Great video! Can’t wait to see this when it’s all remediated with all the tree planting that is planned - it will be amazing to compare back. After a few years, I’d wager nobody would believe it ever looked like this during construction! Will be a hugely better environmental outcome than a motorway and hopefully will replace a lot of domestic flying (not to mention opening up huge amounts of capacity for freight and local trips on the WCML!)
HS2 will never be green, sadly, as every independent report has shown. Given that by the time Phase 1 is complete it will not be possible to buy carbon fuelled cars, cars will be considered less evil than they are now, which begs the question, would a motorway have been a better, greener option, especially as people will have to resort to other forms of transport like cars and buses in order to get into central Birmingham/London to catch the service? Not that another Birmingham to London motorway is needed, in exactly the same way another Birmingham to London train line isn't needed. HS2 will not free up any significant capacity for additional services on the WCML, unless the public accept a dramatic reduction in current services (which would drive them back to using their green, electric cars), as there aren't many passenger services running non stop between Birmingham and London (the entity formerly known as Railtrack made sure of that in order to make the case for HS2 look more viable). HS2 will have to massively change in order to survive, as the taxpayer won't tolerate the astronomical running costs - initially estimated to be "only" £600 per taxpayer per year *IF* HS2 is able to carry just shy of 600,000 passengers *per day*. Less passengers mean higher taxpayer subsidies needed. There are areas that need money spending on better train services, yet another Birmingham/London route isn't one of them, even pre-Pandemic. Ignoring London bound peak morning, CML for instance, has room for massive growth in passenger numbers, but the demand simply isn't there.
An interesting fact. The section north of the A421 and north of the new temporary baily bridge, runs through a seam of sandstone, the plan is to extract the stone while excavating the track path, then process it on site and use it as the track sub bed.
Hi The Boy! We found your beautiful and inspiring channel and subscribed (384)! This is a charming video with stunning and spectacular scenes! Great design and execution! Perfect presentation! Like nº38! We also love nature and creativity, including photography, videography, drones and video editing! It's worth keeping together (2000 subscribers; 1,400,000 views)! We hope to see you soon! Have a nice day and We wish you a pleasant evening! Greetings from Austria!
how come it's so wide, particularly the cuttings between a43 and a422/ a422 toward a421? its like they've dug it wide enough for a motorway, a railway and added a canal for fun.
The land around the A422 crossing just south east of the town of Brackley is elevated, so I guess it needs to be wide to allow for the cutting, but as for the rest of it, it does seem to be construction (or destruction, depending on which side of the fence you sit) just for the sake of construction. It certainly doesn't help with the projects already appalling environmental credentials :(
Another great video. Huge amount of earth they have to move for the cutting at Turweston and odd to see the Bailey bridge for the A422. Looks like piling well underway for the Westbury viaduct. Those haul road bridges over the A421 and A4421 are insane - shows you the money being spent to reduce the construction impact on traffic and local communities.
I think they could also help reduce the impact on local communities by better planning, which could speed up construction. Some of the road disruptions have been in place for 2 years, with long periods of nothing happening.
The central sections of HS2 are run by EKFB, and from what I've seen on this video and others ,the work carried out looks really messy compared to the BBV run north section.
@The Boy the southern section (Link alliance) runs from Old Oak Common to the Chiltern tunnel south portal, central runs from the Chiltern tunnel north portal (EKFB) to South of Southam, long Itchington tunnel south portal to wood end lane Litchfield is run by BBV. The sections north of Litchfield have yet to be confirmed on the main contractor, but archaeology work is being carried out.
A grotesquely large land take for a railway that is less than half the width of a 6 lane motorway. Let's hope the money is there to restore the land back to agriculture when the line is complete/
I seem to recall from the plans that none of the land used for construction is being returned to the original owners, and instead will be used as "conservation areas", which probably means wasteland.
Fraser Mitchell thanks for the explanation as to what the bridges are for. Every time I drive under that new bridge on the A421 and the massive earthworks visible from the road I just could not work out its purpose. All that land upheaval for a haulage route? Seems massively OTT but there you go.
@@jimsouthlondon7061 Thank you ;). For your information, I have studied HS2 for the best part of 15 years now, carefully reading the original proposals, and the business plans.
@@roberthorwat6747 HS2 are milking the magic money tree on this one. I suspect once the construction is complete, they will soon have to admit that the service will be a disaster, and either add more stations en-route, making it just yet another London commuter line, or close.
