Sorry, that was me posting as a guest at 1020 31/12 - put it down to my seasonal cold!

I'm absolutely in favour of HS2, and subsequent HS's as well! It's just that the UK doesn't have a good record of getting much needed infrastructure projects done in less than 20 years (or about 100 years in the case of the Channel Tunnel). Look how long it took to get HS1 built.

A good exanple of the problems HS2 may face is the Nottingham tram scheme. It took many years to get one line planned and built, but once open it was a roaring success. However, lines 2 and 3 will probably go belly up if there's a change of government, even though most of the planning has been done. I've lost count of the number of public meetings and consultations which have got the lines to the current stage. Now the local county council says it won't cooperate with the workplace parking levy which will provide much of the money, and the shadow PM (rides a bike with a following limo) has weighed in supporting them, without of course providing any alternative ideas.