HS2

[The Bloop]

I have been using the Trainline app and been happy with the price I paid.
I’ll have a look as I’ll probably do the Train for the Liverpool game.

Not sure how true it is but I've seen something about the earliest time it's possible to arrive in Liverpool by train from Cardiff on the day is 12.11pm

[WJ99mobile]

How does that make it cheaper?

The reason fares are what they are as far as I believe is that we are at maximum capacity

Increase capacity, decrease price.

[Croesy Blue]

The reason fares are what they are as far as I believe is that we are at maximum capacity

Increase capacity, decrease price.

What do you mean when you say maximum capacity? Do you think the trains are full or that they couldn’t put more on the current routes? Because neither of those is correct.

Ticket prices are high because each franchise gets to operate their routes as a monopoly and HS2 would be no different.

It’s about a quicker link it’ll never be about cheaper tickets.

[City123]

Renationalising them is a swear word to some, but we pay billions to train operators when they don't make a profit, then when they do, they keep it. The railways cost the taxpayer more in real terms now than they ever did when they were under public ownership.

It's pretty popular in this country, over 50% in favour with just 12% against

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics...blic-ownership

[PontBlue]

I’ve just priced up Cardiff to Edinburgh on the train for the next half term. Train return was £434. Flying was just over £60

Now every time I watch question time and scrapping HS2 is mentioned it gets a big round of applause. I don’t get it. So much hostility to new infrastructure in the UK.

If the money being spunked on hs2 was spent around the country on rail it could be transformational.

I read an article recently that said what we could do to rail in wales had we had a share of the money and it would have made a huge difference

[Rjk]

Having not taken a train for years Its become a viable option now on cost.
Just come back from London £119 return (2 adults and 2 kids).
If we drove up it would have been about £55 fuel, £35 parking, £15 congestion charge/ULEZ.
For that little bit more it was worth it to relax and just under 2 hours.
Same sort of costing when I went to Stanstead airport a couple of months ago.

Bristol City away next week £13.50 all day return just for me.

yeah that's not terrible. still think it should be cheaper.
if it wasn't for parking and congestion charge it'd still be cheaper to go by car.
the Cardiff to Paddington train seems to take more than 3 hours according to the latest timetable, which seems longer than it used to be

[WJ99mobile]

What do you mean when you say maximum capacity? Do you think the trains are full or that they couldn’t put more on the current routes? Because neither of those is correct.

Ticket prices are high because each franchise gets to operate their routes as a monopoly and HS2 would be no different.

It’s about a quicker link it’ll never be about cheaper tickets.

As far as I’m aware, the prices are what they are to stop overcrowding at peak times.

I think rail and infrastructure investment is absolutely critical. Why we still drive everything round the country on lorries is totally stupid .

[ToTaL ITK]

well as train drivers as i presume that some of you like trains you could get in touch with the Thomas the tank engine and ask him to fix the fecking problem, coz you won't fix it moaning on here

[19bluebirds27]

Not sure how true it is but I've seen something about the earliest time it's possible to arrive in Liverpool by train from Cardiff on the day is 12.11pm

Sorry to say that’s correct.

[xsnaggle]

well as train drivers as i presume that some of you like trains you could get in touch with the Thomas the tank engine and ask him to fix the fecking problem, coz you won't fix it moaning on here

You're moaning more than anyone else, you moaning moaner!!

[Canton Kev]

There isn't a Cardiff to Edinburgh route, just different ways to get between the two.

As things stand, travel to the north is often cheaper going through Manchester as advance train prices are cheaper between here and Manchester than between here and Birmingham.

I understand there’s no direct route but it doesn’t go via Birmingham or London. That’s where my confusion comes from.
HS2 increasing capacity will only help trains between the midlands and London surely? So spunking £140B on HS2 won’t change anything about getting a Cardiff to Edinburgh train. Unless I’m misunderstanding the situation?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

I understand there’s no direct route but it doesn’t go via Birmingham or London. That’s where my confusion comes from.
HS2 increasing capacity will only help trains between the midlands and London surely? So spunking £140B on HS2 won’t change anything about getting a Cardiff to Edinburgh train. Unless I’m misunderstanding the situation?

There are several ways of getting to Edinburgh from Cardiff. Changing at Crewe or Manchester is the best option for cheaper advance fares. Birmingham is an option, going to London would be pointless.

HS2 would have little impact on getting to Edinburgh from Cardiff. It might help North Wales travellers get to London slightly more quickly but it'll have virtually no impact on South Wales at all.

[chrisp_1927]

yeah that's not terrible. still think it should be cheaper.
if it wasn't for parking and congestion charge it'd still be cheaper to go by car.
the Cardiff to Paddington train seems to take more than 3 hours according to the latest timetable, which seems longer than it used to be

The longer times today are down to engineering work , trains are taking a different route to normal. Normally anywhere between an hour and 50 minutes and 2 hours 15 to go cardiff to Paddington.

[chrisp_1927]

Lots of decent fares about , as long as you book in advance and stay away from the odd really expensive services. Book in advance between cardiff n brizzle and you're looking at about £5.50/£6.00 a lot of the time. Lots of Advances to London around the £30 mark. You can do London to Edinburgh for less than 30 if you travel outside of peaks and book ahead. Checking ticketsplit and getting a railcard(if eligible) can also make a massive difference

[chrisp_1927]

Just had a look at the op's cardiff to Edinburgh journey. Mental prices, looks like no advances available, via London would probably be cheaper

[Wozza16]

If the money being spunked on hs2 was spent around the country on rail it could be transformational.

I read an article recently that said what we could do to rail in wales had we had a share of the money and it would have made a huge difference

The electrification of the Valleys lines and the SW metro is costing around 750m, imagine what could be done with the 5 billion that has been robbed.

[Croesy Blue]

As far as I’m aware, the prices are what they are to stop overcrowding at peak times.

I think rail and infrastructure investment is absolutely critical. Why we still drive everything round the country on lorries is totally stupid .

Im pretty sure that isn’t why prices are so high. Why wouldn’t they just bang another couple of carriages on and rake it in like they do when London-cardiff is busy.

Im not completely against HS2 but I don’t think it would have the affect you think. While each route remains a monopoly prices will never go down.

[Gofer Blue]

HS2 is simply the biggest white-elephant project ever. The cost has already soared from £55 billion in 2015 to £108 billion by 2020.

Mr Bridgen, a Leicestershire MP, said he had received documents "from whistleblowers within HS2 and the Department for Transport, which indicated that phase 1 is now unlikely to be open for passengers before 2041 and that the whole project is going to be £160 billion in today’s money." Source: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/new...-rail-21575244

Myself, I believe the benefits of HS2 have been wildly exaggerated and the money would have been much better invested in rail services in the north of England especially, but also here in Wales with electrification and the Metro system.