Road, Rail & Access

[Birmingham Aviation]

It’s a terrible job that hs2 site is.Even worse than that is that they have blocked the A45 entrance at Birmingham airport towards Birmingham.I’ve said this several times.Why can’t the Government invest in more trains

 

[JENNYJET]

............or perhaps, Government? Leave things alone!

 

[Nibbles]

It's not HS2 - its National Highways, building a link road to take M42 NB traffic to the A45 off the J6 roundabout. Its not exactly a huge diversion currently up to the M42 and back...

M42 junction 6 - National Highways

We are making safety and capacity improvements to the M42 junction 6 as it is an important strategic route to support economic growth and planned development in the region.

nationalhighways.co.uk

 

[Garybrum]

It's not HS2 - its National Highways, building a link road to take M42 NB traffic to the A45 off the J6 roundabout. Its not exactly a huge diversion currently up to the M42 and back...

M42 junction 6 - National Highways

We are making safety and capacity improvements to the M42 junction 6 as it is an important strategic route to support economic growth and planned development in the region.

nationalhighways.co.uk

Yes, and a key part of the Government's stated goal of "shifting people out of cars by making public transport, cycling or walking natural first choices for travel".

Also, the current A45/M42 junction has a reputation for being dangerous for drugs dealers who take the junction at high speed. The new junction should alleviate this problem.

 

[Brum X]

It’s a terrible job that hs2 site is.Even worse than that is that they have blocked the A45 entrance at Birmingham airport towards Birmingham.I’ve said this several times.Why can’t the Government invest in more trains

That's exactly the reason why we are building Hs2, to increase capacity between London and Birmingham and to invest in more trains ?

And if there are any Coventry FC Supporters on this site who tried to get back from London on Saturday, well what an absolute s-it show. Train line at capacity, trains full with too many people and a network at a complete and utter standstill.

Why ? The west coast main line is at capacity and the chiltern line was also at capacity.

Sorry ive just realised I have gone slightly off topic, however somebody mentioned Hs2, ha

 

[rollo]

I suppose this comes under development of sorts

The free drop off area has had the time limit halved to 10min then £3 for15min, £4 to 20min after that probably think of a bank loan but in reality OK for a drop off but not so good for pick up.
Reason given is congestion in the parking area.

 

[A330]

I felt 20 minutes was still ok but halving this to 10 is cutting it very fine. The comments from the airport suggest they prefer this facility be used for dropping off and not picking up.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-66511186

 

[Coathanger16]

I felt 20 minutes was still ok but halving this to 10 is cutting it very fine. The comments from the airport suggest they prefer this facility be used for dropping off and not picking up.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-66511186

10 minutes is more than enough time to drop someone off, even if its a large family with big suitcases.

The irony is that one of the drivers in the article complains about there being queues to exit the car park and with the free period reduced to 10 minutes there won't be enough time to exit. By reducing the free time, some people are likely to choose another option, thereby reducing the chances of there being queues in the free car park to begin with - there's never been a queue to get out whenever I've been. Maybe one car at the barrier but I'd hardly call that a queue.

Ultimately there's a free car park for 30 minutes which is a five minute walk from the terminal for those that are so precious about a few £s. Even if you're flying on the cheapest Ryanair fare you can afford £3 or £4, it's just that most people don't want to because they think its "free drop off" whereas the airport actually market it as "premium drop off".

 

[whateverg]

10 minutes is more than enough time to drop someone off, even if its a large family with big suitcases.

The irony is that one of the drivers in the article complains about there being queues to exit the car park and with the free period reduced to 10 minutes there won't be enough time to exit. By reducing the free time, some people are likely to choose another option, thereby reducing the chances of there being queues in the free car park to begin with - there's never been a queue to get out whenever I've been. Maybe one car at the barrier but I'd hardly call that a queue.

Ultimately there's a free car park for 30 minutes which is a five minute walk from the terminal for those that are so precious about a few £s. Even if you're flying on the cheapest Ryanair fare you can afford £3 or £4, it's just that most people don't want to because they think its "free drop off" whereas the airport actually market it as "premium drop off".

I think it's the drop off that's 5-10 minutes walk away that has had the time reduced to 10 minutes. I certainly have seen queues to leave that car park of 5 minutes, it takes one car to have a problem with its ticket to cause a queue behind it.

 

[Coathanger16]

I think it's the drop off that's 5-10 minutes walk away that has had the time reduced to 10 minutes. I certainly have seen queues to leave that car park of 5 minutes, it takes one car to have a problem with its ticket to cause a queue behind it.

Ah my bad.

The one that's a walk away used to be 30 minutes free when it first opened. Don't even remember it being reduced to 20 minutes but then again I haven't used it since before covid. I've personally never had to queue to get out of either premium drop off or free drop off.

With the new charges then, the premium drop off outside the terminal is £4 for up to 15 minutes, whereas the other drop off car park is free up to 10 minutes then £3 up to 15 minutes and £4 up to 20 minutes. At the "risk" of going over 10 minutes and being charged £3, I'd be happier to just pay the extra £1 and have a shorter walk into the terminal tbh.

