HS2: The £100BN Railway Dividing a Nation

[@AbroadinJapan]

As someone who rides the Shinkansen weekly between Sendai and Tokyo, it makes two cities almost 400km apart feel like they're practically next door. The journey time is about 1 hour 20 mins (5-6 hours by car) and the smooth ride spent gliding across the countryside is an absolute joy. I never particularly enjoyed riding trains until I ended up in Japan. The Shinkansen were seen as a monumental waste of money before they were operational and then they quickly became the pride of the nation. Superb video though - this is the first time I've seen the pros and cons of HS2 explained clearly!

[@stevenbennett6315]

London to Birmingham is on a 90 min journey anyway . Unless you live in central London it will take longer to reach your final destination than if you drove

[@franzjpm]

Mr. Affable loves his trains

[@TalesOfWar]

Our "high speed" trains in the UK are actually fairly decent, but our commuter and regional trains (and transport in general) outside of London are abysmal. A large part of it is because they all share the same track, so the slower commuter and freight traffic has to get out of the way of the inter-city trains. An example of how shit things are if it doesn't benefit London in some way is that it takes 2 hours to get from Manchester to London. It takes 3 hours to get from Manchester to Newcastle, which is 1/3rd of the distance! This country is so one city centric. If it doesn't benefit London, the government doesn't want to pay for it. Which is why there's such a massive economic divide between London and the rest of the country. Especially the north.

[@Malicia-scunt]

@@stevenbennett6315 London to Birmingham is 1h20 on the train already available..

[@TalesOfWar]

@@stevenbennett6315 Driving in central London... fun! lol. I'd rather endure the Central Line in the middle of a heatwave!

[@gammaphonic]

It’s worth remembering that the first Shinkansen in Japan faced very similar opposition. Few wanted it, and very few thought it would have a significant positive impact.

[@PascalGienger]

Same for the TGV in France and the ICE in Germany. The high speed line Munich to Berlin was even halted once to win political points. Even HS1 and Eurotunnel was steadily on the brink during and after construction. Nowadays HS1 to mainland Europe is a huge success.

[@tek1645]

@@PascalGienger wow it's almost like there's a certain trend we're noticing 🤔

[@PascalGienger]

@@tek1645 For me it's the decline of our high culture and civilization as the society returns to tribes "they" against "us". So you don't have any common interest anymore. This affects Infrastructure other than car ("I need this to nourish my family and I don't want to pay for others") or even big research projects. Little tribal thinking, only the own family, only the own circle. All others not important, rather seen as competitors or enemies.

[@Dryenwc3]

and it didnt, its a piece of overhyped shiatzu

[@91Durktheturk]

@@PascalGienger apart from the fact that HS1 has never managed to live up to its expectations in terms of passenger numbers and has thus not been able to pay off the construction costs.

[@battmarn]

the biggest failure of HS2 imo is starting it in London and working north, rather than starting in the north and working south. it would have had a lot higher approval rating if it promised to better connect the north first

[@MM-ev1fg]

Good point. And northern locals would’ve got the jobs first.

[@SaFF-OnE]

my thoughts too during the video

[@natehill8069]

You could do like California, and start in the middle - spend 10 years budget to connect a couple of small villages that no one particularly wants to travel to so theres no revenue stream. And then knock down the speed at the same time to minimize any benefit.

[@MikeM-so3je]

@@natehill8069 The 500,000+ villagers of Bakersfield, and over 400,000 villagers of Fresno might beg to differ...😆

[@natehill8069]

@@MikeM-so3je They'd quieten down when the 1,000,000 Friscoans and 4,000,000 Angelinos told them to.

[@annemaxwell9975]

Your graphics are becoming so much more sophisticated as is your reporting, and very much appreciated. One of the most easily accessible channels for the discussion of highly complex, high value global projects. Thank you.

[@alexrenn2479]

Fred Mills, the creator of these videos is an amateur and at times an outright liar who uses footage that is misleading, like showing shots of cities which are not even those cities and reports that are not balanced and truthful. He can not be trusted and has an agenda. He has also been accused of being a hater and biggot.

[@annemaxwell9975]

@@alexrenn2479 dear Alex have you considered therapy or anger management class even. Time is so precious, a resource you can never get back. Pursue your own dreams, be all you can be. God bless.

[@augustusimperator.avi1872]

The high speed train between my city, Barcelona and the capital, Madrid has singlehandedly killed the air routes between thia cities. High speed rail is a marvel.

[@lws7394]

That is not quite right ! There has been 15 yrs of hst between the cities, but in 2019 BCN-Madrid was still the busiest air route in Europe ( with 2.5 mln passengers). What put a dent in flights is , after a year of corona, the beginning of low cost hs train services on the line !! And still the number of air passengers is among the highest on Europe..

[@MaxxMcGeePrivate]

That's what is the best thing about high speed rail. It can and should kill short distance flights.

[@marksapollo]

In the U.K. it costs more to take the train then fly to some locations. HS2 will,not change the price difference at all, so it won’t do anything apart from increase air travel.

[@AL5520]

@@lws7394 The number of passengers flying is high but it is in decline and a large part of the people flying have a connecting flight, and in this case it makes more sense and is cheaper as you buy it as one ticket. Look at the flights, most have multiple code sharing flight numbers of international airlines fir connections.

[@shotelco]

As a surveyor, I have worked on a few global HSR projects. Two in Africa and one in Indonesia. My favorite is the Al Boraq in Morocco. Which has by far proved to be popular, and _profitable._ In 2021, the high-speed train - between Tangier and Casablanca - transported 2.4 million passengers, compared to 1.3 million the previous year, and is expected to double again within the next 2 years, so much that more rolling stock (French Alstom EuroDuplex trainsets have been ordered), and government approval has been granted to extend the network to other cities. Moreover, Morocco is also building additional Solar power farms to provide 100% clean energy to the HSR system. The Al Boraq as completely democratized travel on this line within Morocco. Which in turn may foster exponential economic growth.

[@adampenkul]

The existing rail networks are incredibly and sometimes prohibitively expensive compared to much of the rest of Europe. The UK government have a a habit of using taxpayer money to build infrastructure, then selling to private investors who use it to extort the population.

[@alanprice206]

Euro tunnel being a prime example🙏

[@1harrismccarty]

It’s the neo-liberal model

[@stephenpower8723]

It's funny how often politicians involved in those sales end up getting jobs with the companies that purchase publicly funded infrastructure for way less than it's worth.

[@Andrew-rc3vh]

New is cheaper than old. It's like manufacturing. This country is renowned for using 100 year old machinery. The problem with that is your business gets less and less competitive and then goes bust. This is new technology so one would expect throughput to be greater and we expect less delays due to maintenance because everything is new and calculated to work by modern computers. Are you aware that standard trains wont even fit down our BR tracks? The bridges are too small, so we have to pay extra money for non-standard carriages (a case of throwing good money after bad). There becomes a point where what you have is junk and should be thrown away. In Germany's case we did them a favour by blowing up all their ageing industry and look how well they did post war.

[@PatrickstarPhD]

this is absolutely spot on.

[@josephharrison8354]

*It's not taxpayer money.* That's what everyone seems to forget about this: it's being funded through capital expenditure, essentially borrowing against a future return on investment. We wouldn't be saving money by not building it, because the money essentially doesn't exist until it's invested in something real: the rails, the stations, the trains, and the jobs. You can't point to a single penny in your tax bill that goes towards major new infrastructure projects; it was the same with Crossrail. Also, the entire carbon footprint of building HS2 is equivalent to one month of emissions from road transport. Given the immense potential of the railway to take cars off the roads, both directly and indirectly through releasing capacity on the existing network, I'd say that's a price worth paying. Or it would be, if it were actually being built properly. The truncated mess that's being built now is an embarrassment.

[@Cassiopée777]

Still too expensive for a single line.

[@josephharrison8354]

@@Cassiopée777 Not if you consider that it's part of ensuring a sustainable future, it'll power direct economic activity for decades and wider productivity boosts for centuries, and it's contending with the absurd property values of London, the environmental requirements, and the incredibly high specs to which it's being built. Not to mention that part of the costs are also being sunk into building up the expertise to actually build the thing: once it's done, a decent government will be able to utilise the supply chain and technical knowledge that's been built up to expand the network more efficiently to encompass all the UK's major cities; like Japan, the UK is well suited to a HSR trunk route.

[@ayomide1007]

Thank you for this, people read and think, they just follow the crowd

[@josephharrison8354]

@Smdn Snnd Objectively not true.

[@iman2341]

@@Cassiopée777 it’s not a single line, it’s more like 3 or 4 lines under a single project.

[@gallicia4613]

Hang on to this UK. The opposition against Shinkansen in Japan was even bigger. Now it is not only bringing in more money, it is also helping revitalising rural regions (which is a BIG problem). Right now they are making Maglev trains from Tokyo to Nagoya as the next step.

[@michaelweber1921]

The UK is very short sighted which is why their infrastructure is nearing the third world.

[@gallicia4613]

@@michaelweber1921 I'm not sure you have any idea what you're talking about. The infrastrcture in the UK is great compared to every single country in the third world (and most in the "2nd" world) and this projects proves they are thinking long term.

[@christopherwright8811]

@@michaelweber1921 And because our governments comprise thieves and imcompetents. Successive governments say privatisation works. So let ther private sector get on with showing how private money can lift the railways into the modern, highspeed world. But somehow, private money seems not to be forthcoming. Why is the taxpayer paying for a private railway? And one which is crap and expensive. Oh, and on strike. Typically, there will also be mass repairs on certain stupidly chosen days - such as FA Cup semifinal day, when tens of thousands of fans want to criss-cross the country. And have to clog the motorways to get there.

[@imjusthereeatingpopcorn5234]

I’m closely watching the Maglev line they are building. I’ve often wondered if they should change HS2 to Maglev but it makes more sense to keep HS2 as conventional high speed rail although it would seem counterintuitive. I think soon we will start looking at building Maglev in the UK

[@UnknownSend3r]

@@paroxysm6437what do you mean he’s not real ?

[@farmerrad]

Well done on a well produced piece of content. The quality of your work, like the HS2 budget, is ever-increasing!

[@abdhooma]

When are 4K videos coming ?. I can’t wait to be even more immersed with your awesome content

[@KarlMathiasMoberg]

Wow, this video was incredible on so many levels. Insanely detailed, giving tons of insight into a super interesting project; the editing is incredible and the info graphics are superb. Fantastic job B1M team, this was just an amazing video!

[@7415_Gamer]

The graphics team deserves a lot of applause for this presentation.

[@BH-2]

One thing I know for sure, when it is £100 billion now by the time it finishes it will be £200 billion. Too many layers trying to cream off public money. Plus by the time it is all completed, if it does, it will be outdated.

[@valerianocuomo996]

😅😅

[@ianwalther1089]

Wow, this was absolutely fantastic. Genuine journalism, with an extremely high production value and a real effort to show all sides of the issue. This channel keeps getting better and better and I'm thankful to be along for the ride.

[@colinbrooks228]

its nto a great video it misses out Phase 1a which now covers birmingham to crewe

[@stevencooke6451]

Very balanced. Asked the right questions without being unnecessarily confrontational or sycophantic. It allowed the person answering the question to give us their views. I live in Canada, a country with a slow outdated rail system, where the private car is often seen as the only possible means of transportation.

