Notices by Major Denis Bloodnok (denisbloodnok@mendeddrum.org)

@julian @aral @sarajw That seems optimistic. To me they look like making soothing noises without any intention of changing anything.

@goatsarah @grayface_ghost 160kph would be vastly cheaper, so that would be a very good reason why it made sense, assuming nobody cares about journey times.

(Bit of a false dichotomy here, too, between 160kph and faster than Chinese HSR in a country that China could lose down the back of the sofa.)

@grayface_ghost If nobody really cares about cutting journey times, why build it for a 360 kph maximum? Minimum curve radius varies with the square of maximum speed; the very high speeds chosen (faster than China, a considerably larger country) contribute directly to the huge cost. Yes, doubling the existing line isn't feasible; yes, spending the cash on HS2 is better than motorways - but if it's not about journey times, the price could be much lower.