By comparison, the equivalent to the premium drop off at Gatwick (my current local airport) is £5 for 10 minutes then an additional £1 for each minute (so 15 minutes would cost £10). However you can use the long stay car parks for free for up to 2 hours which are a short bus ride from the terminal. I'm not sure if BHX has something similar but maybe that's an avenue the airport could go down. Alternatively if people are that tight, drop off is free over at the train station then you can catch the monorail over also for free.

 

[Seasider]

The problem is that people want to be dropped off exactly where they want to be, so that they don't have to walk a metre more than necessary.

 

[Vile8er]

The problem is that people want to be dropped off exactly where they want to be, so that they don't have to walk a metre more than necessary.

Very true. In the same manner that some supermarket shoppers have the desire to squeeze into a space to park as close to the entrance as possible, so avoiding, having to use their legs

 

[Aviador]

Opting for a shorter HS2 ‘would be a mistake’ says Birmingham Airport boss

BIRMINGHAM Airport boss, Nick Barton, has warned the Prime Minister the scrapping the high speed rail link between Birmingham and Manchester would be a mistake.

solihullobserver.co.uk

Nick Barton, the airport’s chief executive has written to the Prime Minster, Rishi Sunak voicing his concerns regarding HS2 reports of the discontinuation of the Manchester line.

Personally I would be more inclined to think HS2 will have a negative impact on Birmingham airport rather than a positive one.

 

[whateverg]

Opting for a shorter HS2 ‘would be a mistake’ says Birmingham Airport boss

BIRMINGHAM Airport boss, Nick Barton, has warned the Prime Minister the scrapping the high speed rail link between Birmingham and Manchester would be a mistake.

solihullobserver.co.uk

Nick Barton, the airport’s chief executive has written to the Prime Minster, Rishi Sunak voicing his concerns regarding HS2 reports of the discontinuation of the Manchester line.

Personally I would be more inclined to think HS2 will have a negative impact on Birmingham airport rather than a positive one.

I would hope and expect that NB would have the data to suggest otherwise. If it were not in BHX's interests I doubt he would be extolling the virtues of HS2

 

[Brum X]

Opting for a shorter HS2 ‘would be a mistake’ says Birmingham Airport boss

BIRMINGHAM Airport boss, Nick Barton, has warned the Prime Minister the scrapping the high speed rail link between Birmingham and Manchester would be a mistake.

solihullobserver.co.uk

Nick Barton, the airport’s chief executive has written to the Prime Minster, Rishi Sunak voicing his concerns regarding HS2 reports of the discontinuation of the Manchester line.

Personally I would be more inclined to think HS2 will have a negative impact on Birmingham airport rather than a positive one.

Lets not forget that BHX will take the same amount of time as Zone 4 on the London underground to LHR, that is alot of extra potential customers for BHX ?

 

[Timberwolf]

Opting for a shorter HS2 ‘would be a mistake’ says Birmingham Airport boss

BIRMINGHAM Airport boss, Nick Barton, has warned the Prime Minister the scrapping the high speed rail link between Birmingham and Manchester would be a mistake.

solihullobserver.co.uk

Nick Barton, the airport’s chief executive has written to the Prime Minster, Rishi Sunak voicing his concerns regarding HS2 reports of the discontinuation of the Manchester line.

Personally I would be more inclined to think HS2 will have a negative impact on Birmingham airport rather than a positive one.

I would much rather see Mr Barton concentrating and talking about expanding the airport and give a date for the lounge extension restart !

 

[Deleted member 8277]

Lets not forget that BHX will take the same amount of time as Zone 4 on the London underground to LHR, that is alot of extra potential customers for BHX ?

Until they see the cost of the train ticket. I cant see the ticket prices being reasonable.

 

[Aviador]

I might be wrong but I always viewed HS2 as a fast train out of Birmingham (Manchester or Leeds) and more passengers heading away from the regional cities to London whether it be to work in London or to catch a flight from there. I respect there are so many variables that can be positive or negative with HS2. It's difficult to quantify really but, we know one thing for sure which is it's way too expensive.

 

[Coathanger16]

Worth remembering that Avanti will operate the HS2 trains services and that the vast majority of current WCML services will switch over to HS2.

If Avanti make the HS2 services too expensive all it will do is push their customers to their competitors.

I imagine there will be a premium charged for HS2 services as it is quicker than current services, but I think it will be at a level that most people that are currently happy to pay the premium for Avanti services now will continue to do so in the future.

Ultimately we won't know how much tickets on HS2 will cost until they're put on sale, so in the meantime the cost of said ticket can't really be used as an argument against HS2.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

The big problem with the WCML, is that Birmingham and the West Midlands aren't really on it. Between Rugby and Stafford, the WCML splits in two, with the line through Birmingham being only 2 tracks (one North, one south). this means that the high speed intercity trains get slowed behind local and freight trains. They can only pass at major stations e.g. Birmingham International. This causes longer journey times for passengers between London and Birmingham.