Campaign grows to switch the building of HS2 station to Sheffield city

[Robin-H 11]

1 minute ago, ECCOnoob said:

What a very strange comment.

 

For some parts of the outer reaches of Sheffield there are bus routes and even drives into the same city that take 40 minutes plus.

 

Ask anyone down the South East and the average commute can be double or triple that time each way.

 

Blimey, even one of my old jobs which was only located as near as a suburb in chesterfield took me nearly an hour each way from my house.

 

Whilst I would get fully behind any incentive to get people working close to home, you have to be realistic.

They said 40 mile, not 40 minute. 

[ECCOnoob 1,040]

8 hours ago, Robin-H said:

They said 40 mile, not 40 minute. 

Oops.  I stand corrected.   Late night and all that. 

 

Carry on everyone....

[tinfoilhat 11]

8 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

What a very strange comment.

 

For some parts of the outer reaches of Sheffield there are bus routes and even drives into the same city that take 40 minutes plus.

 

Ask anyone down the South East and the average commute can be double or triple that time each way.

 

Blimey, even one of my old jobs which was only located as near as a suburb in chesterfield took me nearly an hour each way from my house.

 

Whilst I would get fully behind any incentive to get people working close to home, you have to be realistic.

Dont talk to me about the South East commuters! Christ on a bike, I've been in standing traffic on the lower reaches of the M1 before 6.30 and there's no accident, no special event, just volume of traffic. And I always think to myself "You lot choose to do this everyday?!?"

 

40 mins, yeah that's not a daft amount of time. 40 miles at rush hour, twice a day, every day - bonkers. 

[ECCOnoob 1,040]

4 hours ago, tinfoilhat said:

Dont talk to me about the South East commuters! Christ on a bike, I've been in standing traffic on the lower reaches of the M1 before 6.30 and there's no accident, no special event, just volume of traffic. And I always think to myself "You lot choose to do this everyday?!?"

 

ke40 mins, yeah that's not a daft amount of time. 40 miles at rush hour, twice a day, every day - bonrs. 

It is.  But if that's where the best jobs are - you go.  If that's where the clients are - you travel. 

 

Its an ever globalised world is business.   The days of us all living in cute little hamlets dealing with each other a short stroll from everywhere are long gone. 

 

As I have made out before, bearded hipsters in California may try to sell the concept that the entire world can be reached by just a few clicks whilst sat in your home armchair but for most of us, the reality is nothing like that.  

Edited February 13, 2020 by ECCOnoob

[Longcol 600]

Just now, ECCOnoob said:

It is.  But if that's where the best jobs are - you go.  If that's where the clients are - you travel. 

 

Its an ever globalised world is business.   The days of us all living in cute little hamlets dealing with each other a short stroll from everywhere are long gone. 

And that's what HS2 will perpetuate - it'll just increase the spread of the London commuter belt northwards.  Paid for by all the country.

[tinfoilhat 11]

2 minutes ago, ECCOnoob said:

It is.  But if that's where the best jobs are - you go.  If that's where the clients are - you travel. 

 

Its an ever globalised world is business.   The days of us all living in cute little hamlets dealing with each other a short stroll from everywhere are long gone. 

I get that - I go where the best clients are, which this weekend involves driving down to the South coast in a lightly loaded Luton van which will be entertaining.

 

But when I'm sat in traffic, it often looks, and looks can be deceiving, that I'm not queuing up with high powered movers and shakers but call centre drones and the like. In my 15 min drive to the warehouse, I drive past umpteen industrial estates - I walk the dog past one and could walk to a couple of others (a mute point when I've a ton of equipment to shift but its not always the case) but the price difference in rent is HUGE. How many locals in drive past say, Holbrook industrial estate, to do a similar job in Rotherham or chesterfield, when 70 years ago they'd have walked to work.

 

We're lining up different ways to get people to a job 40 miles away, 20 years down the line when maybe we should be incentavising business to hire local?

[Longcol 600]

4 minutes ago, tinfoilhat said:

I get that - I go where the best clients are, which this weekend involves driving down to the South coast in a lightly loaded Luton van which will be entertaining.

 

But when I'm sat in traffic, it often looks, and looks can be deceiving, that I'm not queuing up with high powered movers and shakers but call centre drones and the like. In my 15 min drive to the warehouse, I drive past umpteen industrial estates - I walk the dog past one and could walk to a couple of others (a mute point when I've a ton of equipment to shift but its not always the case) but the price difference in rent is HUGE. How many locals in drive past say, Holbrook industrial estate, to do a similar job in Rotherham or chesterfield, when 70 years ago they'd have walked to work.