[@amazedalloy]

As an Irish person, I'm praying this pays off. We need the inspiration here and given our habit of copying stuff, I want this to be one

[@skip2mylou05]

I bet if you did your Northern partners would probably benefit more than the English's do from theirs, rather ironically.

[@mildlydispleased3221]

London alone has about twice as many people as Ireland, a high speed line between Cork and Dublin for example, is highly unlikely.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

I wish to join you from United States of America.

[@devanman7920]

We can't even build a basic metro in Dublin. We'll get a high speed train in about 2150.

[@RobespierreThePoof]

The Irish rail system has always been fairly disappointing. You'd think becoming a republic then getting rich in the 90s would have led to some investment

[@superkamyar]

This is the first time in my life that I’ve decided to put a comment on a video despite the fact that I’ve been following this channel for a long time. As a Project Manager I must admit that this project and the video are both a masterpiece. Hats off to you guys.

[@ronaldc.wagener6403]

People often do not comprehend that massive infrastructure projects will most probably last for centuries and therefore benefits must be looked at over many decades and centuries. Note the tunnel under the Thames River.

[@griptopia]

agreed, but not building the leeds section wowzers.. i would love to spend more time in the north on days off.. and i'm sure there are people that might want to do the same up there.. but only if your in Birmingham (no offence birmingham) Big big opportunity missed. and all the money spent to not produce what was originally promised .. COWBOY BUILDERS MATE!

[@allenpozzi1513]

Economists like politicians the next election is as far as they look into the future

[@yarpen26]

I'm beginning to really hate that line of argumentation and how people treat it like the ultimate shutupper for all dissent. The question isn't even binary, it's not "should we build it", but "how should we build it". If you hire me to fill your bathtub with water and then see me pick up a pail, go outside, collect some from the nearest pond, return, over and over again until the bathtub's been filled, are you also going to accept my explanation that you should see long-term benefits (you taking a bath) and refusing any suggestions as to how to improve the process?

[@anonymes2884]

This argument only contributes to my ambivalence towards HS2. Because do we _really_ believe that in, say, 100 years time we'll still be schlepping en masse up and down the country on metal rails ? That significant economic benefits will still depend on being able to move people a couple of hundred miles 30 or so minutes more quickly ? Maybe that will end up being true but it feels like quite a short-sighted, even backwards looking view to me. HS2 feels at once overly ambitious (as evidenced by the fact that we've already cut it back - in the north of course, entirely predictably to anyone not from the south-east of England - and that it's already way over original budget) and yet oddly stuck in the past.

[@colejones6312]

@@anonymes2884 We've been using railway for over 500 years and industrialised rail for over 200. The only thing remotely close to replacing rail in the foreseeable future is the hyper loop, which in-itself is still an evolution of existing railway. You can't build upon technology without testing/using new and existing technologies. Your comment makes no sense at all. Might as well go back to living in caves if we follow your logic. So to answer your question, yes, we will still be moving up and down this planet on rails. Will they be metal? Maybe, maybe not. Doesn't matter anyway, the point stands.

[@hans-rudi-der-letzte]

It's very interesting that countries where rail transport had its starting point, like the UK, Germany or the US, have so many problems with big rail projects nowadays. I mean California High Speed Rail, Stuttgart 21,...it is pretty obvious that something has to change in planning and building such infrastructure.

[@adialbano5499]

bureaucracy

[@EnjoyFirefighting]

I guess one factor is also modern day society and politics ... in Germany it got difficult to build anything big without some environmentalist finding a tiny rare insect living in that place, hoping to stop the plans. Also when digging starts in old-grown cities you can definetly count on archaeologist will delay the project by a couple of years as they want to carefully inspect every tiny part of the site. Back in the days where many of the old rail lines were built I think this by far wasn't such a big issue.

[@VivekPatel-ze6jy]

With California HSR, the main issue is lack of funding and lack of expertise within the US (they spent years with foreign consultants because the US doesn't have enough high speed rail expertise).

[@krixxset2214]

Import the 3rd world, become the 3rd world…

[@fryphillipj560]

One more point: All of them, Cali, UK and De are densely populated and rich. Meaning land is really expensive and you can't really get out of the way of all people. So somebody will object and fight the project while the others try to get the best price for their land.

[@whophd]

Thanks for pointing out the existing rails are full. One tip though: Mixed stopping patterns currently, extremely restrict capacity further. If you stop putting express trains on the old tracks, you don’t just increase local trains by the same amount - you can double or triple it! The gaps between trains are CRAZY when you have slow trains in front of fast trains.

[@trevorhart545]

Your last sentence was aptly demonstrated when LNER and LMS were competing for services between London and Scotland, many North London commuter trains were held up, often in a loop, to allow the fast trains through. Trans Pennine services should have priority over HS2 extensions.

[@paul.oregan]

Infrastructure projects that span multiple governments are to be applauded. In todays world of popularism and short term pressure from social media the pressure never to start projects like this will be large. Listening to these voices is how stagnation happens.

[@josjos-x5s]

The problem is that this infrastructure plan ignores the greater railway infrastructure already in place in the uk that can really use the money and benefit the average citizen in the uk more. It isn't just unpopular because its a large project but because there is more important larger infrastructure projects needed to be done

[@sudind]

Exactly. People don't stop looking at the negatives till its complete, making costs go higher and higher. Ignoring whiny people would make things go faster and cheaper, but that just isn't gonna happen.

[@arturturkevych3816]

@@josjos-x5s There's only so much upgrading the old infrastructure can take. Current main lines to the north can't get any faster and the capacity can't really be increased. Everyone likes to praise how amazing Shinkansen or TGV networks are, yet they were also delayed and over budget. Everyone forgot that.

[@MicroSBs]

an unfortunate plague that is killing everyone

[@tylertyler82]

Dum dums rule the world.

[@jackwalters5506]

One thing to keep in mind is the Shinkansen line. It went absurdly over budget and suffered from years of delay, but no one remembers that now, now everyone only remembers that Shinkansen helped pave the way for Japan to become one of the most prosperous countries in the world

[@20quid]

Can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs.

[@oliverpotts8664]

Except there is no economic benefit to connecting the North and South, because absolutely nothing of value is produced in London, it's all just bullshit banking and finance jobs. I'd rather see an improvement to the trainlines within cities up North.

[@HANKTHEDANKEST]

Exactly! The Shinkansen and its famously-funny-looking trains are an incredible ambassador for Japan's brand: bright, modern, clean and efficient. When you develop a railway line *so good* that it itself becomes a tourist attraction, you've won for your country for multiple generations. Nice.

[@TheAdskidids1]

japans economy is actually kind of shit

[@MrStevenjv]

Same with BART in the SF Bay Area and now the HSR line between SF and LA currently under construction in the Central Valley. BART cost nearly twice what was projected although nowadays it seems like it was a bargain and was a few years behind it's construcuton schedule. Prevocid it was carrying 400K+ passengers a day. Imagine it not being built and all those people stuffed into buses and on all the already bottlenecked freeways driving solo. HSR is expensive. But in the end will be worth it to get from SF to LA in 2 1/2 hrs. And also give commuters the option of living in less expensive outlying areas while working in urban areas.

[@JonMartinYXD]

The controversy over losing twenty-four hectares of woodlands sure puts into perspective the size difference between the UK and Canada. Checking the wildfires status page for here in Alberta, it says "there are currently no wildfires of note in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta". But checking the full details of the northeast corner of the province - just one of the ten forest sectors - shows that there are eight *active* fires that have each burned over one thousand hectares of forest (the largest has burned over forty-five thousand hectares). This all makes a lot more sense once you know that the Forest Protection Area is nearly twice as large as the island of Great Britain. Also we measure things in hockey rinks instead of football pitches.

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

That's hillarious! Personally, even with the limited woodland we have, I think prioritising some old trees over the needs of an entire country is ridiculous. They're a nice thing to have, but compared to a high speed rail line, I can do without them and not loose a second of sleep over their loss... But thanks to a few fanatical people, it's costing us all a lot more money. Like how much are those trees costing me as a UK taxpayer? And by extension, how much are those fanatics costing me as a taxpayer? If they care enough about the trees, then they can pay for the extra expense of a tunnel to protect them!

[@marksapollo]

You have no understanding. Us British are rightly incredibly protective of out land. It’s ancient and beautiful. The government is planning new housing developments to be built across it at an alarming rate. That along with projects like HS2 gives the backlash the government deserves. Trains are awful in the U.K. but they are also prohibitively expensive, some journeys cost more then taking a plane, they don’t run when it’s too hot, too cold, rains, wrong leaves are on the tracks, yet the tax payer is funding a lot of the railway network though taxes whilst paying through the nose to use the train. Hence it is seen as a complete waste of money to build a new line very few people will actually use or be able to afford to use it.

[@hmalik5232]

@@sergarlantyrell7847 Ancient woodlands are very important, we need more trees and forests, without them life on earth will stop existing. Forests/woods with mycelium networks underneath are the most effective way of capturing carbon, helping to reduce the colossal damage humanity has caused to the planet. They also serve as habitats for many species and are beautiful places. But I also understand the need and benefits for high speed rail. I don’t understand why trees are being lost when HS2 is digging tunnels under woodlands, are they not digging tunnels under all of them or are they not digging deep enough?

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

@@hmalik5232 But as Jon Martin said, on a global scale 24 hectares is pretty insignificant. Especially since replanting will offset most of that. The co2 absorbed per year by those 24 hectares of ancient woodland is about about equivalent to switching 3,000-4,000 people from commuting by car to train (assuming the electrisity is renewable, which it won't all be, but it's still more efficient to have hundreds of people on a train than in individual cars). As s to why lose any forest at all, because tunnels are bloody expensive and this project is already quite expensive enough! Not to mention the extra emissions caused by the construction of tunnels rather than surface track.

[@TalesOfWar]

@@sergarlantyrell7847 One of the major benefits of an electrified rail network is that it can only ever get greener to run as more and more of the power generation comes from renewables. Another aspect of this thing people seem to overlook.

[@fireballfireball6962]

London to Birmingham wont make much of a difference, but if they keep going and eventually get it to Scotland then it will make good sense, In Japan they started from Osaka to Tokyo. But little by little it kept growing and now its from one end of the country to the other and its well appreciated. Edinburugh to London in a straight line is 332 miles. Tokyo to Osaka is 315 miles . Tokyo to Osaka by Shinkansen takes 2.5 to 3 hours. Now that would be well worth having in the UK and would improve the economy in the North.

[@MZ49309]

A 30 min B1M video? I legit sat, grabbed a snack, and was very interested. I'm in California, so seeing developments of high speed rail anywhere in the world is so fascinating. Our state Gov has been trying to make high speed rail work here for decades... but as with anything in America, its up to the whims of current politics and attitudes towards "socialism" and a disdain for the public good. So to see a country like the UK have to overcome so many hurdles to make this project happen, gives me little to no hope that it'll be completed here. So cheers to you Brits, still better than us at most things lol. thanks for the thoughtful, detailed, and overall enjoyable video. Us constructions nerds love this stuff- even if watching from across the globe.

[@schusss]

the level of details in the production of this video is mind blowing, sweet animations, transitions and overall image quality. and yet, the content is even more impressive, congrats to the B1M team for this amazing documentary!

