For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By rikur_
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1742982
PaulB wrote:So will this £106bn cost be swallowed by the government (actually us, the taxpayers) or will it be recouped from the ticket prices of those who use the routes? If they latter how will they be affordable?

The current model is that the fare payer pays the cost of operation and maintenance and the taxpayer pays the cost of enhancement.

Obviously future Governments may change that model - for example until ~ 10 years ago the taxpayer also subsidised the cost of maintenance.

nb: I believe that about 70% of the cost of infrastructure projects typically finds its way back to Government by way of taxation (e.g. £106bn includes VAT, and there will corporation tax on the companies that build it, income tax/NI on the people they employ, etc)
#1742990
HS2 is basically workfare, I bet we can all think of many better ways of utilising workfare without using it to send yet more of the nation's money to London.
PaulB, Sooty25 liked this
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By nallen
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1745980
Should we open a sweepstake on the final cost and when the first service runs?
Flyin'Dutch', PaulB liked this
By cockney steve
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1746075
^^^^^^^^ Naaaa most of us are too old, I, for one will have hopped the twig(croaked, checked-out,snuffed it)
long before any such wager reaches maturity.
Thought! If the sweepstake funds are invested within,say, the next year,-even at the best single-digit interest-rate currently available, it would be a handsome windfall to the kids in their dotage.
On second thoughts, the Financial-advisors/investment "managers" would probably pillage any true value-appreciation.
#1746099
cockney steve wrote:Thought! If the sweepstake funds are invested within,say, the next year,-even at the best single-digit interest-rate currently available, it would be a handsome windfall to the kids in their dotage.

It might even be enough to buy a ticket.
kanga, cockney steve liked this
#1746712
I don’t see how the tickets can be more than we pay at the moment to get to and from London at peak times. I tend to pay for upgrades to First out of my own pocket as well to try and make the long journey a little more bearable. You pay a fortune for a seat in standard class and then the train is crowded. There’s no privacy and your’re jostling with your elbows on one side and playing footsie with the passenger opposite.

Have mostly been driving to the SE since going electric unless only travelling to the very centre of London. Point to point times are similar, the car seats are more comfortable, I get my own choice of radio and music without headphones and don’t need to wait around until silly O’clock to get a cheaper seat. I arrive rested and refreshed rather than hassled and tired.

I'm a great believer in public transport as an efficient way of getting people around, and will use it where it works, but years of lack of investment are coming home to roost and we now need simultaneous investment across much of the country. Future rail travel is going to need to compete with the comfort, convenience and cost of electric cars. 2040 is too long for me, but at least my kids might see some benefit.
Flyin'Dutch' liked this
By PaulB
#1746926
China to the rescue?

Britain is in talks with China about putting its troubled high-speed railway back on track after Beijing claimed it could build the line in only five years for less money and at faster speeds.


https://www.ft.com/content/d5b6aaaa-4f1 ... d18ec715f5

Here's the tweet that I saw (the lin k in which seems to give full access to the FT article





But Shapps says they aren't speaking to him



(Why on earth would they speak to him? :shock: )
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