HS2, Mitigating the impacts on the countryside

In today's video we examine the lengths HS2 Ltd are going to in order to mitigate the impacts of HS2 on Britain's countryside and wildlife.
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[@marksinthehouse1968]

It’s funny when motorways were built in the 70-90s nobody really kicked up a fuss but if you say I’m building a new railway line or a tower more than 5 floors people want a long drawn out enquiry 😮

[@Rail_Focus]

It does seem strange that over 2000 miles of motorway were built with relatives little opposition, it wasn't until the 1990s when new extensions started to see any organised opposition. But HS2 seems to have seen more opposition than even HS1.

[@CyclingSteve]

@@Rail_Focus The Lower Thames Crossing is another example, it seems Kent is expendable to high profile HS2 opponents.

[@roppa789]

Perhaps roads are used by millions and we need and accept them. To build a £100 billion (and counting) HS2 so that a relatively few people can travel at speed between Birmingham and the outskirts of London makes no sense whatsoever. Shaving 15 minutes journey time is of little consequence…. and that 15 minutes has now been lost with the decision not to expand the line to central London. It’s a vanity project that should have been terminated at the review before last but Johnson wanted a legacy. Perhaps he should have stuck with one of his two absurd bridges, instead his legacy is his lies.

[@thorley1969]

@@roppa789 I wish people would get over this myth that HS2 is just to shave time off between London and Birmingham. It will carry trains serving destinations all across the North, freeing up capacity on the legacy lines to allow more local and freight services so no, it won't be a 'few' people.

[@briansr.5219]

I agree,I have said before,and I will say again HS2 is and has been for some time, subject to selective criticism.

[@jermainetrainallen6416]

Great vid. The media seems to ignore the various mitigation efforts that HS2 Ltd are overseeing. Thanks for doing your bit for increasing awareness of what is happening on the ground👍

[@Rail_Focus]

It's a video I've been wanting to make for a while, I'm not sure an 8 minute video does it justice, but hopefully it shows some of the mitigation.

[@pigpig252]

As an archaeologist, HS2 has been amazing for our industry. Archaeology jobs are booming right now and the project has uncovered enough finds to occupy us for a decade

[@MrGreatplum]

Within 5 years of it opening, it won’t look like a scar on the landscape. There’s clearly been a huge amount of ecological mitigation on going and already carried out

[@Rail_Focus]

I really wish I could have found some before and after shots of HS1, there were some great examples of how it looked during and then only a few years after. I was actually surprised how green some sections were since my last visit a year ago.

[@andrewjameson5918]

Look at HS1 as to how that has blended in.

[@Rail_Focus]

Indeed, I do remember seeing before and after images, but I couldn't find any on Google.

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Especially Beechbrook Farm. That was used as a yard for construction trains, but was returned to farmland once the heavy work was completed and now you'd never know that the yard was there!

[@andrewjameson5918]

@@Inkyminkyzizwoz That was huge place and yes I would agree you. You would not have know it was there now.

[@Amari588]

I can't wait for HS2 to open so the intercity services can move from the wcml on to that and more local services will run on the wcml and I'll be able to jump on the train more often instead of taking the bus everywhere

[@Rail_Focus]

Absolutely, Trent Valley stations deserve much better than the current hourly WCML service, and hopefully HS2 will mean more services can stop between Stafford and Milton Keynes.

[@Amari588]

@@Rail_Focus exactly even the half hourly service between rugeley and the airport should get better when HS2 opens

[@darleytransportandtravel6353]

Well said sir. This railway is greatly needed.

[@AustinKelly94]

I'm very excited HS2 is happening

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

And again that's why I think HS2 should've taken up one carriageway of the M40! Not just impact reduction but the speed it could've been developed. And the M40 cou;d've become a dual carriageway with 2 lanes per.

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

And the biggest conern should be for the people around Euston now in limbo with the stupid pause in construction from Old Oak plus those in Derbyshire/Yorkshire affected by the go/nogo of the eastern section of HS2. The wildlife mitigation is good - possibly giving more protection for the future from other development that might've taken place, and the vast amount of archeology that's taken place that would never otherwise woud've happened.