[@tams805]

The motorway network is fine enough. In fact, it's the last real massive infrastructure project that we actually managed to do.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

This video was so damn good that I almost forgot I was watching on KZbin. This is at the same level of quality as a BBC or Discovery Channel documentary. Your narration is on the same level as Sir David Attenborough. Keep up the amazing content production, can't wait for the next one bruv! As for high-speed rail, south of the DMZ has a wonderful system and we hope for that system to expand once we reunify

[@dogg0nit32]

Thank you glorious leader

[@anneeq008]

Your trolling game is weak. You should have told us about your glorious teleportation system and the fact that the trains in DMZ are a capitalist edit and that you glorious light speed rail in the democratic Republic. Hail the fat leader 🙌

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

@@anneeq008 while we have a wonderful metro system, our rail system is lacking. There is nothing wrong with complimenting our brothers in some aspects as the bigger goal is a peaceful unification

[@ponyboycurtis007]

B1M always delivers!

[@Lousy_Bastard]

Quality of a BBC documentary 😂, its light years beyond the BBC

[@herminiyachavis3751]

now is the time to look for a financial advisor to help me understand what Government Bond is

[@pocket_full_of_beans]

I find it highly questionable how this project is criticised so much for its environmental impact. It literally aims to reduce travel times and eliminate short haul air travel in an entire country, yet there are environmentalists opposing it? I mean sure every development has an impact on nature but with such an extreme ideology we can just as well stop doing anything in order to protect the environment…

[@MS-vv6iv]

The left extremists want Utopia: free stuff (Like transportation), without doing the Work (building) and let everything fail as soon as a single being is against it (Like trees/animals they decide For Them "we cant move those little XYZ!!! They live there For centuries!!!)

[@spacewitch3707]

environmental impact comes not just from something being used, but also the construction involved. Things like curing concrete, use of heavy machinery and all the support vehicles, commuting needed and the temporary environmental destruction required just to get to a build site absolutely have very significant impacts. If the service offered is not valuable enough to offset these costs then it doesn't matter how green the finished product is. In my opinion, one of the biggest issues with HS2 is that it does not connect directly to HS1. I have my doubts it will put much of a dent in air travel to Europe because of that, and given how limited the HS2 network is already planned to be (barely reaching the middle of England, let alone Scotland) and the likelihood of further cutbacks, it all just seems like an overblown London commuter line. My personal opinion as someone highly sceptical of it is that HS2 is absolutely needed, but it needs to be drastically redesigned for it to be worth anything more than just a shiny new railway mimicking one that already exists.

[@MS-vv6iv]

@@spacewitch3707 Green or Not Green is a stupid modern First world Problem. Important is how much you Cut travel time and how much more capacity you get. And of course its Limited. Have you Seen the Budget? If you had 1trillion instead of 100billion you could build much more. But you can only Take so many steps at a time. Thats how transportation has Always Been build. Also, when they do the next big Project after that, they can do it with better knowledge, Materials, efficiency et cetera

[@MS-vv6iv]

@@spacewitch3707 also taking current inflation Into amount, it will me much more than 100bn in the end anyway.

[@MS-vv6iv]

@@spacewitch3707 and regarding hs2 Not integrating with hs1 i dont know. Maybe hs2 will integrate with hs3 ;)

[@felixthecleaner8843]

I'm a little surprised they did not tell of 'an interesting situation' that arose early on when digging at the Euston end.... a digger driver noticed what he thought were bones and so called his boss who took a look who called 'his boss'.... there were lots of bones all over the place. Naturally they were duty bound to call the police who came down to have a look...an old experienced detective suggested they go and get some people from the local university to take a look. It turned out they had disturbed a burial site from the London Plague days of the late 1600's. For the next three months the site was cordoned off and dozens of volunteers from the university and other local institutes removed all the bones photographed them and re-interred them elsewhere...these movements were always carried out in the early hours of the mornings. Apparently, in this area of Euston/Kings Cross many tens of thousands of people died from the Bubonic Plague... A colleague of mine who worked in an overlooking Islington Clinic told me about the goings on which took about three months to complete. An interesting HS2 snippet!

[@cowboyhank456]

Fascinating!

[@FloraJoannaK]

Rather bones than live ordnance. The fascinating thing about history is how it is both so far away, and close.

[@jasonx5292]

_I'd no idea about this, that is so interesting, was there any news coverage of this at the time?_

[@Rhinoch8]

Euston we have a problem lmao

[@felixthecleaner8843]

@@Rhinoch8 hahaha - awesome!

[@df1985]

I’ve been on the Shinkansen in Japan and travelled in china on their high speed rail for a month without any need for domestic flights. It really is fantastic

[@lucasrem]

domestic flights is the US, they have no Homeland, all refugees, so they fuck it all up, and move. roaming and trashing UK people just need good train service. Asians all hate other asians, domestic there? The government just tells you you need to hate them!

[@jimmyhaotran123]

Yes and both had demostrations against those projects when building them I remember. But it has shown that the governments decisions are usually in the correct direction.

[@krashd]

@@jimmyhaotran123 Governments have advisors whereas protestors only have Facebook pages created by clueless onions. I'll take the decisions of elected representatives over the naysayings of the witless Daily Mail mob any day.

[@richardwills-woodward]

Indeed but the rest of the Chinese network is non-existent. High speed only. I have been flying back and forth for 15 years (no fan of Chinese government of course) and outside the high speed network, the transport is appalling.

[@oberstleutnant787]

@@richardwills-woodward Baloney, you don't know what you are talking! Within of 2019, the length of railways in China totaled 139,000 km (86,371 mi), including 59% double tracked (83,000 km) and 71.9% electrified (100,000 km), and 35,000 kilometres (21,748 miles) of high-speed rail (HSR) network. By 2021 China's HSR exceeds 41,000 km in length. In addition China has been building highways at an amazing high speed. Since 1988, when the country's first expressway - the Shanghai-Jiading Expressway was completed, China has built over 160,000 kilometers in expressways, which is the most of any country in the world. The reason behind this efficiency is China's economic model.

[@TimothyDevinney]

The big issue in the North (where I live) is that it is a chore to get anywhere. The distance btw Leeds and Manchester is no longer than the Piccadilly line. TPE and Northern are disasters in terms of reliability. The real benefit would be going E - to - W rather than thinking that life begins and ends in London.

[@ededdynova]

100% agree and i live in the midlands

[@MDP1702]

If they build HS2 to both Manchester and Leeds, they could connect these 2 ends to form a loop, giving a travel time of around 15 minutes.

[@TheCoastermann]

London is one of largest economics powers on the planet. It takes some real arrogance to say ‘we’re better off without London, let’s building our railway east to west’ as if THAT is going to level up and THAT is going bring in the money.

[@jambott5520]

​@@TheCoastermannConnecting the north to itself better would improve the economy there, and help make the UK economy revolve less around a singular city.

[@oohkumar]

High speed rail isn’t about the north to London, it’s about the north to Europe. It’s about Birmingham to Paris while avoiding London altogether. Manchester to Brussels, Liverpool to Amsterdam, etc. People need to stop thinking so small.

[@jp1563]

Wait, how can there only be 34 football pitches of damaged space on a project this size? Sounds like some crazy high environmental standards.

[@stevieinselby]

Exactly. You say it on its own, out of context, and that sounds like a lot of damage. But put it in the frame of a major construction project building hundreds of miles of high speed rail, and it is an absolutely *tiny* ecological price to pay. (Note, the 34 football pitches is the amount of _ancient woodland_ that will be lost or at risk, it is not the sum total of all natural habitat that will go. But even so, it is a remarkably impressive feat)

[@davidty2006]

34 football pitches does sound quite small. I'd like to see the one for the M6 since it's proberbly more.

[@marcustrevor1883]

34 football pitches of Ancient woodland, there will be thousands of hectares of other land damaged but you are still right, really low price to pay.

[@misterflibble9799]

@@davidty2006 I'd like to see the one for the M40, which follows vaguely the same route, and I'll bet that a lot of the most vociferous objectors to HS2 use regularly.

[@richtreacle]

@Zockblatt Shickleblender The North needs huge amounts of investment, but remember that around 20 million people have to get in and out, around, London and the South East commuter belt - that's one third of the UK population. And in the 1990s London had a poor quality, unreliable, expensive system. We still pay high, largely unsubsidised commuter fares (eg £4k a year for a 20 minute journey from where I live to London) but quality and reliability had improved massively since the push for 2012 - but it's recent.

[@tomschutzer-weissmann5245]

They should have started building it in the North, like Leeds and worked their way back towards the South East. That way a lot of capital (cash, people, tech) would have be transferred up-front instead of being conditional on the projects success. It would be a drastic upheaval, but that's kind of the point, and something no private company could ever achieve.

[@oldvlognewtricks]

Almost as if ruling party dogma and shortsightedness got in the way 🙄

[@Ashes3123]

But that does not distribute wealth up from London, until the very end. Seems like the wrong way to go about it.

[@random6809]

@@Ashes3123 The point is that it forces the completion of the project if you do the London bit last. We all knew that the North would be left in the cold as usual.

[@tomschutzer-weissmann5245]

@@Ashes3123 I wasn't very clear, but the idea was to move the whole operation up North - financial, technical, and human capital. While it's there it will benefit the area, some of it will stay after the project ends, plus it could create jobs there.

[@b.biscuit6424]

Lol I unno, Japan's economy and population crisis ain't looking so hot atm....

[@user-mm1nt1it5v]

“Were in the climate emergency we need to be doing sustainable creation not destroying the country” High speed rail takes thousands of planes out of the air and millions of cars off the road and replaces them with 100% electric vehicles that dont need any sketchy batteries either. This is literally one of the bigggest steps from the playbook on how to be sustainable.

[@reggiesmith3866]

Take a look at how the construction of this scheme IS destroying a huge amount of beautiful countryside including irreplaceable ancient woodlands.

[@jermainetrainallen6416]

@@reggiesmith3866 It's a sacrifice which HS2 have reduces the impact of by minimising the amount of woodland needed for clearance and planting at least 2 trees for every tree cut down. They're actually increasing the amount of woodland in the long term. We need HS2 to release capacity on the existing rail network for more local and freight services which cuts carbon emissions by taking HGV's off the roads, cut domestic flights, encourage modal shift to rail from cars and stimulate economic growth .

[@jonathantan2469]

@@reggiesmith3866 Now compare that to several new highways built to handle the future traffic that was supposed to be handled by HS2. Instead of 2 lanes wide of rail, you'll now have 6 to 8 lanes... for each highway.

[@marcfleuren7691]

100% agree, climate activists who oppose this are really short sighted. People need to travel. trains > cars by a long shot for the environment as a whole.

[@MasterIceyy]

@@jermainetrainallen6416 The biggest problem for most people is that the price is ever escalating, as is the list of issues, the government fumbled the planning and execution of the project, which has damaged it's reputation substantially.

[@TheRandallraplee]

Thank you B1M. Your videos are amazing with English projects coinciding with worldwide projects. You have a formula if you will that answers many, many questions. I always look forward to seeing your next films.

[@garryferrington811]

No film involved.

[@almostanengineer]

I’m glad you touched on the capacity aspect, most journalists have ignored that part of the project, and created this hysteria about it all being about shaving 30 mins of London to Birmingham.

