Originally Posted by
Gagravarr
Assuming HS2 eventually gets built, if you included a link to Heathrow and ran a sensible number of trains there with through ticketing much like TGVAir offers, there's probably then another 20 slot pairs available for current domestic flights which'd be under 2 hours by high speed train.
It would need some joined-up thinking, some copying of the French, and some pragmatism, so I can't see it ever happening
If we had maglev trains the same could also be said for ultra high speed rail direct into LHR from GLA, EDI, MAN, LBA, NCL potentially freeing up almost 100 slot pairs.
You could buy a British Airways or Virgin Atlantic ticket from Leeds to Los Angeles, jump on a fast train from central Leeds straight into LHR and check in for your flight.
However a third runway would be cheaper and quicker to build than a decent high speed rail network. Although I think Britain deserves both, it probably wont get either. Our politicians are far too short sighted for grand projects like this.