Frustration and failure as HS2 threatens to derail

By Mark Sullivan, Regional Chairman

Alex Ramage, John Dunn and Mark Sullivan respond to Larry Elliott’s call to scrap the high-speed rail project.

Published in The Guardian, Monday August 14th, 2023.

Labour in government started HS2, so in office again it should admit its error and cancel it. Labour’s last transport secretary, Lord Adonis, required a proposal for HS2 from London to the West Midlands to be produced before the 2010 general election. His error was to rush out and impose a single plan. Less damaging and cheaper alternatives were disregarded.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) submitted one – a new 106-mile line alongside the M1 from London to Rugby and Leicester to French high-speed standard, plus a rail bypass of Stafford costed by Network Rail in 2008, and four-tracking the line between Coventry and Birmingham. This was presented to Labour, then to the Cameron government, to parliament, to the Oakervee review and to Boris Johnson’s staff in 2019.

CPRE’s plan, at 2019 prices, cost £14bn-15bn. It used known design parameters, met all needs for more capacity, minimised environmental impact and would have opened by 2032. It was never evaluated. Parliament’s committees refused to hear alternatives. Both parties are responsible for where we are now.

Mark Sullivan CPRE Warwickshire

Read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/14/frustration-and-failure-as-hs2-threatens-to-derail