Risky projects like HS3 are the only way to rescue our languishing regions July 16, 2014 In London and much of the South East, the recovery has been well underway for a considerable period of time. House prices boom and restaurants are packed. The economic data for the UK as a whole looks just as encouraging, with employment now at its highest ever level. Yet there are persistent complaints that the [...]
George Osborne’s HS3 high speed rail link criticised as vanity project June 23, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne’s plan for a High Speed 3 rail link between Manchester and Leeds in the north of the country has been dubbed a “costly vanity project” by a leading economic think tank. The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) yesterday accused the chancellor of “concocting” a headline-grabbing plan ahead of the election in 2015, [...]
HS3 high-speed rail link planned to connect north’s leading cities June 23, 2014 George Osborne will today launch a fervent defence of the proposed £43bn High Speed 2 rail link from London to the north, and suggest that even more cash is spent on new rail links between cities such as Manchester and Leeds. Speaking in Manchester, the chancellor will argue that the UK economy is excessively dominated [...]
HS2 backers have completely failed to make a convincing case April 28, 2014 YESTERDAY saw the House of Commons give the green light to HS2 at second reading, with the bill now heading into Committee stage. And as the debate has twisted and turned over the years, so the justification for this huge taxpayer-funded rail project has mutated. At first, the reduction in journey times was considered the [...]
MPs to hit out at HS2 as research doubts benefits April 28, 2014 NEW RESEARCH claims the benefits of the High Speed 2 railway for the north of England have been exaggerated, and that the “regeneration myth” is obscuring the damage that would be done to some regions. Ahead of a vote in parliament on the new laws needed to build HS2, the Institute of Economic Affairs argued [...]
Chunnel slams plan to axe HS2 link to Europe April 24, 2014 THE BOSS of Eurotunnel has said plans to axe the link between High Speed 2 and the railway to the Continent are “a mistake” that will cost more in lost productivity than the £700m saved. Jacques Gounon said “with a significant investment like this you’re making the wrong saving by not achieving such connections”, arguing [...]
HS2 deluged by 11,000 complaints on postcards April 9, 2014 Spare a thought for the post room at Golder Associates, the company hired by the Department for Transport to assess the environmental effects of High Speed 2. The consultancy recently received some 7,500 postcards entitled “Don’t miss your chance to tell David Cameron the only AONB [area of outstanding natural beauty] on the route of [...]
High Speed 2 to lose a link from North to Europe March 17, 2014 BUSINESS groups broadly supported plans to shake up the High Speed 2 project yesterday, though concerns remain about the benefits of the railway and the loss of direct trains from the English regions into Europe. Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin yesterday agreed to scrap plans for a £700m link between HS2 and the Channel Tunnel route, [...]
The obvious questions HS2 planners still have to answer March 17, 2014 Business groups have been broadly supportive of the changes to High Speed 2, set out this morning by new chairman Sir David Higgins, though concerns remain about the benefits of the project. Following Sir David’s review, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has this morning confirmed that the £700m link between HS1 (The Channel Tunnel) and HS2 [...]
New HS2 boss calls for major changes to plan March 17, 2014 THE NEW head of the controversial High Speed 2 railway has today urged the government to speed up work on the route and build a new northern hub by 2027, six years earlier than the scheduled completion date. After several months reviewing the entire project, HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins has set out his proposals [...]