Great footage: I must admit, looking at it from the air I'm a little baffled to how wide the works area is in parts (like over the A46 17:42) , I know there's a site office there, but then it seems to be a huge land take to the North. I saw the TGV Mediterranee / & TGV Est lines go in and the work area was not actually that wide, for most of it. It was the track bed wide and then two service roads either side. Still, it will blend in to the environment in 20 years and it'll be a rich biodiverse habitat, judging by the TGV "Classic" routes and the wildlife on the edge of them.
A wonderful historical document, capturing a moment in time. Evocative to see Quainton Road at 10:50 and the old route of the Great Central Railway (Britain's previous New Main Line railway from 1896), leading the way to Brackley. Amazing progress at the EWR crossing at 13:30 where two new rail lines cross. Viewing this now in August 2023, the progress since this filming is amazing as the EWR/HS2 overbridge is now in place with rails laid in the vicinity. Sad to note the absence of Brackley viaduct (GCR) at 18:10: at least the solar farm at Turweston Airfield (17:50) is close by to supply power to this green electric railway. The first "green tunnel" at Chipping Warden (23:19) shows the care taken to blend/bury where possible, despite the extra cost. Thank you for the time (and aviation fuel!) invested in this video.
Imagine how much less we'd have had to spend if it wasn't for all the complainers? No delays, no legal fees, no 20- miles tunnel because people whined about being able to see trains
Excellent video ! What comes across is how empty England is; it is just all fields and the ocasional farm. No wonder the Victorian builders were called 'navigators' !
Yes, i remember thinking the very same when i started learning to fly back in the 80s. Even now, there are vast open spaces, its just that we generally travel by road. Virtually all of our homes and factories are next to roads so it looks more crowded than it really is...
Victorian Builders were not called Navigator's, the word Navi or Navigator given to the Victorian Railway Builders was because they originally built the Canal system's of England, Canal Navigation.
Thank you. This fascinating video is the perfect antidote to those still calling for the project to be cancelled. Any environmental damage has already largely been done. Cancelling now would only ensure that we are left with a total waste. Better to press on and complete the job, thereby making sure we at least get some benefit. Personally I am in favour of HS2, although I do wish it was going to be completed a bit sooner, because by the time it comes into service, I do wonder if it will prove too little and too late. I also agree with those who say a regular update on this route - so that we can see the progress - would be really interesting.
This costs everyone a lot of money. It benefits fewer people than it has impacted and destroyed vast swathes of habitat. It is a nice video but It is not an antidote to anything.
environmental damage is the last thing on thier minds. Money comes first!!!!! Yes ,stopping now would be a waste of money, conynueing ...even more!!!! Wake up!!!!
Unfortunately, destruction still continues on a vast scale. Each week our area east of Birmingham sees major felling, destruction of prime farmland and hold ups galore on major roads due to HS2 'work' ( half the time nothing is actually happening) but the roads are reduced to one way , lights controlled etc, causing big tailbacks. Never mind, only another 10 years to go!.
Thursday, March 10th - the 'update' you wanted has arrived. More delays, ever-spiralling costs. I'm a regular visitor to Birmingham. I've seen the rapid building of ugly office blocks & expensive apartments. Many will remain empty. We work from home now, & the HS2 projected fare prices mean it will rarely be used by those having a 'day out'. Not to mention the Euston station, to be or not to be, fiasco.
The scale of this project is staggering. Yes the width of the land take is large, i guess this is so that all the spoil from cuttings etc will be built up alongside the line, landscaped and returned to nature and farmland. the haul roads make these movements possible, nature will restore what looks like an ugly scar now in a very short time.
Judging from the shots, we could still get this cancelled and use the tunnels as either a spur for the Chiltern main line or a new A road direct into London, such a waste of money and destroying one of the most beautiful areas in SE England, they should just upgrade the west coast main line insyead
Not sure on the cost difference but the way our hills roll no tunnels means all embankments or viaducts have to be higher. Tunnels are like by some as you don't see them.