Thank you so much for posting this! I have driven through Newton Purcell and under the new bridge nearby on the A421 so many times and tried to fathom out the connection between the two (obviously HS2 but from the road trying to visualise a straight line twixt the two is not easy). Once viewed from the air everything drops perfectly in to place. The music seems very appropriate. HS2 is a very controversial scheme. Will it be another TSR2 and get cancelled? Who knows? Looks like it is going the distance!😕
I think they are too far in to cancel phase 1 (London to Birmingham), but the line can't survive as planned - the proposal is they need to carry over half a million passengers a day between London and Birmingham in order to "only" need a 50-60% subsidy per full priced fare.
@@jimsouthlondon7061 As far as I know, the project to improve the road - and it does need improving - around Stonehenge has not get had the go ahead. So how do they know how long it will take?
I recall the nearby M40 being built, and they didn't really use much more land than the width of the motorway. Nor did they cause as much disruption to local communities and roads. Also, each section of the M40 extension was completed and opened in 2 years, unlike this section of HS2 that shows minimal progress in 2.5yrs so far....
It's not looking pretty at the moment, is it. From above, it's like a huge scar across the landscape. Fingers crossed that it will improve once the slow, drawn out construction process completes.
Well done for documenting this. You are recording an important slice of social history. Chopin accompanies my sentiments at the devastation, because there is not much on show to be happy about with this incomprehensible land take. Even the course of the old Great Central which the HS2 route follows through the second half of your presentation exists only as an alignment, not as the engineering advantage it's presence originally suggested. HS2 visualises the power of the Government that spawned it - the demonstration of a colossal force of will without any moderating factors now looks like a monstrous rampage through the English countryside
Get off at J10 on the M40 and proceeding on the A43, drive to the second roundabout, take the third exit onto the A421 and you may see the gigantic earthworks of this engineering endeavour. Keep going and take the third exit onto the A4421 and you pass under the line at Newton Purcell. Keep going through Bicester and rejoin the M40 at J9.
I didn't need to use the motorways for any of this HS2 series, but I definitely used a fossil fuelled car to do some sections of some of the videos in the series.
@@theboy-uk all the roads you used caused environmental damage as does your car. HS2 means that damage is reduced in the long term and it gets people out of their cars, all major building projects like this look messy while they are happening, as did the motorways and other road build projects.
@@marvintpandroid2213 Do not for one second think HS2 is somehow green. Its not. Obviously not in construction, but also not if and when it ever starts running a service. There is not an official report that says otherwise. And considering that by the time HS2 opens, you won't be able to buy fossil fuelled cars in the UK, all the (false) claims that electricity is clean will be irrelevant, as cars and trains will be powered by the same source, currently about 50% natural gas. I recall the construction of the M40, and each of the 3 sections were completed in under 2 years, and did not need this amount of land, or make anywhere near as much mess. Hence, was less harmful during construction. And is infinitely more useful as a transport medium, than a train that can only take people from the centre of London to the centre of Birmingham, a trip hardly anyone does, or wants to do. (Ironically, I am one of the very few people who can actually make semi regular use of this service)
@@theboy-uk not for one second... Says everything, you have made up your mind and unwilling to even think you may be wrong, let alone discuss it further.
It should never have been allowed to even get off the drawing board, as the business case is based on wildly unachievable predictions, such as carrying nearly 600,000 passengers a day between London and Birmingham, and making out that the hour on an HS2 train is productive, and the 1h15m on one of the competing lines can't be....
![Eminem - Like My Shit [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vx_IMvFkrfA/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video! Can’t wait to see this when it’s all remediated with all the tree planting that is planned - it will be amazing to compare back. After a few years, I’d wager nobody would believe it ever looked like this during construction! Will be a hugely better environmental outcome than a motorway and hopefully will replace a lot of domestic flying (not to mention opening up huge amounts of capacity for freight and local trips on the WCML!)
HS2 will never be green, sadly, as every independent report has shown. Given that by the time Phase 1 is complete it will not be possible to buy carbon fuelled cars, cars will be considered less evil than they are now, which begs the question, would a motorway have been a better, greener option, especially as people will have to resort to other forms of transport like cars and buses in order to get into central Birmingham/London to catch the service? Not that another Birmingham to London motorway is needed, in exactly the same way another Birmingham to London train line isn't needed.
