HS2 will never break even

For those who are determined to travel rapidly the jet plane makes much more sense

As a chartered engineer member of the institution founded by George Stephenson, the father of the railway, may I be allowed to add to the debate on HS2? Brian James of Ryton has not got his facts completely right. The “pulling power” of multiple traction sets is undoubtedly much greater than that of the old steam engine with a few pairs of driving wheels. Did he never see a main line steam express engine trying to pull away from a station? The skidding wheels were part of the process.

The required traction has, essentially three elements. 

First is acceleration. I vividly remember my first trip on an electric train out of Euston. The acceleration was amazing compared to steam. Multiple axles quite clearly put much more traction on the rail. 

The second is low speed running when the main effort is to overcome friction. With good design and maintenance this can be made almost insignificant with any means of traction. 

The third is wind resistance which increases as the square of speed and becomes highly significant at speeds of 220 mph. While this is highly wasteful of energy in total, multiple motors ensure multiple contacts and more efficient traction. The poor carbon footprint has much to do with high speed and little to do with the number of motors. For comparison a large jet plane can travel at 440 mph using much less energy per mile in the rarefied atmosphere at 30,000 feet.

Although I love railways and the magic of all engineered products I consider HS2 to be a big mistake. If it were to provide lots of jobs in manufacturing industry it might be supportable but the rolling stock will almost certainly be made by Siemens or Mitsubishi and probably not in this country. The construction projects will cut swathes through virgin countryside and destroy many small farms and businesses and make huge profits for a very small number of international construction conglomerates. It will be a financial disaster of the first order and a millstone round the necks of several future generations. It will never even break-even – just a rich man’s toy.

The main proposed benefit is for businessmen who will save ten minutes on their journey between London and Birmingham. Big deal. The overall effect will probably be negative as these people can easily conduct their business on-line from the train. Their enforced absence from the office is probably of great mental benefit to them - providing thinking and relaxation time – a great necessity for most, as the numerous loud moronic phone calls which annoy their fellow travellers can easily testify.

The money could be much better spent improving existing services which are generally perfectly good if somewhat overloaded at peak times. Some De-Beechification should be a priority. Perhaps some money could be spent providing morons with sound-proof booths. For those who are determined to travel rapidly the jet plane makes much more sense economically, practically and environmentally.

Colin Walker, Coventry

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