HS2

[woodburner]

That’s probably not important. Much land is also built on, for currently 240,000 Eu immigrants every year. I don’t dislike EU immigrants, but there isn’t enough space in the UK, even if people do use them as a source of cheap labour.

[BritDownUnder]

.......... but there probably isn't an economic case for tunnelling when there is space above ground for the railway.

Depends how much you value food production in the future.

I take your point but I don't believe that's a factor for those making these decisions. Do you know how much agricultural land is likely to be lost if HS2 gets built?

I saw a plan of a small section of the HS2 track and I was surprised at how much was left for a kind of 'pondage' to collect excess rainwater/stormwater and allow it to dissipate. Where the water would flow from - the track maybe - and where it would eventually go to I had no idea. I suppose it could not be used for any agricultural purpose - either the land or the water collected.

[kenneal - lagger]

That’s probably not important. Much land is also built on, for currently 240,000 Eu immigrants every year. I don’t dislike EU immigrants, but there isn’t enough space in the UK, even if people do use them as a source of cheap labour.

Something that we agree on, although 240,000 is the net migration total for last year and the EU total was less than 100,000 they think! They're not certain of the actual migration from the EU so it could be higher or lower as could the total!

As to the agricultural land lost it's probably a strip averaging 25m wide by 150 miles long, roughly 25 sq kilometers. Not nearly as much land as we could lose to sea level rise by the end of the century and probably not as much as we would lose to house all the 360,000 migrants per year for the next ten years that the government is hoping for to boost economic growth.

[adam2]

Announcement today that HS2 will be delayed by "up to 5 years" which I interpret to actually mean delayed by an absolute minimum of 5 years, and probably by a lot longer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49563549