[@Rail_Focus]

People in Euston do seem to have been forgotten, but that's a whole other video. The period of limbo is incredibly frustrating for everyone involved, apart from Tory Treasury ministers who can't see passed this stupid "yearly spend" ceiling.

[@Rail_Focus]

It sounds like a reasonable proportion on paper but trying to build a new railway on an active motorway would be incredibly challenging and costly. Every single bridge and junction would have to be altered in some way along the whole of the M40 and for a railway it would be painfully slow, the radii on many sections is tighter than the WCML. So the route would be slower than the WCML and cost more than HS2.

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

​@@Rail_Focus I remember there being an idea in the 2000s of widening the M6 and M1 and building a high speed line down the central reservation, which I thought at the time seemed quite exciting, but it probably wouldn't have worked

[@_starfiend]

@@Inkyminkyzizwoz I vaguely remember that, but wasn't the line supposed to be elevated, running on tracks above the motorway, and that's what ultimatelyt killed the idea off?

[@sspeed30043]

I see a lot of farm land that once were trees...

[@Rail_Focus]

Indeed

[@martineyles]

People are willing to accept a large cost when they can see a benefit. The problem with HS2 is that the vast majority of people can't see any benefit. How many people actually want to travel from the Centre of Birmingham or Birmingham Interchange to the Centre of London or London Interchange? Not enough to fill even the existing trains, let alone these new huge capacity trains. They will travel up and down the country almost empty. It's true that they will privide more capacity for commuters around Birmingham and around London, who are filling the capacity of the trains, but it's harder for people to visualise that improvement and much easier to visualise all the empty high speed trains.

[@Rail_Focus]

The problem isn't that there won't be any wider benefits for passengers, but that the Government has done a woeful job of explaining the benefits.

[@caver38]

So people want moremotorways and more pollution ???? These same arguments were used when the first main railways were created decades ago , and we still have people who do not like public transport

[@-xirx-]

You can't just "mitigate" the removal of 300 year old forest & ancient woodland, and we have so little left for future generations. Yes, you can make it look pretty, but you cannot replace ancient woodland & retain the ecology it supports.

[@Rail_Focus]

I never said you could "just mitigate" but the line is needed and HS2 are doing everything they can to reduce the impact. But unfortunately it's not possible to avoid every single woodland and HS2's impact will be less than an equivalent motorway. Even new winding A roads have impacted woodland, so it's not just a case of going around.

[@davidpnewton]

"but you cannot replace ancient woodland & retain the ecology it supports." Yes you can. It just takes a long time. People tend to forget that all of our "ancient woodland" is all no more than a few thousand years old. Why? Prior to that these nice things known as ice sheets and tundra covered much of the country. So yes it very much can be replaced. Not within a human lifetime perhaps, but it can be replaced.

[@nickedwards2904]

pathetic, no scar on the land at all. Go on the train between wolves and brum and see the greenland now , 20 years ago it was steelworks and railway sidings everywhere . A line is just that , and trees get planted and grow , some old trees will need to come down , so what , we fell trees all the time

[@Rail_Focus]

I'm assuming you watched the video and this is a response to people who say it's a scar? 🙃

[@nickedwards2904]

@@Rail_Focus yes of course, i get fed up of hearing the BS to be honest. With the amount of tracks in the uk that are tree lined and run seemlessly through the countryside a video like this should not be needed

[@Rail_Focus]

Just checking, wasn't sure if it was a reaction to the provocative thumbnail 😅. I share your frustration.

[@bryanduncan6178]

I think the government should call their bluff and say we're making HS2 into a motorway instead..... The locals will be begging for the railway to be built!

[@scottpeacock5492]

You should see the impact of the woodlands when motorway were constructed in the UK back in the 60's 70's 80's and 90's, it not possible to build a motorway with trees in it path, nimbys should think about that next time they drive on the M40.

[@bobsrailrelics]

Very well shot and researched. It doesn't help when a certain 'environmentalist' makes unfounded claims which then people believe. Good to see the changes happening on Peneys patch as well

[@Rail_Focus]

Thank you 🙂, was certainly a challenge and it's not perfect, but I hope it gives a broad picture of the efforts HS2 are going to to mitigate the impact of the line.

