|
|
|
|
|
|
by physicsguy
580 days ago
|
|
|
The cuttings and tunnels mean lots of freight is on the roads right now, and half the project has been sacrificed because it was too expensive to continue in this way politically. In the mean time, we’ll be going well into the 2040s where we won’t be able to place more trains in and around Manchester. The plan to build Northern Powerhouse Rail is basically not possible without continuing on and building much of the now missing HS2 2a leg. Not to mention that the 2b leg isn’t going to go ahead. Natural England are a statutory consultee for planning applications, so if they oppose the scheme there is a good chance it doesn’t go ahead. It’s crazy that a government can decide to build something only for other arms of the state to block it with a narrow focus only on one aspect. |
|
|
Why is that crazy? It seems like a fairly standard way of operating in democratic nations, so it must have some benefit. Separation of incentives, pooling of expert knowledge, ability to apply rules evenly to state and private development?