fq8mg Which is absolutely no different to any other civil engineering project. Some rail fans like to compare HS2 Phase 1 with the M40, the extension from Oxford to Birmingham was completed in 3 years. I speak to enough people working on this project to know its a gravy train.

[@davidharle952]

Another good one, have the EWR lines just been laid down as they look new? Considering the amount of countryside that's been destroyed I'm having trouble getting my head around how it will look when (if) finished. AND who ends up with the land that has been ripped up that will not be part of the railway when the project is finished. I bet a few MP's have their name down for some of that.

[@mikenorman2525]

The track and ballast on EWR is new but the alignment (including embankments and cuttings) was already there, the original line having being built in the 1800s before being closed by Beeching in the 1960s. That would have created a scar across the landscape too when it was being built but it's all nice and tidy now. HS2 will (eventually) look the same once construction is finished and all the re-greening has been done.

[@theboy-uk]

EWR was the old Varsity Line on this section, and although the track had been removed, most of the route still existed. Some work was needed to bring this back to usability, but mostly it was a case of trackbed and track. HS2 follows the old GCR in this area, but hasn't utilised any of the infrastructure, so remove it and build new. EWR needed little extra land, but HS2 needs vast swathes, that will remain the property of HS2 when construction is complete.

[@CRIMSONANT1]

​@@mikenorman2525.. "re-greening"? You really think that HS2 Ltd give a stuff about the environment given their track record over the last few years? Thousands of trees planted along the route in Warwickshire where the vast majority perished due to lack of aftercare. The pollution of streams, rivers & other waterways with toxic chemicals. The bulldozing of mile upon mile of hedgerows containing nesting birds when they specifically said they'd wait until the nesting season was over .. the list goes on. HS2 is an environmental disaster of epic proportions & Britain's biggest infrastructure mistake in half a century.

[@CRIMSONANT1]

​@@martinsloman6905.. HS2 Ltd claims it could transport a person 500 miles on HS2 for the same amount of carbon it would take someone to travel 70 miles by car. However, even according to its own forecasts, HS2 is likely to result in the emission of 1.49 million tonnes of carbon dioxide due to the way in which it is constructed. Worse, the proposal to run trains at 360 km per hour will require 50% more energy than the existing Eurostar trains. Such specifications deliver insignificant economic benefits & also require carbon-intensive ballast. Only recently, HS2 Ltd admitted that in its 120-year lifespan, HS2 will never be carbon neutral. The environmental argument for the project is that it will transfer passengers from more carbon intensive modes of transport. Such presumptions are misguided though because electric vehicles, increasingly powered by low-carbon generation are anticipated to dominate the motor industry by the time HS2 is completed, accounting for 60% of new vehicles by 2030. HS2 Ltd have already incurred numerous fines for multiple breaches of environmental issues. Thousands of trees planted along the route in Warwickshire where the vast majority perished due to lack of aftercare. The pollution of streams, rivers & other waterways with toxic chemicals. The bulldozing of mile upon mile of hedgerows containing nesting birds when they specifically promised to wait until the nesting season was over .. the list goes on. HS2 is an environmental disaster of epic proportions & Britain's biggest infrastructure mistake in half a century.

[@theboy-uk]

@@martinsloman6905 Every intependent report disagrees with your views on how green it is. And the wasteland that is left behind will look just like that wasteland you often see alongside other lines that the railways have kept control of, as that is what happens. HS2 aren't going to be paying people to maintain these habitats, as they are already going to have to sponge off the tax payer to unaffordable levels, just to run the trains nobody can use....

[@davidsedlickas8222]

If it were not for HS2 us poor pensioners could have the tax free allowance limit raised from £12.5k to £17k. I don't like the HS2 project it's a waste of money tax payers money.

[@_starfiend]

The 'waste' is the fact that this treasonous government cancelled the second part of HS2

[@theboy-uk]

Exactly, there are far better things to waste the limited pot of tax payer funds on, rather than yet another London to Birmingham line that nobody will (or can) use.

[@theboy-uk]

@@martinsloman6905 With limited funds available, there are far better infrastructure projects to spend money on, some that are actually of some use, rather than little more than an (expensive) vanity project.

[@theboy-uk]

@@_starfiend Almost the best thing they could have done. One better would be cancel the whole project, and use the money on needed infrastructure projects, rather than yet another London to Birmingham line, to directly compete with the existing 2 lines going from London to Birmingham that have masses of spare capacity.

[@_starfiend]

@@theboy-uk You really don't understand the purpose of HS2 do you? And if you say to reduce travel times then I KNOW you don't understand.