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

I remember all the protests when the second runway at Manchester Airport was being built, but I saw reports a few years ago showing that the landscape and wildlife have recovered from it very well. Nature is a lot more adaptable than many people think!

[@scottpeacock5492]

Well said, Here in the East of England, The Government in May 2023 has just announce the East West Rail Corrider for Cambridge and Bedford link which is Southern central section of Route E and there nimbys in Hasslingfield and Shelfield villages are protesting to try to get the line stop and they want the line be on the Northern section of the line which will impact 80 houses and also it doesn't link up with Norwich which would go south toward Cambridge main station.

[@the-real-iandavid]

I thought the argument against extra runways is that it enables more flights, which in turn encourages more traffic onto the roads to the airports, thus resulting in higher levels of air pollution?

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@@the-real-iandavid I seem to recall the protests mostly being about the physical impact of the runway itself - I don't think the emissions caused by the extra flights were so widely thought of then

[@MrDavidht]

Ah yes I remember the main objectors were from the well to do Mobberley as they were on the flight path, going around in wax jackets and their SUVs gathering signatures on their petition to get it stopped. I'm sure each one of them has benefitted, not least economically, from the second runway.

[@Andrewjg_89]

I personally do think that HS2 is still to be completed by 2030 and plans for the HS2 Eastern Leg to get the go ahead to connect HS2 from Birmingham Curzon Street to East Midlands Hub and Leeds. With extensions to York so it can connect with the ECML.

[@Rail_Focus]

Agreed, HS2 east should go ahead

[@geoffreydingle2410]

Some 5 years ago a diversion was built on the WCML at Norton Bridge and today it is hardly noticed. I live in the area and can vouch that during constuction the impact was fairly minimal and as a by product a particular dangerous part of the local road was abolished. Tree planting and wild flowers now clothe the site. Compare that with what is going on on the A34 north from Stafford to Stone at this moment and not a murmur from the media!

[@Rail_Focus]

I was lucky enough to tour the site during the construction, but haven't visited since, that'd make for an interesting comparison.

[@KarlVaughan]

I've been following HS2's progress for a while in the Aylesbury area and can already see certain parts looking better compared to when excavations first started. For instance, the cutting by the North Portal at South Heath is now green instead of a stark chalky appearance. We only have to look at existing railway lines to see how they eventually blend in with the surrounding countryside. The same will happen with much of HS2's route.

[@the-real-iandavid]

Almost the only place I see Kestrels is next to Motorways. The absence of humans on the aprons of these routes makes for ideal and safe habitats for all sorts of flora and fauna (unless the Kestrel catches something, of course!). Setting aside the argument of whether HS2 is needed, etc., the actual construction and the technology involved is breath-taking, and should be applauded.

[@michaelashall4523]

The Victorians built our railways. We applaud them for their foresight. Now we have those with no concern for the planet, by reducing car and lorries air raft journeys. Just like the old tips left by the coal mines, it will be relandscaped.

[@pfrylambretta]

I think this project will out cost itself before it gets anywhere near completion

[@Rail_Focus]

Let's hope you're wrong

[@alexmckenna1171]

Fantastic! We need more railway investment - re-open lines, electrify and double existing routes, etc. AND clamp down on petrol/diesel SUVs and trucks.

[@andrewreynolds4949]

This is why HS2 and other projects are so expensive now

[@Rail_Focus]

It's not the only reason construction in the UK is expected, but unfortunately doing the right thing does add additional costs to projects

[@alexlangford6291]

Look at HS1 now once a scar in the Kent countryside it has now blended in.

[@Rail_Focus]

💯

[@reubenjelley3583]

Excited for hs2 but why in all the renders is it only two tracks, surely worthwhile doing some quad for flexibility / future proofing? Writing from the West Country and would like a few legs of hsn+1 to come down this way, rather an x shape than the London Wye. Or east west rail actually went into the West Country.

