Labour prepared to drop support for High Speed 2 September 23, 2013 LABOUR yesterday hinted that it is willing to drop support for the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway between London and the north due to rising costs, throwing the future of the project into doubt. Ed Balls told a fringe event at the Labour conference in Brighton that his party must consider whether HS2 is “the [...]
Liberal think tank says HS2 may not be best way to spend £50bn September 17, 2013 POLITICIANS should reconsider whether High Speed 2 (HS2) is the best way to spend £50bn, according to a think tank closely associated with the Liberal Democrats. CentreForum’s Quentin Maxwell-Jackson, a former senior partner at KPMG, yesterday warned that the case for continuing with the project – which has been dogged by criticism over this summer [...]
Battle lines drawn over HS2 rail link September 10, 2013 New report claims line will boost UK’s economy by £15bn …but critics remain unconvinced MINISTERS will today launch a fightback in support of the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway project – as a government-commissioned KPMG report claims the project would boost the UK economy by £15bn a year. Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin will use a major [...]
Ministers insist High Speed 2 is worth building September 9, 2013 MINISTERS defended the controversial High Speed 2 (HS2) rail link between London and the north yesterday, following a damning report from the public accounts committee about the economic case for the project. Chancellor George Osborne insisted he was “passionately in favour” of the £42.6bn scheme, while transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the BBC “it is [...]
MPs deliver new blow to HS2 plan September 8, 2013 HIGH Speed 2 (HS2) lacks a “convincing strategic case”, according to a damning report released today by MPs that questions the entire justification for the £50bn railway. Margaret Hodge MP, chairman of the public accounts committee, said the department for transport had relied on “fragile numbers, out-of-date data and assumptions which do not reflect real [...]
A new breed of super-entrepreneurs could leave HS2 looking antiquated September 8, 2013 FOR A mode of transport that first arrived in the nineteenth century, railways have been remarkably resilient. All three major political parties currently support the creation of a new high speed rail network, High Speed 2 (HS2), a £43bn plan to connect London Euston, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, and the East Midlands in two phases. [...]
Euston property owner clinches £80m financing in spite of HS2 September 1, 2013 SYDNEY & London Properties has sealed an £80m refinancing deal for three office blocks fronting Euston Station, the planned terminus for HS2 and Britain’s sixth busiest railway station. Lloyds Bank has agreed to refinance One Euston Square and two office blocks known as the Podium and the Tower at One Eversholt Street for a further [...]
Labour threatens to redesign HS2 link August 26, 2013 LABOUR would delay construction of the London leg of the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway in order to redesign the route through the capital, shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle has told City A.M. Eagle said the government’s current proposal to link HS2 to the High Speed 1 (HS1) line using existing tracks through north London [...]
Why we shouldn’t be surprised by the rapidly rising cost of High Speed 2 August 21, 2013 IT’S A familiar but depressing story. When a big government project is first advocated, the backers downplay the costs in order to gain political support. As the scheme progresses, the budget increases dramatically, but the momentum behind it makes it difficult to stop. The same pattern is repeated again and again. The Channel Tunnel Rail [...]
HS2 rubbishes claim that costs could hit £80bn August 18, 2013 THE COMPANY developing the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway last night hit out at claims that the cost of the route will eventually hit £80bn, insisting the figure is based on ideology rather than reality. A report released today by the free market Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank concludes that local lobbying campaigns [...]