Welcome to HS2 and the new heroic age of the railway
TODAY is the dawn of a new age of the railway as Boris Johnson gives the go-ahead for HS2 as well as new tracks across the Pennines. At last we have a vision in the spirit of Stephenson and Brunel, shedding our image as a nation that can’t get it together with big infrastructure projects. Disappointing, though, that the first trains may not run on the London to Birmingham route until 2018-2021.The second phase to Manchester and Leeds was due to open in 2032-33, but that has been pushed back to 2035-40. By that time I shall be in my nineties, but what a joy it will be to travel on the first train…
