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At a reported cost of 34 billion (yes - billion) pounds, which would easily rise by a factor of 2x or even 3x by the time it was up and running, does anyone else agree that this proposal is total madness given that, as a nation, we are teetering on bankruptcy and we can't even afford the basic necessities of life? E.G. I heard today that woman are giving birth outside of maternity units because of a lack of midwives and hospital beds.

What do we want? Travel between London and Glasgow in 2hrs 16mins or children being born into this world in a hospital corridor?

Agree totally,

Where are these billions coming from, I know it is probably part private enterprise but the cost of travelling on this service is going to be sky high, it is already stupidly expensive to travel by rail (£189 each return Nottingham to Liverpool) ??? ??? You can probably catch a flight from London to Glasgow that will get you there in around half an hour, and will probably be cheaper.

There is an awful long way to go before this system is up and running (2030) I don't think for one minute it is going to happen anyway, it a dead duck already.

Priorities have gone crazy, this Government seem to be obsessed with getting us to use public transport, I live in Nottingham and our crazy council have just passed plans for a parking levy tax, if you park your car at work on a company car park, then you will have to pay £179 a year for your parking space, this will rise to £379 in a couple of years. This tax is going towards the funding of stage two of the cities tram system that no one wants in the first place. Theres already talk of large companies moving away from Nottingham to avoid this tax and it's seems that this is one hell of a big own goal for Nottingham City Council.

I'm inclined to agree with you lea. Thing is, I wonder how much money will be frittered away in the meantime on feasibility studies and consultation documents?

Pie in the sky guys - - - -  don't sweat it, it won't happen  :

A crazy amount of money...stupidity. However, if France, Germany & Japan can build high speed rail links, without the country being bankrupt and offer affordable ticket prices once built, why can't we?
Our railway system is old and the joke of Europe, it does need updating. There should be a high speed link north to south as the French have. I used the system in Germany for years, streets ahead in everything, especially punctuality and cleanliness.