On 15 Jan, 16:29, "Peter Masson" wrote:

(snip)

I really can't see how a HSL from St Pancras, or more likely Euston as
that's the only obvious space for the terminus, via Heathrow, will work. It
would have to be in tunnel at least pretty well all the way to Heathrow, and
with a stop there is only going to be marginally quicker to the West
Midlands than going at 125 mph down the WCML. The Greengauge proposals (head
out of London via Northolt Junction, and follow the general alignment of the
Chiltern Line/M40, serving Heathrow with a branch, joining the main HSL in
the vicinity of Denham) seem to me to be more rational.


Quite - the basic fact that is that none of these places fall neatly
in a straight line. No spin can change that.

I suppose Heathrow could be a branch off a more direct Brum to London
HS2 line, perhaps as a simple terminus. Obvious this would mean
separate train services would need to run from either Heathrow or
Euston to and from points north.

If the CTRL had been built via a southern route then this Heathrow
branch could have been extended on to meet the CTRL, perhaps in a
subterranean junction somewhere under south London. This could have
provided for through international services via Heathrow to the
continent and beyond. But it wasn't so it can't!