Railway Magazine 1428 - March 2020 Back Issue

CONFIRMATION HS2 is definitely going ahead will be seen by RM readers as both good and bad news, depending on your point of view.

What is clear is HS2 will provide the springboard for increasing rail travel to levels never seen before.

Marketed properly – which hasn’t been the case until recently – and HS2
has the capability of winning over more air and road users as well as cutting pollution. It is merely one of a number of solutions to the climate emergency, and while the arguments continue over possible costs, even at an oft quoted £100billion, the outlay is less than is spent on the NHS in a year – and HS2 is a project costed over many years.

Even though Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given HS2 a green light, the scheme’s critics remain active, still proffering crazy route alternatives, claiming it’s a vanity project and a waste of money, and even suggesting it will drive expansion of more domestic flights!

Some of us will unfortunately not be around when it opens to voice a view on who was right and who was wrong, but there are still a few who work in the rail industry unable to see the benefits to be enjoyed for many future generations.

As someone who can see the need and benefit HS2 will bring in respect of connectivity, future capacity and greener travel, I still have concerns on how tightly a lid can be kept not only on costs, but on how efficient and effective HS2’s project management will be.