HS2 will not free up any significant capacity for additional services on the WCML, unless the public accept a dramatic reduction in current services (which would drive them back to using their green, electric cars), as there aren't many passenger services running non stop between Birmingham and London (the entity formerly known as Railtrack made sure of that in order to make the case for HS2 look more viable).
HS2 will have to massively change in order to survive, as the taxpayer won't tolerate the astronomical running costs - initially estimated to be "only" £600 per taxpayer per year *IF* HS2 is able to carry just shy of 600,000 passengers *per day*. Less passengers mean higher taxpayer subsidies needed.
There are areas that need money spending on better train services, yet another Birmingham/London route isn't one of them, even pre-Pandemic. Ignoring London bound peak morning, CML for instance, has room for massive growth in passenger numbers, but the demand simply isn't there.
An interesting fact. The section north of the A421 and north of the new temporary baily bridge, runs through a seam of sandstone, the plan is to extract the stone while excavating the track path, then process it on site and use it as the track sub bed.
Thanks for that useful insight 👍
Hi The Boy!
We found your beautiful and inspiring channel and subscribed (384)! This is a charming video with stunning and spectacular scenes! Great design and execution!
Perfect presentation! Like nº38! We also love nature and creativity, including photography, videography, drones and video editing!
It's worth keeping together (2000 subscribers; 1,400,000 views)! We hope to see you soon! Have a nice day and We wish you a pleasant evening! Greetings from Austria!
I like the relaxing vids you have on your site, just subscribed :)
how come it's so wide, particularly the cuttings between a43 and a422/ a422 toward a421? its like they've dug it wide enough for a motorway, a railway and added a canal for fun.
The land around the A422 crossing just south east of the town of Brackley is elevated, so I guess it needs to be wide to allow for the cutting, but as for the rest of it, it does seem to be construction (or destruction, depending on which side of the fence you sit) just for the sake of construction. It certainly doesn't help with the projects already appalling environmental credentials :(
Why the "Death March" to accompany it?
Its very appropriate...
What a strange choice in music to accompany the video.
I think the majority of people find it very appropriate! 👍
Another great video. Huge amount of earth they have to move for the cutting at Turweston and odd to see the Bailey bridge for the A422. Looks like piling well underway for the Westbury viaduct. Those haul road bridges over the A421 and A4421 are insane - shows you the money being spent to reduce the construction impact on traffic and local communities.
I think they could also help reduce the impact on local communities by better planning, which could speed up construction. Some of the road disruptions have been in place for 2 years, with long periods of nothing happening.
There's another temporary haul bridge, just to the North West, across the A361. Looked as expensive when i drove under it in December.
@@AndrewRoberts11 I believe I got that one on the last Chipping Warden one
@@theboy-uk the Cars and the Lorries on the M40 can’t do 180 mph.
@@jimsouthlondon7061 I suppose, technically, so of the cars on the M40 can actually do 180mph if they were so allowed, LOL.
The central sections of HS2 are run by EKFB, and from what I've seen on this video and others ,the work carried out looks really messy compared to the BBV run north section.
Not sure where abouts the contractors change, but it seems messy from the Chilterns to north of Southam. Is that all EKFB? Thanks.
@The Boy the southern section (Link alliance) runs from Old Oak Common to the Chiltern tunnel south portal, central runs from the Chiltern tunnel north portal (EKFB) to South of Southam, long Itchington tunnel south portal to wood end lane Litchfield is run by BBV. The sections north of Litchfield have yet to be confirmed on the main contractor, but archaeology work is being carried out.
@@christopherbird7119 Good to know, thanks for the info :)
A grotesquely large land take for a railway that is less than half the width of a 6 lane motorway. Let's hope the money is there to restore the land back to agriculture when the line is complete/
I seem to recall from the plans that none of the land used for construction is being returned to the original owners, and instead will be used as "conservation areas", which probably means wasteland.
@@theboy-ukArmchair expert
Fraser Mitchell thanks for the explanation as to what the bridges are for. Every time I drive under that new bridge on the A421 and the massive earthworks visible from the road I just could not work out its purpose. All that land upheaval for a haulage route? Seems massively OTT but there you go.
@@jimsouthlondon7061 Thank you ;). For your information, I have studied HS2 for the best part of 15 years now, carefully reading the original proposals, and the business plans.
@@roberthorwat6747 HS2 are milking the magic money tree on this one. I suspect once the construction is complete, they will soon have to admit that the service will be a disaster, and either add more stations en-route, making it just yet another London commuter line, or close.
