I came across this article '
Why HS2 is a good thing, and how everyone who opposes high speed rail in the UK is missing something fundamental' and it seemed to cover some interesting points.
Quote:
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With regard to profitability, cutting out all ‘unprofitable’ services would mean only running peak time trains; but who would use railways if only peak time trains ran? When running rail network, you will always need to run some services at a loss. It’s the very nature of running a clock-face timetable with trains every 20 minutes – it means a comprehensive, seamless service is offered (thereby increasing passengers overall) – and it means rail users can travel when they like. It’s why a fully-privatised railway network would never work, and it’s why we use the franchise system we do today. Train operating companies must, in return for subsidy, adhere to strict guidelines about the service they run, and how they run it. In short – railways do not see a clear cut return on investment in a business sense. Nobody should expect this of HS2 – but it will have far-reaching broader and wider economic benefits, as I will try to explain in this piece.
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What do people make of it?