[@adaslesniak]

It's just lack of imagination - 30 minutes is huge. It means that Birmingham is as close as suburb. For some, who doesn't cover this distance (because it's too long for daily commute) 30 minutes once a month or once few years makes no sense, but it's the whole point that under 40minutes lot more people can move daily between those places, what is very impractical today.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

It makes the commute doable rather than draining and exhausting. Its a massive gain.

[@teddybean2]

@@adaslesniak and its nor 30 min. its 2 hours if you count with scotland!! we need to see the whole project!! and 30 min less is already more. its good. its better!!

[@davidty2006]

it's basically taking the WCML trains off the WCML till crewe whilst also making them go faster because fuck it why not.

[@almostanengineer]

@@davidty2006 exactly, one of the things I’ve heard to explain how taking the high speed services off the WML is better commuter services for Aberystwyth, because there will be more space for local services.

[@rafajanicki2456]

The quality of B1M videos is only getting better. Hands down the best construction channel on YT.

[@lucasrem]

camera quality you meant

[@newforestroadwarrior]

I remember when the Channel Tunnel was being built in the early 90s there was widespread scorn of it as being a huge waste of money, although there was also a common misconception that it was taxpayer's money (the project was actually one of the largest privately-funded projects in history).

[@everTriumph]

I believe a lot of the costs were 'written off' by government.

[@Tonydjjokerit]

Same with the Tyne and Wear Metro in the 70s!

[@robertstorey7476]

Yes and the amount it cost seemed enormous at the time but now it seems like bargain.

[@flobbertop4278]

Ju😢adding Thameslink to the list.

[@sweetfreedomGB]

Tell it to the poor sods living in the chilyerns nr great missenden and wendover, totally blighted forever

[@Sam-wb3ij]

Felt like a good day to revisit this…

[@alecwalker-ng7eg]

I think the challenge is more the willingness to cut of the north. Having come from London originally and lived in Leeds for five years including 4 years commuting back and forth for work/uni, its evidentially clear that travel in the north isn't up to scratch. The new system that removes the leg to the Yorkshire essentially makes the entire HS2 network pointless. Trains won't travel from Leeds to Birmingham, swap to HS2 network and than down to London for the sake of 20 minutes saved time without an extortionate price jump on ticket fares. And what we are given as investment to public transport is hundreds of millions of pounds thrown into bike lanes and the existing bus system which is completely unreliable and time inefficient. West Yorkshire doesn't even have good transport links to Leeds Bradford Airport and every year the links just get worse in quality but dramatically increase in price. For something sold as linking the north and south, it is essentially a quick train between London and Birmingham that essentially moves workers into Birmingham, and lets high execs of large firms to commute between the 2 biggest economic hubs, at the cost of the entire UK

[@TheBooban]

I don’t understand why they didn’t continue the route from Manchester to Leeds. Looked the most logical, rather than have a parallel line up.

[@tomsmith48]

@@TheBooban Probably a combination of having to go through the Pennine hills, which isn't insurmountable but would need extensive tunneling work, and the area is known for its natural beauty so it almost certainly wouldn't be popular in some circles. My other thought is that it would also cut out some of the major cities in the East Midlands, such as Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield, which HS2 was / is either to serve through existing lines or at least pass close to. Admittedly none of them are as big as Birmingham, Manchester or even Leeds (although I was surprised how large Nottingham's population is, and Sheffield is also significant), but combined they represent a much larger population than Leeds.

[@x_zschannel]

I somewhat agree with this, the network isn't pointless without a link to yorkshire but if there was any region that would benefit the most, it would be there. If the eastern leg was reinstated, it would directly link 6 million people to the network, and when considering the massively speed up journey times between the north-east and London, Birmingham, Midlands etc. it would benefit more like 10.3 million people.

[@ededdynova]

agreed project should of started up north and gone down you know it would of fully been completed then

[@I_like_YT_lots]

My question will be, how much are the tickets going to cost? I think the one main barrier of connecting the country is not the connections (as most major ones are already there), but the barrier to use it. If this become like the Concord, it defeats the purpose at the first place.

[@manufacturedfear]

In Spain high speed tickets in a 300mile journey vary from £60 to £100. Double that and you have the HS2 ticket price haha

[@chatteyj]

Had they opted for double decker trains I would believe all their claims about wanting to increase capacity and deliver growth for as many as possible. Instead with a single deck standard train carriage none of this will happen and the train will be used solely by the elites and politicians as ticket prices will be so high.

[@I_like_YT_lots]

@@chatteyj or perhaps by business customers which again won't benefit the wider public.

[@I_like_YT_lots]

@@manufacturedfear I think it will be more than that. I had seen one way to Manchester from London during weekdays at peak for around £250 and that was like 10 yrs ago

[@doorhanger9317]

This isn't particularly relevant as HS2 will replace existing express services along its routes. Most of the same people who pay big money to ride pendelinos will pay to ride high speed trains, because ticket cost isn't the limiting factor for them, and pricing out that customer base would be economic suicide for the project and for the swaths of employment and commerce in the UK which depend on WCML fast inter-city services. Meanwhile, each Pendelino taken off the West Coast Mainline frees up space for 2 or 3 local or freight services. Ideally the greater provision of rail service would bring costs down for people using the wider network, while enabling economic productivity and reducing traffic and road pollution, and cutting into short haul flights. It may sound almost utopian but it's important to remember that similar benefits have been consistently seen basically everywhere that has built high-speed rail, and in theory the benefit will be greater in the UK, as our railways are just so crowded, especially with fast services, compared to other places around the world. However, the scaling back of the project in the north genuinely threatens to make the project more of a burden than a benefit, essentially slamming a high speed service through existing lines and stations - exactly the problem HS2 was intended to fix

[@anneschantl8929]

I rode the fast trains in China. 4 hours for 1200kms. I’m sure they had troubles but with fast travel you then have more work options. The fast train in Russia certainly has improved travel between Moscow and St Petersburg. Means people can catch transport from the centre of London to the centre of the towns the train travels through, far better than air.

[@AndrooUK]

Fast trains abroad aren't the same as fast trains in the UK. China also has far better local transport options, and a higher population and country size to justify the expense. There are already reasonably fast trains (120mph) from London to other larger cities, yet local trains are just terrible in most of the UK.

[@anneschantl8929]

@@AndrooUK I see your point but Russia has less pop than Britain. The Moscow to St Petersburg is a pleasure to travel for 4 hrs and we are not talking 120 mph. The point is it is worth scrimping to built the infrastructure. As Japan has cut down times from 6 hrs to 1 hour making it viable to seek work in these places formerly out of reach.

[@adamme8369]

@@anneschantl8929 Since when 150 millions is les than 66? Moscow itself has bigger population than London and Birmingham put together.

[@moth5799]

@@adamme8369 They probably meant pop density.

[@Guesswhokk]

Japan - Shinkensen Maglev 505 km/h, 286km track length (90% of which are tunnels) at $64bn (Phase 1), from Tokyo to Nagoya. Construction began 2014 > 2027 (phase 1) *$223m per km and laying 22km of tracks per year* (90% of which are tunnels) UK - HS2 360km/h, 215km track length (103 km of which are tunnels) at £35bn to £45bn (Phase 1), from Euston (or Commons Oak) to Birmingham. Construction began 2017 > 2033 (Phase 1) *£209m per km and laying 13.43km of tracks per year* (48% of which are tunnels) Only UK knew how to make trains going on a *U-turn*. "Built all of it" and reap the benefit or nothing at all (said by one Northern Mayor), now, London to Birmingham is nothing but a "rich man's toy" project by cancelling all northern routes for Manchester and Leeds.

[@tdyerwestfield]

Major infrastructure projects in England need to expand from places other than London. This government's only focus is London, and as soon as London is completed, everything else is cut back. These projects need to begin in places like Newcastle, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow rather than these places being the end destination and eventually being scrapped altogether.

[@cv990a4]

Correct. You could argue that HS2 is 40 years too late. The French TGV train dates from 1981. The UK is unipolar - London is the center of finance, center of govt, center of media, arguably even center of higher education and high tech (given that Cambridge & Oxford are close to London and London also has top-flight unis of its own). Compare to the US, where DC is the center of govt, NYC is the center of finance and media, LA is the another center of media, SF is a center of high tech, etc. The UK Midlands and the north were once the center of industry, but most of that was all killed off in the 1970s and 80s. Unless you want to shift UK govt to, say, Birmingham or Manchester, there's really no meaningful scope for redistributing all the functions of London. The least you can do, the very least, is link the rest of the UK to London more closely, so that Manchester is an hour away, city center to city center, and Birmingham, say, 35 min. Bring the rest of the UK closer to London. The UK has comprehensively screwed the rest of the country, and that was one of the causes of Brexit. Investment has gone into London, London, London.

[@deivytrajan]

London is the biggest and strongest city in the UK. 10 times larger than Manchester so ofc most benefit is building in London

[@Sam-mq9cj]

Its already been cut back massively up north, look at Sheffield

[@mattaa9466]

@@Sam-mq9cj look at cumbria we are pretty much a third world country

[@marcuswardle3180]

@@deivytrajan But, we are a country as a whole not of one city. The North is decimated with most of its manufacturing gone. HS2 should have started from all centres so that if it was cancelled the built tracks could be used. Also if it was threatened with closure then the evidence of the tracks already built would be a good argument as to why it shouldn't! Perhaps the Scottish Parliament could start thee end and go for the border and then wait for the English to turn up?

[@MattyP62618]

8:20 is arguably the most important part of the video; HS2 is about pathing & freeing up space on the rails. HS2 will benefit places like Wales & Norfolk by relieving pressure on the overall network, not to mention the volumes of road freight traffic which will be moved to the rails. People like XR focus too much on the aesthetics of being "green", rather than projects like this which make a real difference on reducing carbon emissions.

[@zopEnglandzip]

indeed, west coast rail is breaking records for freight train lengths, it is at maximum capacity.

[@MaxVliet]

Probably not a lot of benefit to Norfolk as the line doesn't go anywhere near, but there will definitely be great benefits to the Midlands.

[@MattyP62618]

@@MaxVliet there's one east-west route which is often full/ delayed/ cancelled because of in part over capacity on other lines. Also paths to London & the home counties etc I suspect could be freed up because of it

[@user-nl9xh8iw4v]

spot on

[@shogun2215]

It will not benefit Wales AT ALL. HS2 doesn't go anywhere near Wales, and I sincerely doubt HS2 free up any space on existing rail lines.

[@kusakat3762]

My hometown is along the first Shinkansen line (Tokaido Shinkansen) and is about 400km away from Tokyo. I decided to work remotely from my hometown while keeping on working for an IT company in Tokyo. Living countryside offers us many advantages (raising children in a more confortable environment, taking care of parents living countryside, lowering living costs, ...), and IT technologies nearly enabled this. But "physical distances" remain a big issue when it comes to working face-to-face. This is where high speed rail comes in. It runs up to 300km/h and connects my home and my workplace (about 400km away) within 3 hours door-to-door. It runs every 5 minutes during rush hours and is almost like the underground in the UK. Once you experience this quality transport, you won't be able to go back to life without this.

[@gwho]

@Will A if the transportation is so fast an reliable, then you can set up more places that go along the railway, not just one spot along it. you can't just say higher living cost will occur. most often that occurs because of shortages, caused by government policy of restricting building development and renovation, as well as transportation not being good enough that only x distance away from the main city center gets populated. pollution exists wherever people live, and it's a matter of overall pollution habits and policies, not anything to do with rails per se. your statements are just assertions, not really guaranteed outcomes.