What a good idea -- making these recordings and , I hope repeating the flying overhead every 6 months or so. Better picture that the usual output from a drone. Land-wise it looks more extravagant than the land take for a motorway.. You can understand why the Bucks residents have got so angry.. It's ironic that the extravagant land take is partly at the behest of the environmental lobby who want screening and accommodation works ( landscaping etc) in excess of anything laid out by the 19th C builders of the trunk routes. See the old railway line on the left hand side of the works at 14.00 on the recording
Looks like tornado alley ! 😁 And ooh yeah, if only they would let enduro bikes play on it till it was finished ! Hope they still go ahead with the proposed cycle routes alongside so we can eventually have a ganders at the track and infrastructure 🤔
what's interesting is that the length of this railway can be flown in 20 minutes or so. for 100 billion quid, we could have ordered a fleet of helicopters, had them delivered before hs2 expected date of completion, saved maybe 95 billion quid and still had higher capacity than needed in a post covid world of online meetings and home working. if they insisted on a new railway, why not make it a normal one, with stations along its length (specially since it won't go into central London, or past brum). what a shameful endeavour, totally pointless now.
You can see why HS2 is costing so much, the destruction of wide sections of the countryside to build 2 railway lines is just mind boggling. Someone's getting very rich on the back of the tax payers
Good roads generally promote civilisation wherever they are conceived and constructed. The Kiwis do these type of construction videos better than anyone. From go to woe and final completion through mostly difficult terrains.
This really puts into perspective the appalling scale of desecration and wanton destruction of the English countryside. All this to shave a few minutes off a journey time between London and Birmingham for the minority of travellers who can afford the outrageous cost of a rail ticket. Nothing but a vanity project!
There once again is the repeated statement 'all to shave a few minutes off a journey between London and Birmingham' - this is not the main reason for HS2 - the main is capacity - basically removing express traffic from the west coast main line frees up capacity for more local and freight services on the WCML The speed increase is basically if you are going to build a new rail line anyway it is relatively little extra cost to build it as a high speed line so you might as well do it.
Great video but TBH it's a crime what they have done to the countryside in parts. All for what an extra train track that can travel higher speed, despite rail travel is on the decline partly due to the over priced fares.the money its cost not including the costs to people in different ways surly this money should of been spend to help our NHS, schools or social care as an example.
The wholesale destruction of the countryside is mind numbing. All this to benefit London, seems like the needs of the few is far more important than the needs of the many.
The level of environmental destruction this project is causing to the British countryside is simply breathtaking and virtually no-one who has been forcibly moved, lost good farmland or otherwise been inconvenienced en route will see any actual benefit from HS2. It is a monumental waste of money that the UK no longer has and yet another project that benefits London above anywhere else. Nevertheless it is a good video.
There is a massive amount of waste involved (3/4 of HS2 staff are paid over £100k pa), but ultimately the business case is sound. I'm highly confident that 20 years after completion, no one will question why it was done.It about capacity rather than speed and will benefit vast numbers of areas outside of it's main stations. I only wish that a similar sum was invested in roads considering the vast number of immigrants increasing the population.
Truly fascinating insight into the works going on, and what progress has been achieved so far. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks
Great footage: I must admit, looking at it from the air I'm a little baffled to how wide the works area is in parts (like over the A46 17:42) , I know there's a site office there, but then it seems to be a huge land take to the North. I saw the TGV Mediterranee / & TGV Est lines go in and the work area was not actually that wide, for most of it. It was the track bed wide and then two service roads either side.
Still, it will blend in to the environment in 20 years and it'll be a rich biodiverse habitat, judging by the TGV "Classic" routes and the wildlife on the edge of them.
A wonderful historical document, capturing a moment in time. Evocative to see Quainton Road at 10:50 and the old route of the Great Central Railway (Britain's previous New Main Line railway from 1896), leading the way to Brackley. Amazing progress at the EWR crossing at 13:30 where two new rail lines cross. Viewing this now in August 2023, the progress since this filming is amazing as the EWR/HS2 overbridge is now in place with rails laid in the vicinity. Sad to note the absence of Brackley viaduct (GCR) at 18:10: at least the solar farm at Turweston Airfield (17:50) is close by to supply power to this green electric railway. The first "green tunnel" at Chipping Warden (23:19) shows the care taken to blend/bury where possible, despite the extra cost. Thank you for the time (and aviation fuel!) invested in this video.
