HS2: The £100BN Railway Dividing a Nation

Welcome to HS2, Europe’s largest infrastructure project.


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[AbroadinJapan]

As someone who rides the Shinkansen weekly between Sendai and Tokyo, it makes two cities almost 400km apart feel like they're practically next door. The journey time is about 1 hour 20 mins (5-6 hours by car) and the smooth ride spent gliding across the countryside is an absolute joy. I never particularly enjoyed riding trains until I ended up in Japan. The Shinkansen were seen as a monumental waste of money before they were operational and then they quickly became the pride of the nation. Superb video though - this is the first time I've seen the pros and cons of HS2 explained clearly!

[gammaphonic]

It’s worth remembering that the first Shinkansen in Japan faced very similar opposition. Few wanted it, and very few thought it would have a significant positive impact.

[battmarn]

the biggest failure of HS2 imo is starting it in London and working north, rather than starting in the north and working south. it would have had a lot higher approval rating if it promised to better connect the north first

[annemaxwell]

Your graphics are becoming so much more sophisticated as is your reporting, and very much appreciated. One of the most easily accessible channels for the discussion of highly complex, high value global projects. Thank you.

[augustusimperator.avi]

The high speed train between my city, Barcelona and the capital, Madrid has singlehandedly killed the air routes between thia cities. High speed rail is a marvel.

[farmerrad]

Well done on a well produced piece of content. The quality of your work, like the HS2 budget, is ever-increasing!

[ianwalther]

Wow, this was absolutely fantastic. Genuine journalism, with an extremely high production value and a real effort to show all sides of the issue. This channel keeps getting better and better and I'm thankful to be along for the ride.

[gallicia]

Hang on to this UK. The opposition against Shinkansen in Japan was even bigger. Now it is not only bringing in more money, it is also helping revitalising rural regions (which is a BIG problem). Right now they are making Maglev trains from Tokyo to Nagoya as the next step.

[KarlMathiasMoberg]

Wow, this video was incredible on so many levels. Insanely detailed, giving tons of insight into a super interesting project; the editing is incredible and the info graphics are superb. Fantastic job B1M team, this was just an amazing video!

[superkamyar]

This is the first time in my life that I’ve decided to put a comment on a video despite the fact that I’ve been following this channel for a long time. As a Project Manager I must admit that this project and the video are both a masterpiece. Hats off to you guys.

[josephharrison]

*It's not taxpayer money.* That's what everyone seems to forget about this: it's being funded through capital expenditure, essentially borrowing against a future return on investment. We wouldn't be saving money by not building it, because the money essentially doesn't exist until it's invested in something real: the rails, the stations, the trains, and the jobs. You can't point to a single penny in your tax bill that goes towards major new infrastructure projects; it was the same with Crossrail.

Also, the entire carbon footprint of building HS2 is equivalent to one month of emissions from road transport. Given the immense potential of the railway to take cars off the roads, both directly and indirectly through releasing capacity on the existing network, I'd say that's a price worth paying.

Or it would be, if it were actually being built properly. The truncated mess that's being built now is an embarrassment.

[whophd]

Thanks for pointing out the existing rails are full. One tip though: Mixed stopping patterns currently, extremely restrict capacity further. If you stop putting express trains on the old tracks, you don’t just increase local trains by the same amount — you can double or triple it! The gaps between trains are CRAZY when you have slow trains in front of fast trains.

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

This video was so damn good that I almost forgot I was watching on YouTube. This is at the same level of quality as a BBC or Discovery Channel documentary. Your narration is on the same level as Sir David Attenborough. Keep up the amazing content production, can't wait for the next one bruv!

As for high-speed rail, south of the DMZ has a wonderful system and we hope for that system to expand once we reunify

[adampenkul]

The existing rail networks are incredibly and sometimes prohibitively expensive compared to much of the rest of Europe. The UK government have a a habit of using taxpayer money to build infrastructure, then selling to private investors who use it to extort the population.

[jackwalters]

One thing to keep in mind is the Shinkansen line. It went absurdly over budget and suffered from years of delay, but no one remembers that now, now everyone only remembers that Shinkansen helped pave the way for Japan to become one of the most prosperous countries in the world

[amazedalloy]

As an Irish person, I'm praying this pays off. We need the inspiration here and given our habit of copying stuff, I want this to be one

[ronaldc.wagener]

People often do not comprehend that massive infrastructure projects will most probably last for centuries and therefore benefits must be looked at over many decades and centuries. Note the tunnel under the Thames River.

[paul.oregan]

Infrastructure projects that span multiple governments are to be applauded.

In todays world of popularism and short term pressure from social media the pressure never to start projects like this will be large. Listening to these voices is how stagnation happens.

[hans-rudi-der-letzte]

It's very interesting that countries where rail transport had its starting point, like the UK, Germany or the US, have so many problems with big rail projects nowadays. I mean California High Speed Rail, Stuttgart 21, ...it is pretty obvious that something has to change in planning and building such infrastructure.

[schusss]

the level of details in the production of this video is mind blowing, sweet animations, transitions and overall image quality. and yet, the content is even more impressive, congrats to the B1M team for this amazing documentary!