[@anonymes2884]

@@gwho "your statements are just assertions, not really guaranteed outcomes" We're talking about future events so by definition _everyone's_ statements are just assertions and not guaranteed outcomes. Likewise, applying what happened in Japan to the UK hinges on assumptions, projections and assertions.

[@TheRealWinser]

People often don't consider that budgets for big projects are often underestimated because of the length and complexity of said project. It is hard to accurately calculate labor and materials for something that will hopefully take place 10 years down the road. Not to mention that projects often undergo changes and reviews of the process throughout development which increases costs.

[@jg-reis]

Certainly! Although the people who _actually_ consider that budgets for big projects are often underestimated think 1) there's a difference between (say) 20% and a 180% overspend; 2) it's dishonest to be sold on an initial budget which they know is underestimated (as it happens all the time); and 3) demand cost control measures to be built in from the start, e.g. "when costs go above 20% initial budget items X and Y won't be built" -- and then we'd be debating not just the grand plan at such a low cost but the reduced plan at a higher cost which will most definitely be delivered.

[@bekicot88]

They should protest billions dollars for war in Afganistan and Iraq

[@andreasarnoalthofsobottka2928]

Quite! The costs for Stuttgart 21 went up from 2,5 bn € when planings begun in 2006 have grown to 9.8 as we speak and are supposed in the 11s when the new station will be operational in 2025. But that's just an increase of 8.5% p.a. If you subtract an average annual inflation of say 3.5% the remaining increase in real terms costs is down to 5%p.a. That should surprise nobody.

[@OmmerSyssel]

​@@bekicot88😂how about discussing why these desolate cultures needs military intervention, and of course why millions of useless travellers demands free access to others achievements?? 🤔💸💸💸

[@netizencapet]

The Swiss manage to do just that. Learn from them. Import them.

[@ecnalms851]

34 minute video about HS2, this is a blessing!

[@owenkariuki4438]

To say I had waited so much for this video would be an understatement. Another great B1M release.

[@githinjikaranja]

Niaje buda

[@michaeldunne338]

With a densely populated, compact island like what the United Kingdom occupies, surprising that something like the high speed Shinkansens with dedicated lines hasn't been put in place already. The population density is not much less than that of Japan's. If one has taken the foreign rail pass for Shinkansens and gone up and down Honshu, they would realize the benefits of high speed rail pretty quickly - the ease of travel is amazing, compared to driving and domestic air travel. And the Japanese excavated through some serious mountains, like the Japan Alps (with Japan being a pretty mountainous country). Well, the Elizabeth line was nice to try out this summer. Hope the HS2 gets completed.

[@socialistsolidarity]

Exactly, but in the UK we won't have anything close to something as efficient as the Shinkansen network because there is no political will nor any sense of imagination.

[@tenebrasmundi6995]

A similar but perhaps more apt population density comparison: England 434/km2 Honshu 447/km2

[@johnl.7754]

Japan started the high speed rail in 1964 before the country got fully developed and wealthy. Of course then it was a lot cheaper and easier (just like China now) to have it done at a much lower price (also because a lot less regulations and land compensation).

[@notnjx5270]

With the planning system it is hard to really get the political will to fight for it, indeed, the railway mentioned faces a lot of opposition from environmental party(what a joke of a party) and the government cancelled an important section of it for reasons

[@switzerland]

I think we are soon at the point where only tunnels will make financial sense, since all these legal fights are never ending and therefore increase the cost and time immensely. Just tunnel it, pay the cost, but avoid the land owners, politicians etc. It's why Switzerland could finish the Gotthard tunnel in time and on budget.

[@johnshields3658]

In 50 years' time, we won't regret having updated our national travel infrastructure. Indeed, the bigger question is surely how to align it with European networks: allowing for a few stops, it should be possible to have a high-speed train take you from Aberdeen to Naples in 15 or so hours.

[@gailforce]

Living on that route .. I can assure you it would take more than 100b for that.

[@nos9784]

You might regret uprooting another remaining part of the few old forrests. Sooner or later, nothing will be left.

[@bertiebongo]

50 years' time ill be 120, so you think i give a shit?

[@chaotiongsai]

Don’t fall into the trap. All this nonsense won’t improve your country by much just look at China, the country’s economy is dead in the water and you lose the precious natural forests only once and it’s gone forever

[@quissbird-10]

so what? Who cares about some dead trees?@@nos9784

[@Mihilomusical]

Spain has suffered the same internal division, but it really helps to connect cities and distant parts of the country together. Now private HS train companies are starting to compete on the high speed tracks lowering the prices for customers.

[@youcaninoliva]

I´m from Spain, high speed has been a failure in economic terms. It only makes sense in countries like Japan.

[@Mihilomusical]

@@youcaninoliva For an economic failure, there is an awful lot of private companies running their high speed trains in Spain (75% of which foreign companies, and only interested in High Speed even though the liberalization extends to all kinds of railway lines). Yes the infrastructure had to be built by the State and is very expensive. So are roads,airports, eléctrical networks, ports, subsidizing the renewable energies and most orher public infrastructure. A study claims the HSR in Spain are profitable, other than in Germany, France and South Korea, I can send you the link if you like. It is true, High Speed hasn't reached the Basque Country yet and people there are more skeptical than elsewhere in Spain. I think that could be your case.

[@emeraldbonsai]

@@youcaninolivait only makes sense in Japan because it’s been in Japan for so long in the first bunch of years it still didn’t make sense until more recently takes awhile for these to cause there effects

[@youcaninoliva]

Still most customers of hsr in Japan are people commuting from work to home. Middle stops are heavily populated areas

[@Mihilomusical]

@@youcaninoliva so? And Japan has a very populated lineal distribution of its cities. Its surface is 2/3 of Spain's surface and its population is 2,6 times Spanish population. Spains cities are scattered in all four corners of the country. The private companies find their operation in Spain lucrative nonetheless. What is your point? Are you worried about the companies not having enough profits? (That is nice, but they themselves do not seem to worry) I for one worry about people having fast, efficient and environmental friendly means of tranportation linking people all over Spain with each other regardless of where they live.

[@Wilipeidia]

I love high speed rail but I went and studied in Hull (about 200 miles north of London). I had friends from "Up north" who took 5 or 6 hours on train to get home that was really only half that distance it took me 3 hours included travel to and from station. It took me one train. They had to bounce between multiple. All roads may lead to Rome but all railways lead to London. I'd rather see between links between Northern Cities, or people in Wales be able to travel North to South without having to go via England, than save 30 minutes to go from London. It will lead to more London growth and less anywhere else.

[@Leo-gt1bx]

What was the cost of a return journey?

[@keithrobinson5752]

It can take over 90 minutes to get to a location in London from a distance of 13 MILES.

[@jamekrab7341]

In the USA, all rails lead to Chicago! Phoenix from Denver by rail takes 35 hours

[@oohkumar]

It’s not about London growth, it’s about connecting northern cities to Europe.

[@DavidThompson91]

I live near Leeds. We were promised HS2. Then at some point a Metro system was proposed to connect all of West Yorkshire down in to South Yorkshire at Meadowhall shopping centre as a replacement. The current "benefit" we have been promised is now that Northern rail has been re-nationalised we will have a reliable train service with none 1980s Pacer trains. The new stock isn't a million miles better (30 years late), neither is the service sadly (the staff do what they can for the most part). We've also been given a mayor who offers cheaper bus fares, on certain days. On old, unreliable, failing busses. HS2 is just something else Northerners are expected to pay for without any benefit within our lifetime, if ever, and just be thankful that other parts of the country are benefiting from it and growing on our backs. The whole northern powerhouse marketing slogan is a bit of a joke when you look at investment in the country as a whole. HS2 is just one example of how the North is just an after thought. Leveling up only works if you work from the weakest to the strongest, not always strongest outwards, at least in my humble opinion.

[@macroman54]

Exactly, I have had an argument with my local MP in Goole about this, first he promised HS2 to Leeds to help relieve the East Coast mainline and then 90 million pounds for the East to West coast Hull to Manchester line which is now unlikely to be improved for years if not decades. He is just a clown 🤡.

[@zerooneonetwothree1872]

Watching a Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister can give people an idea how these projects originated and can spark a clue towards the truth of it all. I am from Serbia and i understand this is not a British exclusive problem, its exactly the same in every country.

[@cunningpunt]

Fucking is right. The fact that electrification of the transpennine line was binned off as 'too expensive' for this pile of shit is a sick joke considering crossrail (£19bn yes BILLION). Northern powerhouse is a fucking joke. The only reason HS2 makes sense is that all and I mean all infra is founded in London. National sport, culture, political, administrive and financial center in one city then you need links to it. We are like a third world country, a capital and fuck all in the provinces. Free the north! First Scotland, the rest of us.

[@mikeyforrester6887]

There is a widespread Myth that the South East is any better than the North. My parents live near Eastbourne, it is 59 miles to London and the train takes 90 minutes. They are constantly beset with delays and cancelations and cost over £30 for a ticket. (With zero service currently due to the strikes) The road connections are all windy single carriageway except the A23(M). Brackets M means 2 or 3 lanes but no lights on large sections. The bus from my parents place to Eastbourne centre was 60p return in the nineties. It is now £2.50 single and return tickets have been scrapped. At least Leeds and the North get planned "levelling up". Due to this lie that the South East is wealthy and developed we get absolutely nothing. We've had months of road closures on the A27 which connects Eastbourne to Brighton in order to widen a small a roundabout, that's about all we get in terms of infrastructure.

[@macroman54]

@@mikeyforrester6887 There is no levelling up in the North it is all a lie. The planned HS2 to Leeds has been scrapped, the East to West mainline improvements have been scrapped or delayed by decades.

[@mckendrick7672]

Calling woodland from the 1600s "ancient" is ridiculous. We cut them all down in the first place to build ships, that's why 1600s is "ancient". Just plant some more trees elsewhere to make up for it.

[@flolook]

It is amazing to see how professional this channel is becoming. Amazing progress !

[@MrDavidht]

When it was proposed to build an underground railway from Paddington Station to Faringdon in the mid-19th century the Times newspaper described it as 'an insult to all common sense'. How would have London, indeed the UK, fared had the underground system not been built?

[@MrDavidht]

@@vardekpetrovic9716 As they say in Glasgow 'Aye that'll be right'.

[@CinemaDemocratica]

This is an absolutely superlative video. Genuinely spectacular. Everything from the layout of the story and its principals, to the production values, the script, the journalistic integrity -- I've run out of adjectives. It was just a jump-up-and-down thrill.

[@etreni]

I would recommend this to watch for my engr friends out there and also for the engr class too.

[@N0Xa880iUL]

@@etreni Sadly there's not much engineering explained here.

[@sukyatwal1754]

I fully support it. We need more projects like this.

[@CaptainMarvelsSon]

This is one of your best documentaries that I have seen. Government projects (here in the U.S., at least) always go over budget by at least 20% from the starting figure, but once they get going, they can't stop because the money will then seem wasted, and either way, some taxpayers will never be happy. To give a small example, a simple tower near my area started being built at the estimation of $800,000 and 16 months, Four years and $6,000,0000 later, they put the unfinished project on indefinite delay.