Thanks, we will try to do a sequel.
be nice to see the same flight 1 year on to see how much progress has been made
Good idea, will try that.
@@hyelms Well? ;) I dropped a sub, now you have to do it :)
Imagine how much less we'd have had to spend if it wasn't for all the complainers?
No delays, no legal fees, no 20- miles tunnel because people whined about being able to see trains
Given ths huge overspend, would not the 39 Counties and their County Councils rather have had ONE BILLION POUNDS EACH to spend improving lives!!!???
Excellent video ! What comes across is how empty England is; it is just all fields and the ocasional farm. No wonder the Victorian builders were called 'navigators' !
Yes, i remember thinking the very same when i started learning to fly back in the 80s. Even now, there are vast open spaces, its just that we generally travel by road. Virtually all of our homes and factories are next to roads so it looks more crowded than it really is...
Victorian Builders were not called Navigator's, the word Navi or Navigator given to the Victorian Railway Builders was because they originally built the Canal system's of England, Canal Navigation.
Thank you. This fascinating video is the perfect antidote to those still calling for the project to be cancelled. Any environmental damage has already largely been done. Cancelling now would only ensure that we are left with a total waste. Better to press on and complete the job, thereby making sure we at least get some benefit. Personally I am in favour of HS2, although I do wish it was going to be completed a bit sooner, because by the time it comes into service, I do wonder if it will prove too little and too late. I also agree with those who say a regular update on this route - so that we can see the progress - would be really interesting.
This costs everyone a lot of money. It benefits fewer people than it has impacted and destroyed vast swathes of habitat. It is a nice video but It is not an antidote to anything.
environmental damage is the last thing on thier minds. Money comes first!!!!! Yes ,stopping now would be a waste of money, conynueing ...even more!!!! Wake up!!!!
Unfortunately, destruction still continues on a vast scale. Each week our area east of Birmingham sees major felling, destruction of prime farmland and hold ups galore on major roads due to HS2 'work' ( half the time nothing is actually happening) but the roads are reduced to one way , lights controlled etc, causing big tailbacks. Never mind, only another 10 years to go!.
Thursday, March 10th - the 'update' you wanted has arrived. More delays, ever-spiralling costs.
I'm a regular visitor to Birmingham. I've seen the rapid building of ugly office blocks & expensive apartments. Many will remain empty. We work from home now, & the HS2 projected fare prices mean it will rarely be used by those having a 'day out'. Not to mention the Euston station, to be or not to be, fiasco.
Do you know what the benefits will be after this multi-squillion £ expenditure and environmental destruction?
The scale of this project is staggering. Yes the width of the land take is large, i guess this is so that all the spoil from cuttings etc will be built up alongside the line, landscaped and returned to nature and farmland. the haul roads make these movements possible, nature will restore what looks like an ugly scar now in a very short time.
Why have they dug a huge pit at the Goat farm in Stoke Mandeville? Seen at 6:46 minutes in the video
It's a project of extreme beauty 😻
Judging from the shots, we could still get this cancelled and use the tunnels as either a spur for the Chiltern main line or a new A road direct into London, such a waste of money and destroying one of the most beautiful areas in SE England, they should just upgrade the west coast main line insyead
Great footage, progress being made although there is still a LONG way to go!
How much more expensive is tunnelling than putting HS2 on the surface; with all the care necessary in the landscape?
Not sure on the cost difference but the way our hills roll no tunnels means all embankments or viaducts have to be higher. Tunnels are like by some as you don't see them.
What a good idea -- making these recordings and , I hope repeating the flying overhead every 6 months or so. Better picture that the usual output from a drone. Land-wise it looks more extravagant than the land take for a motorway.. You can understand why the Bucks residents have got so angry.. It's ironic that the extravagant land take is partly at the behest of the environmental lobby who want screening and accommodation works ( landscaping etc) in excess of anything laid out by the 19th C builders of the trunk routes. See the old railway line on the left hand side of the works at 14.00 on the recording
Very interesting. It looks nothing like a railway yet - more like the world's longest motocross course.