 

We're lining up different ways to get people to a job 40 miles away, 20 years down the line when maybe we should be incentavising business to hire local?

It always strikes me as odd when I come back to England. The ferry lands in Portsmouth and on a weekday at 7am the M27 is chokka - it seems like half the population of Southampton is going the 20 miles to Portsmouth and half the population of Portsmouth is going  20 miles to Southampton - once you turn N on the M3 the traffic thins out considerably.

 

It can take an hour on a weekday to get to the M3 from the ferry - on a weekend less than 20 minutes.

[taxman 12]

The Chinese state owned railway builder have said they can knock up the entire HS2 in 5 years. The UK government has held preliminary talks about it.

 

 

 

 

[melthebell 863]

5 minutes ago, taxman said:

The Chinese state owned railway builder have said they can knock up the entire HS2 in 5 years. The UK government has held preliminary talks about it.

 

 

 

 

And safety will be at the bottom of the list sigh

[Baron99 794]

27 minutes ago, taxman said:

The Chinese state owned railway builder have said they can knock up the entire HS2 in 5 years. The UK government has held preliminary talks about it.

 

 

 

 

I've no doubt the Chinese company could get the project done in 5 years & at less cost - if they were doing in China with a Chinese workforce & the backing of the Chinese Govt. You only have to look at the 3  Dams Project.  Millions lost their homes when villages were simply wiped out.

 

We do things a little bit differently here. 

 

Safety, as Melthebell points out. We have H&S regulations first & foremost.  Then  we'd be looking to employ a substantial UK workforce, with union representation for a start. 

 

I could just imagine future talks between the UK Govt & the Chinese:

 

UK Govt: "So you're guaranteeing a direct line from London to Birmingham then up to Sheffield & on to Leeds & you only forsee one problem?  What is it? 

 

Chinese company: "Chesterfield!  It's in the way.  It'll all have to go but we can get rid of it in a fortnight!" 

Edited February 15, 2020 by Baron99

[Albert the Cat 0]

33 minutes ago, melthebell said:

And safety will be at the bottom of the list sigh

If you think HSE legislation will not apply in our own country then you're being pretty naive. 

 

They can build it in 5 years because they are simply better at it and they have the materials to hand. If the Chinese build it, they will use their steel in order to meet the timescales. It will far cheaper as well. 

 

Bring it on, let the Chinese build it so we don't have £100bn+ around our necks. 

11 minutes ago, Baron99 said:

I've no doubt the Chinese company could get the project done in 5 years & at less cost - if they were doing in China with a Chinese workforce & the backing of the Chinese Govt. You only have to look at the 3  Dams Project.  Millions lost their homes when villages were simply wiped out.

 

We do things a little bit differently here. 

 

Safety, as Melthebell points out. We have H&S regulations first & foremost.  Then  we'd be looking to employ a substantial UK workforce, with union representation for a start. 

 

I could just imagine future talks between the UK Govt & the Chinese:

 

UK Govt: "So you're guaranteeing a direct line from London to Birmingham then up to Sheffield & on to Leeds & you only forsee one problem?  What is it? 

 

Chinese company: "Chesterfield!  It's in the way.  It'll all have to go but we can get rid of it in a fortnight!" 

We have no recent experience at building high speed rail. The Chinese do, they are simply better engineers than us in this regard. Hard to imagine is it? We are not as good as you think. 

Edited February 15, 2020 by Albert the Cat

[Baron99 794]

2 minutes ago, Albert the Cat said:

If you think HSE legislation will not apply in our own country then you're being pretty naive. 

 

They can build it in 5 years because they are simply better at it and they have the materials to hand. If the Chinese build it, they will use their steel in order to meet the timescales. It will far cheaper as well. 

 

Bring it on, let the Chinese build it so we don't have £100bn+ around our necks. 

If the H&S & everything else can be guaranteed from what we'd expect of a major UK tax payer funded project on UK soil, then fine?

 

Mine & many others' objections to HS2, HS2a & HS2b have been on the grounds of cost against the perceived reduction in travel times, so I've no objection to such a project coming in 15 years ahead of schedule & well below current estimated costs, thereby making the project more cost effective & improving the lives of travellers.  While they're at it, set the Chinese to work improving the daily commute in a tandem project.