HS2 will deliver the need to speed up capacity issues
THE recent coverage of the Government plan to continue the construction of the HS2 rail facility throughout its planned complete route to the North brings back some great memories of my past.
I do recognise some will welcome this news but many will be appalled by it and continue their battle to try to stop this happening at all.
Before the coronavirus restricted rail travel, I recall my last journey to Birmingham New Street.
The run to the station takes one past the vast area that has been cleared to permit the construction of the Birmingham hub for HS2.
This was seen as a probable terminus for the route prior to its later extension to the North West and North East. Now it will be a key joining point in the future for onward journeys.
The rail construction industry, I can readily confirm, is a fabulous way to earn a living. I have talked before of starting my rail engineering career on the Eastern Region as a student, but the big day came five years later when I was promoted to a Site Engineer role on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) based at Watford. At interview I clearly recall being asked if I was prepared to work at the weekend.
Given that I was newly married and weekends were paid at overtime rates, I had to be careful not to show an excess of enthusiasm for this chance to increase my new higher income further. I started in the drawing office on the Monday and was slotted the following day into my first weekend job. This was to be the first such task of many.
It was in the mid-60s, when the WCML was being fully electrified with the 25Kv overhead power lines, and this would very quickly do away with the steam locomotives and permit the new electric locomotives that initially travelled at 100 mph and nowadays can reach 150 mph.
Sadly the many curves in the track slowed down the trains but HS2 will certainly be constructed without this restriction to speed. The critics of this now confirmed new track construction voice many reasons for their opposition – some of which I do have sympathy with.
For example, claims that the route of the new rail line will create much damage to the environment is very real. A lot of perfectly good property will be demolished, many natural wild animal habitats will be no more and the visual impact on the landscape will never go away.
The one claim I cannot agree with is that the line is being built simply to provide much quicker journey times over the distance it will cover.
Clearly, that will provide a benefit, but is not the reason the line is being constructed. Currently the UK requires increased rail capacity to manage the overcrowding on the existing network.
HS2 is needed for that role, and without it the road network will be impassable by 2050. But the main need for high speed is the fact that this will allow a greater number of trains per hour given the margin required between each train.
Sadly, I shall not live to see the completion of this route as by then I shall be over 100 years old!
However, that does not stop me considering the engineers working on this major project with a fair degree of envy.
Construction methods have developed dramatically since my young days enjoying my weekend tasks on the WCML
I do also believe that weekend work on track is now part of the rostered week so there is hardly much in the way of overtime payment to increase earnings.
But it is the exhilarating experience of that site work that I miss the most… and of course my long gone youth that allowed me the energy to do those long shifts each weekend.