Thank you so much for posting this! I have driven through Newton Purcell and under the new bridge nearby on the A421 so many times and tried to fathom out the connection between the two (obviously HS2 but from the road trying to visualise a straight line twixt the two is not easy). Once viewed from the air everything drops perfectly in to place. The music seems very appropriate. HS2 is a very controversial scheme. Will it be another TSR2 and get cancelled? Who knows? Looks like it is going the distance!😕
I think they are too far in to cancel phase 1 (London to Birmingham), but the line can't survive as planned - the proposal is they need to carry over half a million passengers a day between London and Birmingham in order to "only" need a 50-60% subsidy per full priced fare.
What drone was this shot with
Video shot on a DJI Mavic 3 in early April 2023
So many flights... And where are people and machines?
And hence the lack of progress on building this railway!
Thanks once again for the flight; it seems to be a little slow.
No need to rush a good job when the taxpayer is coughing up....
@@theboy-uk Thats what the local NIMBY Druids said about Stonehenge
@@jimsouthlondon7061 As far as I know, the project to improve the road - and it does need improving - around Stonehenge has not get had the go ahead. So how do they know how long it will take?
@@theboy-uk not if you put the M3 relief road under it .
@@jimsouthlondon7061 M3? Anywhere near Stonehenge? I am unaware of any plans to make the M3 go anywhere close to Stonehenge.
Another railway line or another motorway ?
I recall the nearby M40 being built, and they didn't really use much more land than the width of the motorway. Nor did they cause as much disruption to local communities and roads. Also, each section of the M40 extension was completed and opened in 2 years, unlike this section of HS2 that shows minimal progress in 2.5yrs so far....
Funereal.
You beat me to it!
A blight on the English landscape.
It's not looking pretty at the moment, is it. From above, it's like a huge scar across the landscape. Fingers crossed that it will improve once the slow, drawn out construction process completes.
Well done for documenting this. You are recording an important slice of social history. Chopin accompanies my sentiments at the devastation, because there is not much on show to be happy about with this incomprehensible land take. Even the course of the old Great Central which the HS2 route follows through the second half of your presentation exists only as an alignment, not as the engineering advantage it's presence originally suggested. HS2 visualises the power of the Government that spawned it - the demonstration of a colossal force of will without any moderating factors now looks like a monstrous rampage through the English countryside
Thanks 👍
Unbelievable land grab and destruction for a twin track railway. It make no sense. Horrendous loss of wildlife habitats which cannot be replaced.
it is insane, and the arguments for needing so much land do not stack up :(
I'm sure you drove there on a motorway and most likely in a fossil fuel car.
Get off at J10 on the M40 and proceeding on the A43, drive to the second roundabout, take the third exit onto the A421 and you may see the gigantic earthworks of this engineering endeavour. Keep going and take the third exit onto the A4421 and you pass under the line at Newton Purcell. Keep going through Bicester and rejoin the M40 at J9.
I didn't need to use the motorways for any of this HS2 series, but I definitely used a fossil fuelled car to do some sections of some of the videos in the series.
@@theboy-uk all the roads you used caused environmental damage as does your car.
HS2 means that damage is reduced in the long term and it gets people out of their cars, all major building projects like this look messy while they are happening, as did the motorways and other road build projects.
@@marvintpandroid2213 Do not for one second think HS2 is somehow green. Its not. Obviously not in construction, but also not if and when it ever starts running a service. There is not an official report that says otherwise. And considering that by the time HS2 opens, you won't be able to buy fossil fuelled cars in the UK, all the (false) claims that electricity is clean will be irrelevant, as cars and trains will be powered by the same source, currently about 50% natural gas. I recall the construction of the M40, and each of the 3 sections were completed in under 2 years, and did not need this amount of land, or make anywhere near as much mess. Hence, was less harmful during construction. And is infinitely more useful as a transport medium, than a train that can only take people from the centre of London to the centre of Birmingham, a trip hardly anyone does, or wants to do. (Ironically, I am one of the very few people who can actually make semi regular use of this service)
@@theboy-uk not for one second... Says everything, you have made up your mind and unwilling to even think you may be wrong, let alone discuss it further.
It should have been cancelled. History will see it as a failure.
It should never have been allowed to even get off the drawing board, as the business case is based on wildly unachievable predictions, such as carrying nearly 600,000 passengers a day between London and Birmingham, and making out that the hour on an HS2 train is productive, and the 1h15m on one of the competing lines can't be....