Devvy
Donor
Just to detract further from the OP (sorry!). As far as the non-general public are concerned, the extra capacity that HS2 gives is more the big winner then the speed.
The public love to see "London - Birmingham in 30 minutes" slogans.
Realistically, Virgin Trains runs 9 express trains per hour - shunt them all onto HS2 and you get 9 extra trains per hours for commuter services on the WCML. Invaluable considering how congested those services are.
As for the Heathrow / Gatwick question. Yes Gatwick is further out, but it's only 30 minutes from London Bridge on the train, which is a hell of a lot closer to central London then Paddington is, so journey times for a lot of London travellers might be easier. Gatwick is also better connected to the rest of southern England by train (Reading / Guildford / Brighton / Portsmouth all have direct services to Gatwick).
If Gatwick takes on OTL Heathrow's role, I think the Silicon (Thames) Valley gets established down the M23 corridor instead for the same reasons - good airport links, London road/rail. Or maybe a M23/M4 mix, but either way some large companies are going to be tempted to base themselves close to the prime airport. I work for a large electronics company in the Thames Valley, and the closeness of Heathrow is a godsend from a business point of view.
The public love to see "London - Birmingham in 30 minutes" slogans.
Realistically, Virgin Trains runs 9 express trains per hour - shunt them all onto HS2 and you get 9 extra trains per hours for commuter services on the WCML. Invaluable considering how congested those services are.
As for the Heathrow / Gatwick question. Yes Gatwick is further out, but it's only 30 minutes from London Bridge on the train, which is a hell of a lot closer to central London then Paddington is, so journey times for a lot of London travellers might be easier. Gatwick is also better connected to the rest of southern England by train (Reading / Guildford / Brighton / Portsmouth all have direct services to Gatwick).
If Gatwick takes on OTL Heathrow's role, I think the Silicon (Thames) Valley gets established down the M23 corridor instead for the same reasons - good airport links, London road/rail. Or maybe a M23/M4 mix, but either way some large companies are going to be tempted to base themselves close to the prime airport. I work for a large electronics company in the Thames Valley, and the closeness of Heathrow is a godsend from a business point of view.