More sanity with regard to HS2. From today's Evening Standard:
http://tinyurl.com/zlkwqlp

HS2 plans for the London terminus at Euston should be put on hold,
according to the former head of the civil service.

Lord Turnbull, who was Cabinet secretary under Tony Blair, said plans
for the new high-speed rail link should be “scaled down” to minimise
disruption to residents.

In a letter to transport minister Lord Ahmad, he warned that the
existing proposals would lead to a “quite unacceptable” level of
disruption and damage for Camden residents for up to 20 years.

It comes as local campaigners expressed concern that Sadiq Khan could
be rowing back on his call for a fundamental rethink of Euston as the
high-speed railway’s final terminus.

After winning power, the Mayor said he had concerns about whether
Euston was the right station for the London terminus of HS2.

But after a meeting this week with HS2 chairman David Higgins to
discuss the plans, Mr Khan said Crossrail would not be too overcrowded
if trains terminated there permanently.

Mr Khan told LBC radio yesterday: “The good news is that HS2 get it
and HS2 want to work with the council, with local residents, to make
sure they do right by Euston, the residents around there as well.”

However, Lord Turnbull said the best solution was still for trains to
stop at the Old Oak interchange in West London, until plans for the
last four miles of track were redrawn so HS2 could tackle the issues.

He added: “This would give time for the design problems at Euston to
be sorted out and would make the construction work at Euston, once a
better plan has been agreed, easier to undertake.”

In the longer term, he said that some of the trains could stop at the
interchange — meaning Crossrail would have capacity to cope — while
others could run on to Euston as originally planned.

"e27002 aurora" wrote in message
...
More sanity with regard to HS2. From today's Evening Standard:
http://tinyurl.com/zlkwqlp

HS2 plans for the London terminus at Euston should be put on hold,
according to the former head of the civil service.

Lord Turnbull, who was Cabinet secretary under Tony Blair, said plans
for the new high-speed rail link should be "scaled down" to minimise
disruption to residents.

In a letter to transport minister Lord Ahmad, he warned that the
existing proposals would lead to a "quite unacceptable" level of
disruption and damage for Camden residents for up to 20 years.

It comes as local campaigners expressed concern that Sadiq Khan could
be rowing back on his call for a fundamental rethink of Euston as the
high-speed railway's final terminus.

After winning power, the Mayor said he had concerns about whether
Euston was the right station for the London terminus of HS2.

But after a meeting this week with HS2 chairman David Higgins to
discuss the plans, Mr Khan said Crossrail would not be too overcrowded
if trains terminated there permanently.

Mr Khan told LBC radio yesterday: "The good news is that HS2 get it
and HS2 want to work with the council, with local residents, to make
sure they do right by Euston, the residents around there as well."

However, Lord Turnbull said the best solution was still for trains to
stop at the Old Oak interchange in West London, until plans for the
last four miles of track were redrawn so HS2 could tackle the issues.

He added: "This would give time for the design problems at Euston to
be sorted out and would make the construction work at Euston, once a
better plan has been agreed, easier to undertake."


One would think that if spending time on re-planning makes the actual
building work easier to undertake, that the total amount of elapsed time
taken wouldn't change much (and save some cash)

The fact that they aren't working to save this cash, probably means that
they don't believe it will result in such a saving (of time or cash)

tim