[@lucasrem]

In the US they just can't do this, the UK is communistic enough to do high speed trains

[@katherandefy]

As opposed to what? Rails free us up in almost every way. Funding comes from whatever political structure is in operation since their job is to fund things, whatever their political flavor.

[@dbclass4075]

@@katherandefy Not to mention USA has massive freight rail network. Without it, Interstates will be chocked with trucks.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

As the birthplace of the railway, Britain deserves better trains. That's a fact. Seeing British railroad history, I can't help but think of Beeching's Order 66 and how much damage he did to Britain's heritage. So of course, more trains would be a great thing for both Britain and the world in general as we look for better solutions to further advance society. I'm of course in the US, where there is also opposition to high-speed rail. People say "muh USA is big thus not viable" and yet...they forget railroads connected the country first, and towns literally popped up because of trains. Or don't know that China is also big, and their system connects EVERY province INCLUDING the two SARs as there is service to Hong Kong's West Kowloon as well as Zhuhai station being right next to the Macau border. High-speed rail has proven to lead to a real estate boom and a better quality of life. Not to mention reduce pollution. People were opposed to ICE and TGV in Germany and France respectively, and now their networks are praised. If you were driving on a highway or motorway, and there were LESS cars to deal with because of reliable trains, how would you feel?

[@dannyarcher6370]

I've missed you.

[@Shinyarc]

The scale of public transportation in Manchester and London especially makes this worth it. The underground is so far reaching and has so many lines that end-to-end entirely using rail is possible.

[@engineeringvision9507]

There is one big problem with the UK rail system: its London centric. If there were East to West lines people would object far less.

[@dbclass4075]

Though for high-speed rail to work, USA do need to invest more in mass transit. HSTs are just one component of the transport network. Japan, France, and Germany succeed because they already have other railways to complement their HSTs. In USA, with few exceptions, not so much. The car-centric development made it even more difficult. It is possible, there's just a lot of work ahead.

[@saltymonke3682]

@@dbclass4075 they are car centric because they are more sparsely populated than Europe. Another example, You wont be profitable operating a mass transit in Australia between towns like in europe, all mass transport are in big cities, not even to some suburbs because not enough people per hub spot/nod to bear the cost.

[@JScot92]

For Europe's second largest economy we really don't have much to show for it. A modest motorway network, a tiny sliver of highspeed rail and our biggest airport has just 2 runways. I think as a country we really need to get our finger out over the next couple of decades.

[@BassandoForte]

3rd largest, 4th largest, 5th largest, 6th largest... Because of Brexit we're falling behind that fast... 🤣🤣

[@dalecn2417]

@@cordfortina9073 it really doesn't

[@alfrredd]

Yeah, except for London the UK's infrastructure is pretty mediocre compared to similar economies in Europe and Asia.

[@BassandoForte]

@@cordfortina9073 - And what about those of us who can't drive due to medical reasons..?? You just expect us never to go out of our town on outings..?? 🤔

[@cameroncook2048]

@@cordfortina9073 WFH is a fad that's dying off. It's good to do once in a while but the majority of workers said they'd rather be in an office.

[@Andy-mj5je]

Love your interviews with key players on projects. It's great journalism and reporting in my opinion. Could you put captions underneath to remind us of name and roles? Love this channel!

[@peter5486]

Been watching this channel for well over a year and fascinated by it but I think you have excelled yourself with this. Extremely clear and balanced viewpoint on a massive infrastructure project and incredibly well produced. Come away from it very very happy to have watched such a high quality production that should encompass everyone's opinions! Thanks!

[@michealnguyen4989]

Lately I’ve been thinking of buying cryptocurrency for retirement, I’ve set asides $350k to invest but along the line,I usually get cold feet, maybe because I have no idea what I’m doing, please I could really use some guidelines.

[@jeanstrassl9956]

@@michealnguyen4989 In situations like this,I always recommend to people on getting guidance at least from someone that understands price action and all that while you strive on improving yourself by watching videos and learning fundamental analysis.

[@camachoschubert868]

Investment guidance sounds like a great idea,thought about it before but never knew how to go about it.

[@joachimmilberg2313]

@@camachoschubert868 I started investing in cryptocurrency a little while ago and I’ve come to realize nothing beats first hand experience..Investing with Juan Antonio Landa has been the best experience ever.

[@eduardonied9226]

Wow…..Juan Antonio Landa?

[@hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156]

Amazing episode. Very impressive. I live in Montréal, Québec, and back in the 70's and 80's, we started working on the James Bay hydroelectric project. It was huge, it cost a lot to build it but it also cost a lot in reparations to the various First Peoples living in the area and whose lands would partially be flooded. It was a complex process and not everyone was happy. I can tell you though, almost 50 years later, everyone here understands what a smart investment it was. And what seemed like an adventurous enterprise gave us the social expertise to build more of them. What used to be known as LG-2 now bears the name of the Premier who launched the project, Robert-Bourassa hydroelectric station.

[@lucasrem]

Canada should be communistic enough to do high speeds railways, in the US, taxes, no way!

[@andrewreynolds4949]

@@lucasrem Canada is arguing over a high speed line from Toronto to Montreal via Ottawa. The US actually has more high-speed rail than Canada, and is building more.

[@cv990a4]

@@lucasrem Canadian rail is, generally speaking, even more pathetic than in the US, which is saying something.

[@krashd]

@@cv990a4 Canada has, I believe, the second largest landmass after Russia but around half the population of the UK - Canada can be forgiven for not connecting cities that are thousands of miles apart.

[@cv990a4]

​@@krashd Half of Canada lives in the corridor from Windsor, ON (by Detroit) to Quebec City, which is about 700 miles long. Within that are distances like Toronto to Montreal (500 km), Toronto to Ottawa (less than 400km) and Ottawa to Montreal (less than 200km). Canada, it turns out, is vast, but its population is highly concentrated into a very few places. So, perhaps not so forgiveable.

[@StephenSmith-ge1qf]

High speed rail in Italy has been a great success, is affordable, efficient and very popular. One of the problems in the UK is the absolute idiocy of the piecemeal privatisation of services, where the taxpayer subsidises various operators (usually venture capital consortia or overseas train operators looking for an easy source of cash) who run overcrowded and inefficient services with underpaid staff and a ludicrous fare system. Many fear that the HS2 will just be another exercise in handing chunks of taxpayers' money to the same people to run an unaffordable service on a line which has cost a ridiculous amount of money in the first place. Maybe if there were lessons learnt from the French, German and Italian railways it might actually be successful.

[@davidjma7226]

Agree. On a continent with established culture of rail between them. Apply the same thinking to a damp rocky island.....with a tiny % of the EU population and problems will appear.

[@feynman6625]

Stephen , don't leave out Spain. We have the largest high speed railway network in Europe. Ahead of France, italy and Germany. The third in the world. Same with highways.

[@maly2ts408]

@@davidjma7226 true what you have said but you have not mentioned another group that rightly or wrong every so often throw a spanner in the works.

[@jeffspaulding9834]

@pyropulse There's more than one definition of inefficient. Those services may be economically efficient (i.e. providing the minimum required service for the highest possible price), but that's not the definition of inefficient a passenger is thinking of when they're actually using those services.

[@saltymonke3682]

Funny thing that privatization of railways in Japan is what has saved them. Privatization on the public sector isn't always bad, same thing with publicly funded mass transport isn't always good or can sustain itself sustainably, Chinese HSR for example, all of them are in massive debt, can't even meet their operating cost without more public funding with less passengers than expected and even with those still losing money. It's operated by an SOE btw.

[@polpojliekwanjaroen3511]

Please continue the project. UK needs a mega project to push the country forward for ages but hasn't had any for years. The country is still struggling with income inequality, high property price, disparities of wealth between London and others, and this project is a sound step toward the solution of these problems. Infrastructure is very beneficial for the economy, and the UK already has little or no room left for fickling around while the rest of the world moves forward and leaving it behind. The compensation were made for the displaced houses, and measures were done to alleviate the environmental damages. I don't know what else do people expect. The country is gonna finally have a sounding project, and people still gonna to scrap it away. Please, continue the project, and even better, do it in the full potential, despite the high cost. This country needs it.

[@donc123dc]

Fantastic work! I have watched all The B1M content and enjoyed everything, but this was incredible. Thank you.

[@adodgygeeza]

The big issue is incrementalism or lack thereof, they should have designed as an outline a full high speed rail network, then built th easiest bit with an acceptable cost benefit ratio. They could have them made all the mistakes on that more cheaply while also building useful stuff away from London.

[@pagheca]

My wife was traveling Cardiff to Manchester once a week. The train was a Diesel bus on wheel. Not joking, they really have it there. Dirty, noisy, slow. PATHETIC! I like HS2 but without completely reshuffling the whole system I really can't see the poimt of spending 100 B£ to enrich a few companies.

[@davecooper3238]

I have seen reports that the Sprinters had been phased out. Are the reports inaccurate ?

[@p42uynot59]

@@pagheca 😂 I read your first paragraph… pathetic. I think in the long term HS2 will be a success IF completed in a reasonable time.

[@pagheca]

@@davecooper3238 I am talking about 2018, not long ago. The situation may have changed.

[@DanielkaElliott]

Totally agree. If they used a tiny fraction of that money to electrify trains or build housing in the country side it'd have a more immediate positive impact. Idk if this'll benefit Birmingham I think it'll just draw more wealth into London and exclude lots of people from it.

[@decipherd]

Great video, although we should remember that "spending money" doesn't just make it disappear, ultimately the money is going back into the pockets of people working on the scheme. I'd love to see some analysis of how much of that stays in the UK vs going to foreign engineering/investment.

[@8bitorgy]

Wrong on so many levels. First of all, that tax money couldve been used on something else. Second, the people could've been doing something else. Third, resources were drained. Fourth, most of that money goes to the biggest contractors so they can buy another BMW. Finally, this public infrastructure spending doesn't expand the market, it actually reduces it.

[@mrb152]

Spending money poorly is actually a waste. It ties up the labor of thousands of people who could otherwise be productive. If spending money for the sake of spending money was always a net positive then we could just have them dig a hole and fill it back up.

[@derrekvanee4567]

Back to the top level politician who can short the old tech and long the project thwy are promoting in gvnt. Our system needs a major overhaul. Do you remember when gvnt worked?

[@lonestarr1490]

@@mrb152 He didn't say you should spend money just for the sake of spending money...

[@bendixon800]

@@8bitorgy few things will provide better returns on investment than a govt investing in infrastructure. It was true in the 30s, it was true in the 50s, it’s true now.

[@SpaceDoodle2008]

As I live in Germany, I think the problem about this whole project is that is far too late since our ICE Network was already too late to establish so now a lot of the routes and train stations have to be being rebuilt what takes a lot of money and time. And besides: In Germany, they would put the forest down istead of digging a tunnel under it.

[@AWellesley]

Germany still has a lot of forest so cutting some of it down for a rail project is acceptable. The UK destroyed almost all of their forests hundreds of years ago for shipbuilding and to make room for farmland. It means we must cherish & protect the few patches of forest that are left.

[@gavinathling]

As time goes by it becomes pretty clear that a) we need to invest in infrastructure; b) all infrastructure projects end up costing a lot; and c) people forget the cost pretty soon after they travel through the channel tunnel for the first time, for example.