[@Rail_Focus]

It's about cost vs value for money I guess. In terms of passenger capacity HS2 provides the same if not more capacity than the 4 track WCML, with a potential up to 18, 1000 seat trains per hour, due to the way it is designed with flying junctions, in cab signalling and the speed itself which allows higher throughput. It would've been good if it were an X, with a line heading from Birmingham to the West Country, but that wouldn't have necessarily required 4 tracks, but a through station at Birmingham. In terms of connectivity though HS2 has the potential to provide better links from the North to the West Country via HS2-Old Oak Common and the GWML.

[@douglasengle2704]

0:58 This has the cannery super close to apparently single level passenger cars and the trains are extremely close for passing at 450 mph where a great deal of suction is generated. The expectation is if successful double level coaches would be desirable. There is not a good reason to restrict a brand new railroad standard for HSR with the traditional British load gauge.

[@Rail_Focus]

HS2 is being built to the GC "European" loading gauge. HS2 trains will travel at a maximum speed of 225mph.

[@eioclementi1355]

England future will be one giant mega city called MANMINGDON!

[@Rail_Focus]

🤣

[@Rail_Focus]

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[@wendoverpatriot23]

It won’t go to Euston,Manchester,Liverpool or Leeds to start with. There is a very rare chalk stream that relies on water running of the Chiltern Hill , HS2 cannot guarantee that the stream and the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal won’t dry up.Foxes ,Deer ,Badgers and countless other birds and insects have lost habitats that will take years to replenish some could disappear for ever from the Chilterns .Everyday hundreds of cars and lorries pollute our already busy roads transporting plant and workers to various sites ,this to continue for several years.If HS2 was built as originally intended it might make some sort of sense but as it stands now it looks like a expensive vanity project.

[@Rail_Focus]

It will go to Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and stations in between if phase 2a to Crewe is built, even if HS2 is only built to Handsacre it could still serve Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow.

[@wendoverpatriot23]

@@Rail_Focus Do you think it will get to Euston.

[@slimchris113]

Its great that they are mitigating environmental damage. But the issues of HS2 is still persistent, NO HS1-HS2 link at euston. Eastern leg buthered. Goldborne link killed. No link to wales or scotland.

[@peterdavidson3268]

Exactly - a major problem (leaving aside the massive issue of relative cost comparisons with similar projects on the other side of La Manche) with HS2 is its general timidity - UK rail transport strategy appears to be fixated on a London-centric focus - all lines lead to and from London, end of story! A thoughtful and progressive UK-wide rail strategy would consider many other salient factors; 1. Creating a resilient, potentially net zero powered public transport network capable of providing a credible alternative to private car and short haul airborne links for the UK's 21st century population. 2. Creating a transport network with the potential to link up all major UK population centres, not just get people to London and back a bit quicker; for example will HS2 enable a new High Speed service between Manchester and Glasgow - will it ****! 3. Creating a UK transport network capable of seamless integration into its wider pan-European counterpart. None of these basic goals will be achieved by HS2 in its current format. Take the (now stalled?) NPR project as an exemplar of this strategic ineptitude - NPR should be a brand new line, built to GC gauge standard (as all NEW rail lines should be), linking Liverpool to Hull (and all major centres between), utilising for a portion of its route the NEW HS2 line from the junction near Tabley Hill to Manchester Piccadilly - the latter being an underground through station - what we're getting is a cost reduction focused, hollowed out version with scant future proofing built in?

[@Rail_Focus]

Eastern leg is a major issue, it absolutely should be constructed. But the HS1-HS2 link just didn't make sense. It was very costly considering it would only be used by less than 1 train per hour. And that path would have come at the expense of a route from the north (if HS2E had been constructed, all paths would've been needed for domestic services) Then there's the issue of border controls, which would mean having to squeeze it into stations and as we know Brexit has made the issue of border controls even more difficult. Cross Rail 2 would have made getting between Euston and St Pancras a lot easier because there was to be a pedestrian tunnel between the 2 stations, but in the absence of that there does need to be an improved pedestrian link between the 2.

[@slimchris113]

@@peterdavidson3268 Totally agree, HS2 is too London centric. There should have been a link between Manchester and scotland, which NPR could have utilised. Manchester Picadilly being overground is ridiculous.

