Linking Britain to the European mainland and to Ireland ?

[The Lawspeaker]

Please put up your wildest ideas and fantasies if how Britain and it's neighbours should be linked.

I am for now purely talking about the (northern) Netherlands and I think that Harwich is too far away from London perhaps it would be a good idea to move the Hook of Holland- Harwich service to Dartford which has the necessary infrastructure and a much better position then Harwich.



Although Stena Line has served the route rather well it would perhaps be a good idea to have a joint-British/Dutch venture (as Stena Line's core region is the waters around Sweden) adopt the route and adapt it to high-speed travel like what was done during the days of the Stena Discovery.

In the Netherlands the motorway A20 should be expanded to Hook of Holland and given a dedicated offramp so travellers don't have to follow the tedious two-lane road to the Hook that they have to use now. While in Britain one could use a new rail terminal and rail link (linking it to London and beyond) and a new port in Dartford.

In the Netherlands itself one could also consider to move the (freight) ferry service to Hull from it's rather isolated position in the port of Rotterdam to the port of the Hook and buy ferries that are also more adapted to passenger travel.

[The Lawspeaker]

The question is.. would it be possible to repeat the success that the Chunnel has become bring the ICE from Berlin to London (and possibly even beyond) ? Would a fixed tunnel between the Hook and England benefit the economies of the Netherlands and Britain and the rest of Europe ?


There are of course some mayor concerns: that the Hook will turn into another Mecca or Zandgat (Sangatte) for illegal aliens and whether it would not make it possible for evasive species to make the trip between mainland Europe and Britain even faster ? The Japanese, (South) Koreans and Russians are already studying plans which could lay the basis for a continuous railway network between Japan and Western Europe if it would ever be carried out. And around the Danish Straits Danes, Germans and Swedes are coming up with plans of their own to the countries closer together.

But could it be theoretically possible to get on have an early breakfast on a highspeed train while leaving Amsterdam and having lunch in a pub in London ?

[The Ripper]

Please put up your wildest ideas and fantasies if how Britain and it's neighbours should be linked.

Chains, leather and whips. Not to mention a dominant-submissive relationship. Ok poor joke! Moving on...

[Liffrea]

An English newspaper headline from the 80’s I believe:

“Fog in Channel, continent cut off”.

That’s all you need to know.

[Beorn]

I'm all for the channel tunnel being blocked up, so the idea of another tunnel leading from yet another port of foreignness would just break my nerve.

I reckon Doggerland was sunk on purpose.

[Arne]

Lower the Water level and we can make a Autobahn.

[Albion]

The question is.. would it be possible to repeat the success that the Chunnel has become bring the ICE from Berlin to London (and possibly even beyond) ? Would a fixed tunnel between the Hook and England benefit the economies of the Netherlands and Britain and the rest of Europe ?

A tunnel would boost the economies and would link the substantial economies of London and the Netherlands and would also serve as a more direct route to the German cities.
However such a venture would be spectacularly expensive and the problem could perhaps be better tackled by putting better ferry services on, perhaps subsidized by the British and Dutch governments or state owned by both (a joint venture).

The Japanese, (South) Koreans and Russians are already studying plans which could lay the basis for a continuous railway network between Japan and Western Europe if it would ever be carried out.

That is bad. The day East Asians can catch a train directly to Western Europe will be a particularly bad day for preserving our cultures indeed.

And around the Danish Straits Danes, Germans and Swedes are coming up with plans of their own to the countries closer together.

Nothing wrong with that. Its easier due to Denmark's islands being quite close to both Germany and Sweden.

An English newspaper headline from the 80’s I believe:

“Fog in Channel, continent cut off”.

That’s all you need to know

Hahaha, Liffrea highlights a concern of mine there, British and more specifically English insularity. There was massive opposition to the channel tunnel, yet more tunnel links to mainland Europe wouldn't go down well.
Its not about Britain having any grudges against Europe, its more a case of the British being rather like Iceland and wanting to do things their own way and treat the Isles like their own little world.

I reckon Doggerland was sunk on purpose.

Lower the Water level and we can make a Autobahn.

German efficiency for our motorways would be welcomed, please feel free to purchase them and do away with the speed limit

[The Lawspeaker]

I was thinking about it just earlier and it is possible to book trips at Stena Line and continue the trip to London by train -- there is also a train station at Hoek van Holland.

So if there is a train station in Harwich and one in Hoek van Holland.. we might just as well link them together in a cheap and cost-effective way: by train ferry.

So one should then be able to take a train to London (or Amsterdam) once a day in let's say Amsterdam CS or Rotterdam CS and London Liverpool Street.

Since Britain and the Netherlands use different gauges and different voltages we would need a variable gauge system at both Hoek van Holland and Harwich and a change of locomotives and crews.

[Jake Featherston]

Ferries and the Chunnel are more than adequate. The British government should have a military contingency plan for sealing off the Chunnel, presumably via the use of explosives (and they presumably do).

[The Lawspeaker]

Ferries and the Chunnel are more than adequate. The British government should have a military contingency plan for sealing off the Chunnel, presumably via the use of explosives (and they presumably do).

I think they should get rid of the Chunnel and sealing it off as it poses a strategic threat because of immigrants trying to get to Britain.

And besides: what good are ferries if you can only walk onto it, bring your car or lorry when there is no real decent train connection available ?

I would suggest that the service is carried out by a consortium of Stena Line, GNER and the Nederlandse Spoorwegen.

Checking the Stena Line website I believe that the current price of a single trip (€ 52,-) to London is too generous and a price of € 80 ,- would be a good price because you wouldn't need to change trains anymore and they could throw in dinner on the ferry and a place to sleep as the journey from the Hook to Harwich takes some 6 hours.