[@chriswareing1991]

its fine investing in things but when it takes so long to build you think whats the point. time they finish it in 2041 it will be outdated and we wont need it, china knock things out in about 2 years this country is so slow at everything, most countries have had high speed rail for years ie japan france spain

[@muhammedkeser7064]

@@chriswareing1991 Umm, it really doesn't take long to finish. The project get the approvals in 2017 and 2019. Most of the major structures will be finished before or in 2026. 2041 is the bit where it takes to the North because things aren't clear for that part yet, politically. So, my point is that actual construction takes about 3-6 years depending the type of the asset ie. viaduct, cutting, underground tunnel etc...

[@TalesOfWar]

A lot of people have already forgotten the cost and delays in Crossrail too, and that only opened in May... and isn't even fully open yet. People started to use it and realise that oh, this is actually pretty good.

[@TalesOfWar]

@@muhammedkeser7064 I hope they go back to the underground station at Manchester Piccadilly when (or if, at this point) they agree on the next phase, and to tunnel in to it rather than build a viaduct over prime real estate for actual expansion the city so desperately needs. I'm also hoping they go back to the idea of it being a pass through station and not a terminus so it can be easily extended later on. It'll make life so much easier and cheaper if they do that for when we inevitably need to expand onwards to make a new link to Leeds or something.

[@p_serdiuk]

@@chriswareing1991 It's very hard for rail to become "outdated".

[@JohnFromAccounting]

Its rarely a bad time to invest in infrastructure. Ludwig II of Bavaria was criticized (and perhaps murdered) for his "extravagant spending", but his constructions are the most profitable buildings in Germany for how much business they create for tourism.

[@doesnt_exist_]

I love the phrase “planting trees whose shade they’ll never sit in” to describe those types of projects.

[@trungson6604]

Agree, however, given the energy crisis that Europe is facing now, it would be more vital to focus efforts to build up renewable energy and hydrogen infrastructures to replace the natural gas supply from Russia. High-speed train projects can wait ! Off-shore wind turbines in the North Sea and solar farms in Spain and North Africa can be used to produce electricity and hydrogen to replace natural gas, so all infrastructure funding must be diverted to fulfill those goals, to build hydrogen pipelines and electric power lines from those areas back to Britain.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

@@trungson6604 That's important, too, but it relies largely on technological developments that haven't happened yet.

[@TroyMass]

It would be really interesting to do a video comparing the cost of massive infrastructure projects from the past to projects today. Things like bridges, existing rail networks, dams, power plants, water filtration and sewers, etc that we all rely on today and don't think about how much they cost previous generations dozens or hundreds of years ago.

[@nickbrown5457]

Couldn't agree more! We need new 'stuff', otherwise we'll gradually become a backward nation living off it's past glories.

[@zaixai9441]

The difference is, we already have railways, they just need updating. The issue isn't they are building something expensive, it's that it's just not going to benefit the vast majority of people, but will inconvenience lots of individuals and companies. We aren't talking about building a bridge that will cost a fraction of the price or a new road.

[@anthonyfaucy2761]

@@zaixai9441 How is that true? If anything it will benefit the majority of people being able to travel over long distances in a short amount of time. You haters just need to admit that its because of your excessive greed and not wanting others to succeed is why you are hating projects like hs2

[@zaixai9441]

@@anthonyfaucy2761 have you seen the price of regular trains? How will the average person be able to afford it?

[@anthonyfaucy2761]

@@zaixai9441 Get a better job thats how

[@TomPageNet]

I'm really excited by HS2. I know it has its problems, and I understand concerns about the cost (although I think if we had more consistent planning we'd have less of the stop/start so less cost risk). But I wanted to say your graphics in this are just lovely - well done!

[@uzin0s256]

Yea but. The point was to connect north and south. Thats not what its doing.

[@KOL630]

You can already get from london to the midlands in a decent timeframe on virgin trains. This is a pointless vanity project and an insane act of destruction upon the British countryside. The Government are masters of wasting money and I’d love to see the actual evidence of the benefits they are purporting I.E. ‘local’ job creation etc. For 37 mins reduction in travelling time, the cost of billions of pounds does not seem commensurate to the benefits gained.

[@panfu4944]

@@uzin0s256 It exactly does what it supposed to do. There is no capacity between London and north anymore and there's a strong need for more tracks to carry more passengers. Very simple. And your moaning won't change it. The truth is, the government fucked up the advertising side of this project. It's never been about a few minutes shorter trip. It's always been about a growing capacity.

[@uzin0s256]

@@panfu4944Litterally the first phase of the project is connecting London to Bimringhyam. Thats going to be completed between 2028 and 2033. The original purpose of the project was to connect norhtern cities like Leeds To the south of England. But since phase 2b was cancelled. That isnt happening.

[@hbsblkk3842]

@@uzin0s256ah well, connecting London to Birmingham will have to do for now.

[@giovannigarcia9972]

One of the biggest problems I find with HS2 is the lack of integration. Building a new terminal in Birmingham rather than using the existing Birmingham New Street terminal with connections to the rest of the network. Plus the route is questionable at best, if it was really about helping the Midlands and the North, then surly a route between the Northern cities should have been prioritised; either HS3 (Liverpool-Manchester-Leeds-Hull), or even just building phase 2 first (Birmingham-Manchester and Birmingham-Leeds). The fact that there's reports that people will have to purchase tickets in advanced just makes this worse. I'm a massive advocate for high-speed rail, but HS2 just does not cut it. It's much more about giving London access to the Midlands than levelling-up or anything else this government pretends to care about.

[@domesticcat1725]

To be fair, the thing with ordering tickets in advance can be changed in the future. But the rest definitely is an issue that should've been worked out in advance

[@joegrey9807]

There's no space at New St. But Curzon Street will be next to Moor Street and about 5 minutes walk to New St. HS2 will also have direct services to many stations on existing routes. As for the advance ticketing, which probably would be implemented, that's to ensure everyone gets a seat. You can currently buy 'advance tickets' right up to the time of departure, and I doubt that will change, the extra capacity will just make it very unlikely you won't be able to get a ticket.

[@Efsane312]

Think all the skilled team members on the HS2 project havent thought that through? xD They of course did. New street station would have been a bottleneck to this project had it been chosen.

[@TheEcoClimber]

New Street station in Birmingham is only about 900m from the Victorian Curzon Street Station. New Street ran out of capacity back in the 1970's. Moor Street Station is also very close. The HS2 designers have done a good job of the Birmingham layout, as the bottlenecks are avoided by following the original Victorian layout for the stations :) It's shown on the video here. You can see the Rotunda which is next to New Street Station & the Victorian White building with scaffolding is the original Curzon St station. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fISnZqOpbsd_h5I

[@DavidKnowles0]

High speed means the route has to be a straight as possible. People will have to purchase tickets in advance, about 5 seconds in advance using a app on their phone. I have done this on other routs that apparently require booking in advance. It no big problem and will certainly be standard by the time HS2 is completed.

[@DeWorDeR]

This is very important for infrastructure to build those before people build more on the land coz when the line is filled with buildings it's almost impossible to build this without destroying things.

[@darrenhillman8396]

An engaging and well-produced video, balancing comment with largely a positive view towards the project. We only have to look back at the Channel Tunnel which equally polarised opinion. You have a like and another subscriber.

[@David-xh9cw]

Brilliant guys!! Detailed, balanced review with so much different context we don't usually get. Fantastic review of this project.

[@terencemichaels]

One of their best to date i'd say.

[@David-xh9cw]

@@terencemichaels Yeah it's nice to see a bit of depth into something that affects the UK (well if you're from the UK it is) and can add to public discourse on infrastructure rather than another empty billionaire vanity project in Manhattan, Middle East or China, not that I don't thoroughly enjoy those videos too ;)

[@weeksy79]

The biggest things with HS2 are that it needs to be faster, and the fares need to be so low you barely think about it. Fuel prices might be going up, but as soon as it’s more than just on person making the trip, driving becomes FAR cheaper than current train costs. I want to be able to go from London to Manchester in 30 mins and for it to cost £10

[@__III__]

30 minutes are you crazy? How do you expect a train to reach speeds of 800 miles per hour?

[@weeksy79]

@@__III__ where did you get 800 miles an hour from?

[@keithrobinson5752]

Door-to-door is what people's journeys are, not rail station to rail station.

[@jasoneynard3160]

In France, where TGV train stations were build the local real estate flew to sky... Paris to Lyon in just 2 hours, 433km, since 1981 with SNCF TGV. Prices go from 60 to 170 euros for back-and-forth.(Lille/Marseille : 4h56)

[@Matthy63]

Tbh I'm definitely someone who sings the praises of TGV everywhere I go (There's nothing like having to pay eye watering fares for relatively slow trains in the UK to realize how spoiled we are in France). That said, TGV has the same problem a few others have raised regarding HS2: it's still hugely Paris-centric. Getting to and from Paris from most of the other urban centers in the country is a breeze, but if you want to go from say, somewhere in the south west to somewhere in the south east, it takes absolutely forever and the shortest route might actually be via Paris (in practice, it's probably a Ryanair). Since high speed lines are very costly, only a few have actually been built since the 90s, two big ones being Paris-Strasbourg and Paris-Bordeaux, and to pick up the slack some of the remaining connections are often just TGV trains running on regular tracks at slower speeds - it's not everywhere you get to be on the cool high speed lines that are like 300kph. It's very cool, but I think there's a lot more left to be done and there needs to be the political will to occasionally care about anything south of the Loire. The big one that's missing to connect the south and ease some pressure off of Paris stations and regional airports is definitely Bordeaux-Toulouse-Montpellier, which of course is likely quite expensive given some of the terrain involved versus less obvious passenger flows.

[@Matthy63]

As for the nutters complaining about how HS2 is bothering the badgers I'm like... I'm sure having the main London to Scotland link continue to be air travel and motorways is just great for English wildlife.

[@brianmorris8045]

People complaining about the HS2, don't seem to have any vision at all.

[@micheltbooltink]

Building public transport the right way will cost a lot in the short term. But, because it will be around a very long time, it will be cheaper in the long term. Building half the rail that was intended will safe some money now but will decrease the profit in the future.

[@brunoheggli2888]

Gives also a lot of jobs!

[@seraphina985]

Something that needs to be made clear for those worried about the woodland, this is much better for the woodland than an equivalent capacity 8 lane (4 each direction) motorway. Not only will the latter cut a much wider swath it will be a constant endless roar of tire noise at all hours day in day out, trains make a noise for a few seconds every 10 minutes or so and carry a thousand or more cars worth of people. Also you can breathe comfortably next to an electrified railway line, good luck trying that next to an 8 lane motorway.

[@OnTheRailwayOfficial]

Exactly, exactly what I challenge people when they oppose HS2.

[@tams805]

If there's good shielding as well, you'll barely notice it.

[@davidty2006]

Hmmmm a good example of a ridiculess motorway is only right next to HS 2 aka the M6. The worst motorway in britain along side the M25.

[@XMysticHerox]

And highways also generally cost more both to build and to maintain.

[@joemeyer6876]

Stunning visuals, excellent editing, thorough, balanced content. This piece should win an award.

[@Mr__Chicken]

I honestly dont think you can put a price on something like this. Not only do you get the economic growth but it's so much easier for friends and family and tourists to get around. Day trips, dates, ameneties all become viable. It's a huge step up and as someone thats suffered riding northern trains that go 30mph, im so ready for HS2.