[@slimchris113]

@@Rail_Focus Heres the problem with relying on Crossrail 2, there is no shovel on the ground or boring machine creating Euston Cross. They havent even extended Crossrail 1 to Kent, Crossrail 2 is miles away, I wouldnt be suprised if HS2 Euston is built before Crossrail 2 opens

[@ggaz4837]

Those who criticise HS2 also criticised HS1 but I bet they use this brilliant railway to reach Europe. Hypocrites the lot of them.

[@Rail_Focus]

Oh definitely, there's at least 1 high profile "environmentalist" who uses HS1 all the time, but campaigns against HS2. Then there's Christian Wolmar as well, loves HS1, hates HS2 🙄

[@chrisjw37]

We live near the aylesbury, Waddesdon and Wendover mess, it is horrendous. The tree planting has failed as all the saplings just died through zero maintenance. Engineers are not landscapers or gardeners. It is a daily eyesore.

[@Rail_Focus]

All construction sites look a mess. But trees will be planted and areas landscaped, with landscaping decisions made by professional ecologists not engineers. I've seen plenty of successfully planted woodlands for HS2 which are doing well.

[@willhemmings]

Looks pretty doesn't it, all those sprouting flowers, newt-filled ponds and blossoming trees that HS2 are magically creating to regain the biodiversity destroyed by their new high speed railway. Nevertheless, these cover all measures do not mitigate the losses understood by those who care about the environment. Here are some examples - the loss of historic road alignments - Leather Lane, Bowood Lane in the Chilterns, the A418 approach to Thame, Welsh Road, the Foss Way, Leicester Lane; the loss of ancient footpaths and hedgerows - near Culworth and Cubbington; the loss of ancient woodland - Jones Hill Wood, Halse Copse, South Cubbington Wood and Broadwells Wood; losses of specimen trees at Hartwell (near Aylesbury), Chetwode, Greatworth, Welsh Road, Cubbington, Stoneleigh, Berkswell, Coleshill Manor, loss of water courses - potentially at Radstone, Greatworth and Southam and actually at Thorpe Mandeville; the loss of historic landscapes - Stoke Mandeville, Quainton, Edgcote, Stoneleigh and Coleshill. Losses of natural landscape occur in the Chilterns, Hartwell, Chetwode, Thorpe Mandeville, Southam, Park Lane, Berkswell, Diddington Lane, Coleshill. There is an entire loss of ancient and natural landscape between Wormleighton and Windmill Hill, Ladbroke. Long views will be considerably reduced across the landscape because of the linear effect of replacement tree planting. The enormous gap in the wood at Cubbington will always be there, a grim reminder of the terrible destruction of South Cubbington Wood and the pear tree in its ancient hedgerow. HS2 may well attempt to hide all these things from view, unsuccessfully to those who knew the landscape as it was, but they will never erase them from memory

[@Rail_Focus]

It's a railway of national significance and will be less impactful than if a motorway were constructed instead. Any loss of woodland is regretful but a lot is being done to reduce the impact as much as possible. A lot of people seem obsessed with HS2 but there are other more damaging projects out there that people seem to ignore entirely.

[@inbb510]

​@@Rail_Focus, people never said the same thing when they built four motorways or even new roads today. Somehow public transport always gets this complaint.

[@josephturner7569]

Britain doesn't deserve a railway. Beeching should have closed them all.

[@Andrewjg_89]

And to rely on having goods vehicles and to deal with constant traffic congestion on already congested motorways and trunk roads. Railways still play a key role in keeping the UK’s economy moving.

[@Rail_Focus]

Not quite sure what you're trying to say, but okay....

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Why?

[@scottpeacock5492]

Close all rail lines?? And how would the public travel if all lines were close down, not forgetting the impact to the eviroment with road congeston, most rural area of the country haven't got good reliable bus services. Everything shuts down after 7 oclock in the evening and plus Sunday services are reduce to 2 hourly services, Try getting a coach from Stevenage to London Victoria, there isn't one, The greenline service was taken away years ago. Great video by the way Rail_Focus