What do you think of rail services and do you care if HS2 to Manchester is cancelled?
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00:00 When they run well, they're good. When they don't run well, they're really bad.
00:07 I think we've just got used to the last 18 months to the rail strikes, we just work around it.
00:13 The train stock itself is improving, train times aren't improving, so it's a mixed bag.
00:23 I think the big problem isn't the HS2, it's the inability for me to get from Cambridge to Manchester without stopping at three different stations.
00:35 It's not going north and south that's the problem, it's going east and west that's the problem.
00:40 I think that's why for me, I think HS2 is a vanity project, I don't see any reason for it.
00:48 I think it would be better off spending the money on better trains that go across the country.
00:54 When I was at university I don't think it was ever on time.
00:59 Where were you going to?
01:02 Birmingham, but then the trains in Birmingham to London, because I used to go to Coventry quite often, the trains to London were always on time.
01:12 It was more the northern trains that were never on time.
01:19 Do you have a view on the cancellation of HS2 to Manchester?
01:24 I think it's a bit of a betrayal, especially with the Tory conference in Manchester at the moment.
01:32 They could come and do conferences in the north but they won't provide good travel links to the north.
01:40 Are you seeing a pattern here?
01:43 Yeah, it's just a neglect of northern cities, they just don't really care about them.
01:49 As long as they reinvest it in the north rather than just let it go into government coffers then it's fine.
01:58 Did you believe in HS2 as a route before?
02:02 Probably not. I don't think there was a huge amount of benefits to it.
02:07 It was all critical rather than anything else.
02:11 Do you trust the government to divert the money?
02:15 Yes.
02:17 Do you think if they said they were going to?
02:19 Yeah, if they say they're going to divert it then yes, I'd trust them to do so.
02:24 How do you find the railway currently?
02:27 It works, that's about it. There's nothing special.