[@nathaniliescutotherescue6047]

Dates? mate are you 17?

[@decrulez]

@@user-zp5nn6kr5sthe Tory’s bend over backwards for their only remaining voting block so that’s guaranteed.

[@texasslingleadsomtingwong8751]

I bet a politician who has stock in the construction company can .

[@_PresidentSkillz]

I really like these more deep-dive kind of videos instead of just "this incredible project of construction will redefine everything and bring prosperity everywhere" as you often did in the past

[@jaystonn]

🤣🤣🤣

[@marcusdawes9632]

Currently working on HS2, the amount of wasted time and resources is incredible. There’s always a saying based in construction..‘you always know when it’s a public project’. Companies are treating it like a blank cheque knowing that public money in essence won’t run out, they are far too long in the tooth to cancel the project now, so it has to choice to continue.

[@BillboBirsay]

And the people who own the construction companies are all friends with current MPs. No wonder the timescale and budget gets more and more out of hand.

[@Aaron19987]

Get us a job mate, 360 operator and work hard. Looking for a job where I do fuck all and rip off the public funding 😄🤑. I’ve seen lots of advertised jobs for HS2 and it seems to be really decent pay, so clearly these contractors must be giving quotes that you’d faint at lol

[@sb3123]

Literally chilling at C23 😂😂

[@IshtarNike]

Yet public projects are one of the only ways to get genuinely transformative infrastructure. Even with private financing there's usually a clause or two making the government bear the ultimate risk. Private companies simply do not want to take big risks like that. Perhaps the answer is reduce the number of private contractors and build up a fully public set of enterprises that can make infrastructure without the incentive to bleed public coffers for profit.

[@lawrenceholden5716]

@@IshtarNike then they go on strike every two minutes and hold the job to ransom, can't win.

[@t23001]

Excellent report! It's amazing how youtube based journalists are producing news and analyses that are far superior and less politically biased than what we're seeing from mainstream media companies. The problem of youtube censorship looms large, but a lot of great work is still making its way to the public.

[@roberthayter157]

Just what I thought. Very high standards on this channel.

[@englishjona6458]

😂 listen carefully it’s all in there

[@spinner4148]

No surprise, they're too small to have reached late-stage capitalism yet. It's a tale as old as time. Once a company gets to a certain size it runs out of ethical ways to grow and starts to pursue alternative means to satiate shareholders. Expectations and demands of unending growth are what created today's mainstream media.

[@Digrient]

This particular channel is excellent but there is also a lot of fake news and agenda-driven crap on KZbin. It's just a platform.

[@5688gamble]

The best thing to do with maor infrastructure projects is to get them done as fast as possible, even if the upfront cost is hig. Prices tend to soar as you wait, which tends to make continued approval difficult to maintain. People are so invested in the status-quo that if you wish to disrupt it, you have to do it quick. Devote as much of your resources to it as possible, get it done and prevent it form becoming an inflationary nightmare!

[@garethryan4126]

Another fantastic video Fred. I have been a subscriber since the very beginning and have been amazed by how quickly the quality and depth of the videos has improved. As someone who lives in Leeds, it was great to see Leeds feuture so much in your video, Leeds truly is a great city. It is a fact often quoted in Leeds that Leeds is the largest city in Europe without an integrated travel system. No trams, to extensive rail or underground for a city region of 1.4 million people! If London really was building HS2 to level up the North, wouldn’t you start building it in the north first? Or start building from both ends and meet in the middle? There has been bitter disappointment here, and resignation, that HS2 won’t really reach or benefit Leeds or Yorkshire. What’s really needed is a fast railway line that links Leeds with Manchester - the two biggest cities in the North. Atm, it takes well over an hour by train to get to Manchester and it is really expensive, infrequent and often cancelled in winter if it snows. What about Liverpool and Newcastle and up to Scotland? I think ultimately people up here will feel more left behind than levelled-up and it will take generations longer before there is true equality between the North and South/London.

[@andrewreynolds4949]

There is still the current Trans-Pennine route upgrade from Manchester to the ECML at York. It's a smaller step but at least it's something. The next step for Leeds I would think is to start building a domestic mass transit system, maybe a tram network like Sheffield.

[@ballisticmissl7919]

29:18 I have walked past that junction before for my dofe and the viaduct being built on the right is absolutely impressive. Even if it is hugely expensive, the scale really is massive and it's awe-inspiring

[@robertgiles9124]

And the Bills for this uneeded Rail are gonna be coming in forever. Get yer wallet out Mate. Keep it out.

[@HarryInEdi]

The flipside of speedy connectivity is that Birmingham (and other places) become a London suburb. Winchester is a perfect example. Just over an hour away on morning and evening direct trains, people on London salaries price out locals on local salaries. Locals can now work in London, but they are just playing catch-up.

[@Pirate44444]

yeah just like how the channel tunnel just made france a london suburb

[@AllenGraetz]

In what bizzarro world do we live in where we think it's EFFECIENT for people to live even farther from work?!?!????

[@lozoft9]

@@AllenGraetz You're missing the frame of reference. Right now, people are commuting on slower trains and in cars. HS2 would be more efficient than *that.* But yes, they should instead be building more housing or moving jobs out to Birmingham, Manchester, etc. After the Yorkshire stretch was borked, they started focusing more on HS2 as commuter rail, instead of a replacement for car and flight

[@dingus_doofus]

Well, playing catch-up to the top is good though. It's good if some of the London economy spills over to the country. Isn't that what everyone wants? In the end London does have limited physical capacities and everyone won't just be a London worker now anyway.

[@HarryInEdi]

@@dingus_doofus Yeah, it's tricky. I think was originally saying was that there is a risk by improving connectivity of London to the country (with the intended result of greater wealth in those places) just makes London more wealthy, elite, and powerful, and means XYZ corporation can shut their Birmingham office, and just say 'commute to London'. Obviously this is a massive oversimplification, and I am not qualified in this haha. The other option is to do what New Labour did in Manchester. Physically move public bodies from London to these cities, triggering a huge urban regeneration as money pours in. Like how the BBC now has many jobs in Media City up there. Now some people move from London to Manchester for work, which would be so unlikely 30 years ago.

[@hetchelletomikko-n3929]

I find this fascinating; in the modern ages, you see this sort of major rail projects in affluent countries getting this kind of pushback. Be it my country, Japan, the UK, the US... I wonder, how did the existing network come to be? That people have taken the network for granted in some countries, or are people nowadays so short-sighted? There is always eggs that need to be broken for the good of the country, nothing comes with no damages.

[@PerfectSnowball]

The issue there is that our current rail networks are a joke, it's hard to be excited about future projects in the sector.

[@jambott5520]

​​@@PerfectSnowballthis attitude is insane to me. Surely if our current existing networks are a joke you should be excited for new networks, or improvements to the current one?

[@Isoweb1000]

I remember watching your channel as it started growing a few years ago. Now you are making some of the best documentaries on infrastructure anywhere to be found. So much fun to see this development.

[@HardwareLust]

Brilliant video guys. You are absolutely one of the best channels on KZbin. Seeing the similarities and differences between all of these massive rail projects (California, Stuttgart 21, Delhi and HS2) is really fascinating.

[@ollieparry3918]

I would love more longer in depth videos like this! Well done!

[@Soiedelune]

An extremely well-made documentary. The narrator was talking to the chief executive of HS2 whilst standing behind the building I live in, overlooking the reconstruction of Euston station. I am completely against HS2 and not because I don't like big infrastructure projects but because those in charge were duplicitous and dishonest. Before the project got started in 2012, our neighborhood committee met with HS2 and asked them for plans. They had none and were unwilling to share anything before the parliamentary vote on the project. One of my neighbors, part of this group, was Boris Johnson’s father. When he saw what a mess the project was going be, he promptly sold his house and moved away. One thing that was mentioned in this documentary was that parliament weren't given all the facts before voting on the project. Because if they were, they wouldn't have voted for it. Now we are in a position of having no choice and those that are affected by the project will be so for more than double the years that were planned for construction. I will probably be dead by the time it's completed. HS2 is a study in how not to bring a major project to a country. Time will outpace the benefits of HS2 and in the end, rather than having a well-thought-through projects that benefits all, we will have a very high-priced one, spun to look like it's really great when actually the opposite is true.

[@mattprentice4347]

I’ve been waiting for the B1 M to do a full program on HS2 and I’m not disappointed this was great thank you

[@DADDELIVERS]

Awesome video thanks - Fun fact about the tower blocks at 4:22 We lived near these in the late eighties and a TV reporter neighbour friend told us that the cladding work being done on them at the time was a front to disguise the real work going on to pin the walls to the floors correctly as they were in danger of falling apart! Anyway, thanks again

[@pppphillip]

This project reminds me of "Stuttgart 21", which is also a big railway project in Germany with a great controversy. The aim is also to cut down travel time between cities and improve connections. There are many people who are argueing about it but at the moment the building process is working and in a few years the project will be finished and ready to bring better infrastructure to the regional area. Building has it's issues but it has many benefits

[@trol0lolol0lolol0]

It seems to me that the controversy around projects like Stuttgart 21 and HS2 arise from the fact that the design assumptions and the scale of investment are questionable. Surely both projects will be great when in service (e.g. they do what they were designed to do), but the proportionality between the project cost and benefits might be far from optimal, especially when considering more simple alternatives. For HS2, the relatively small distance between cities in combination with a very high designed speed of 250mph seems problematic. Compared to somewhat slower speed like max 200mph or 160mph, construction and operating costs (energy, maintenance) are much higher while the effective travel time benefits are often surprisingly small. If the high costs were reflected in the ticket prices, many people might choose a cheap, but somewhat slower option about a slightly faster, but much more expensive option.

[@rey6708]

@@trol0lolol0lolol0 the problem is more the capitalistic society we live in. infrastructure is the most important thing but the moment the privat sector gets theire hands on it everything starts to crumble to max out profits. we should start to think more like the romans and build what we need no matter the cost. i mean, they probably had idiots that opposed building roads in france spain england and other parts of theire empire but guess what, it was worth it cause many still get used today.

[@michaelmichael2382]

@@rey6708 if an Infrastructure project is Profitable its a good thing, its a sign thats its needed

[@rey6708]

@@michaelmichael2382 profit cant be weighted trough currency alone.

[@dna9838]

The cost and time required to build this thing is ridiculous. It's both a damning indictment of our ability to get things done, and testament to our considerate approach to big projects where all views get airtime, everyone's needs are considered. Special interest groups can really hold things up because it doesn't sit comfortably with Britons to force things through. In many other countries, concerns would be dismissed. Cheaper, quicker, with consideration of the needs of the affected.

[@adamclarkson829]

Great video. Nicely balanced and it was good to see Leeds focussed on. My only correction is that the ‘billions’ you said have been spent on local infrastructure around the region in Leeds has not been ‘spent’ - it has only been ‘promised’. And government is yet to actually cough up for the amount it has promised to cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Bradford.

[@jakehowie442]

and Liverpool and Newcastle too.

[@sil8127]

Did you see the Depp/Heard trial? If you promise money it is the same as just giving it…..

[@paulwild3676]

Bradford doesn’t even have a proper connection and it has half a million people living in it. You couldn’t make it up.