Sorry, I should have clarified.

A new train route will encourage growth of towns jobs etc. It's not just freight either - if someone living in London commutes 1 hour a day by tube/overground rail or could get to the same place from outside London in the same time, then HS2 would mean they have the choice of moving out from London to less densely populated areas with new schools, hospitals etc.

A lot of our railways are still from the Victorian era so at some point will need replacing anyway. HS2 allows us to do this in our own time rather than out of necessity because the lines are no longer safe to use. With a link such as HS2, making it as quick as possible is the smart thing to do, so that trains in the next 50 - 100 years (or whatever it is) can benefit from the investment we make now rather than reinvesting in the future.

The problem with HS2 is the enormous cost - I agree that this is way to high, but if we can use the private sector after Brexit to invest back into the HS2 routes then we can start claiming some of that public sector investment back.

Of course high speed rail freight transport is being used.

Tell me which countries Todgy? If you know!
Regards Donkeyman!

France, Germany, recently Italy, just for starters.

Right, we've made a start!
What routes do they take and what is the average distance
travelled between stops and what is the longest!
And what is the average speed of the journeys!

V Regards Donkeyman!

Check it out yourself.

I thought you knew Todgy??
So l hold to my view that uk is not suitable for transport
travelling faster than 150mph for passenger and lower for
freight!
The money saved should be spent on getting what we have
got into a modern codition, both network and rolling stock!
and it should be placed under a single management structure
again in the interests of integration and standerdisation as
opposed to the present situation!
Regards Donkeyman!

I do know, and I absolutely disagree.