Travel question

Will rail users be taken care of further down the track?

Simon Calder answers your questions on HS2, border crossings and favourite airports

Monday 15 November 2021 17:41 EST
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High Speed 2 will pay for itself in time
High Speed 2 will pay for itself in time (Getty)

Q I read your account of the soon-to-be-curtailed HS2 rail extravaganza. Surely there must be a case for spending the same amount of money on railway projects that will eke more benefits for more people.

James S

A Many people will agree with you – especially if, as with communities in the Chilterns northwest of London, they are seeing a vast amount of spending and upheaval with no tangible benefit (except, perhaps, slightly emptier trains on their conventional rail line linking the capital with Birmingham.

So will passengers in southwest England, virtually anywhere in Wales, East Anglia and Lincolnshire – who stand to make no gains at all from the high-speed rail line that is to connect London with Birmingham and Manchester.

Some tens of billions of pounds will be saved by axing the eastern leg, which was supposed to connect Birmingham with Sheffield and Leeds. So, what are the chances that this will be spent on local improvements?

I estimate the chances as close to zero. There is no fund of tens of billions of pounds waiting to be allocated to railway projects. High Speed 2 is a one-off investment that is designed to deliver such a comprehensive list of improvements that it will, in reasonable time, pay for itself.

Partly that will be because passenger journeys will increase thanks to the increased speed and reliability of the HS2 line itself. But equally important are the higher yields from carrying freight on “conventional” lines that are cleared of inter-city passenger expresses. People sometimes complain about freight trains blocking the line – in fact, higher-speed trains are the real problem, because they are far hungrier in terms of the track they consume.

Move them all to a separate network, where everything moves at the same speed – an impressive 225mph – and suddenly there is much more space for local and regional passenger trains, improving town-to-town transport, as well as far greater cargo capacity for getting trucks off the road.

It’s like deciding to improve the old A-road network rather than building motorways: we could make do and mend, but future generations will not thank us.

The Rainbow Bridge is one of the world’s most spectacular border crossings
The Rainbow Bridge is one of the world’s most spectacular border crossings (Getty/iStock)

Q Can we enter the US across the Rainbow Bridge from Canada without a Covid test as both of us are double vaccinated? We would like to go to New York then fly back to the UK.

Scott

A Yes. The Rainbow Bridge comprises one of the world’s most spectacular international border crossings. It carries the road link between Canada and the US across the Niagara River, just downstream from the celebrated falls – of which provides a terrific view. The location is 40 miles southeast of the biggest Canadian city, Toronto, as the blue jay flies. The road distance is twice as far: the highway, the Queen Elizabeth Way, follows the shore of Lake Ontario. You can reach the Canadian city of Niagara Falls by bus and, occasionally, train from Toronto.

Last Monday, on the day that non-essential visits by British travellers were finally allowed again, I tested this very crossing from Canada into the US. At the moment that the presidential travel ban on Europeans was lifted, at 12.01am on 8 November, America’s land frontiers with Canada and Mexico also reopened for non-essential travel.

Perhaps oddly, the rules for land (or sea) arrivals to the US are easier than for trips by air: no proof of a negative test for Covid-19 is required. But you must bring official evidence of being double vaccinated. I took my NHS Covid pass letter, which you can order free online to be posted to you. It sounds as though you may already be in Canada, in which case you should download and print proof from the NHS. In my experience, border officials are much more satisfied with paper proof than with evidence on your smartphone.

You will need to pay C$1 for the bridge toll (or $4 if you are in a vehicle), plus $6 per person for the border fee once admitted into the US. Finally, if you are continuing by public transport, Amtrak runs three trains a day from Niagara Falls to New York City. Booking a few days ahead, the fare is $68 (£50).

Innsbruck airport in Austria is a favourite of our travel correspondent
Innsbruck airport in Austria is a favourite of our travel correspondent (Getty)

Q What’s your favourite airport, and which airport would you avoid if you could?

Robin S

A On the face of it, the perfect airport is the one with excellent transport connections, clear signage and friendly, efficient security. Plus appealing, good-value places to eat and drink while you wait for an on-time flight – preferably out-of-doors with a view of the runway and apron.

Oh, and hardly any fellow passengers. Innsbruck in Austria probably comes closest to meeting these criteria, with old favourites including Changi in Singapore and Schiphol in Amsterdam embellishing their appeal with touristic qualities: the rooftop swimming pool at Singapore and the outpost of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum at Schiphol. Gibraltar deserves an honourable mention, too, because of its exciting location directly facing the Rock, with a runway that extends into the Mediterranean in each direction.

Those are the airports I look forward to using. But that is not the same thing as being my favourite airport. That would be the one that has the highest number of departures to the widest range of places I would like to visit, and as a result the choice really comes down to Gatwick, Luton and Stansted in London, plus Manchester. Why not Heathrow? Not enough exotic destinations.

As for airports that I would actively seek to avoid: Paris Charles de Gaulle is top of that shortlist, because of its unfriendly design, awkward flight connections and dismal absence of human interest. Madrid is equally unappealing when trying to get to or from the relatively new Terminal 4 or its even more remote sibling, T4S. Yes, I know CDG and MAD serve many wonderful locations, but my heart sinks when I know I am going to be passing through.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder

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