Looks like tornado alley ! 😁 And ooh yeah, if only they would let enduro bikes play on it till it was finished ! Hope they still go ahead with the proposed cycle routes alongside so we can eventually have a ganders at the track and infrastructure 🤔
Would be great to see what this looks like almost 2 years later.
We will try and get an update this summer.
4:08 is that Grim's Ditch
I assume they wouldn't let you into BHX airspace?
Basically Correct. We went to Wellesbourne for Lunch.
It is possible, but with a number of entry requirements, and restrictions on routings.
what's interesting is that the length of this railway can be flown in 20 minutes or so. for 100 billion quid, we could have ordered a fleet of helicopters, had them delivered before hs2 expected date of completion, saved maybe 95 billion quid and still had higher capacity than needed in a post covid world of online meetings and home working.
if they insisted on a new railway, why not make it a normal one, with stations along its length (specially since it won't go into central London, or past brum).
what a shameful endeavour, totally pointless now.
20 minutes? On a 737? Yep obviously
Otherwise, I think your maths is a little way off 🤔
You can see why HS2 is costing so much, the destruction of wide sections of the countryside to build 2 railway lines is just mind boggling. Someone's getting very rich on the back of the tax payers
Thank you for this!
Sad to see the lovely landscape being destroyed for this barmy project 😔
some different well done ,enjoyed that ,one question how far have they bored the tunnel??
Their website says about half way so far, that's 5 miles of both the northbound and southbound Chiltern bores.
Great video. Thanks
Thank you..
Good roads generally promote civilisation wherever they are conceived and constructed. The Kiwis do these type of construction videos better than anyone. From go to woe and final completion through mostly difficult terrains.
Good job sir , same again in 6 months 🙂
Yes, that seems like a good idea !
This is great :)
All that money would be better spent on up grading the network and removing existing bottlenecks
Don’t think Environmental Impact is the key issue now. It’s the cost.
That said a great video, I enjoyed it. Every three years please 🙏 VMC of course.
Not really to Birmingham but thanks for the video anyways
Fair enough
This really puts into perspective the appalling scale of desecration and wanton destruction of the English countryside. All this to shave a few minutes off a journey time between London and Birmingham for the minority of travellers who can afford the outrageous cost of a rail ticket. Nothing but a vanity project!
There once again is the repeated statement 'all to shave a few minutes off a journey between London and Birmingham' - this is not the main reason for HS2 - the main is capacity - basically removing express traffic from the west coast main line frees up capacity for more local and freight services on the WCML The speed increase is basically if you are going to build a new rail line anyway it is relatively little extra cost to build it as a high speed line so you might as well do it.
Great video but TBH it's a crime what they have done to the countryside in parts. All for what an extra train track that can travel higher speed, despite rail travel is on the decline partly due to the over priced fares.the money its cost not including the costs to people in different ways surly this money should of been spend to help our NHS, schools or social care as an example.
The wholesale destruction of the countryside is mind numbing. All this to benefit London, seems like the needs of the few is far more important than the needs of the many.
More trees and habitat have been created by HS2 compared to before
HS2 is not there to benefit London at all
I enjoyed the bulk of this video, but you failed to go the whole distance to Birmingham.Please finish it.
Thanks, unfortunately the Restricted Airspace around Birmingham Airport prevented us from going any further North.
The level of environmental destruction this project is causing to the British countryside is simply breathtaking and virtually no-one who has been forcibly moved, lost good farmland or otherwise been inconvenienced en route will see any actual benefit from HS2. It is a monumental waste of money that the UK no longer has and yet another project that benefits London above anywhere else. Nevertheless it is a good video.
There is a massive amount of waste involved (3/4 of HS2 staff are paid over £100k pa), but ultimately the business case is sound. I'm highly confident that 20 years after completion, no one will question why it was done.It about capacity rather than speed and will benefit vast numbers of areas outside of it's main stations. I only wish that a similar sum was invested in roads considering the vast number of immigrants increasing the population.
What a waste