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NEF - We’re still not asking the right questions about HS2
Blog posted by: Jacob Mohun Himmelweit (March 18, 2014).
HS2 might be back in the headlines, but key questions are still going unasked, let alone answered.
Reviewing the project, Sir David Higgins was tasked with finding ways to reduce total costs and his answer has been unsurprising –political delays will make for an uncertain investment environment and increase the total costs of the project. His solution is therefore to push through legislation to speed up building on HS2 and pushing further north in phase 1 to emphasise political commitment to phase 2 and achieve benefits in the north earlier than otherwise.
Concern that HS2 is going to be given the go-ahead without proper examination of alternatives is growing. A letter in the Times yesterday asked whether HS2 should be Britain’s forefront infrastructure investment despite, for example, the Great Western Line at Dawlish recently collapsing into the sea, and the fact that intercity trains are reported to be operating at just 52 per cent capacity. It was signed by 40 individuals and organisations as diverse as The Green Party, Higgins’ former employer Network Rail, TaxPayers’ Alliance and Nigel Farage.
Such arguments echo those we made in a report last year.
Our report outlined a package of alternative investments adding up to HS2’s original £33bn price tag - Treasury estimates have since been revised upwards to as much as £73 billion.
The Department for Transport (DfT) omitted a vital step in what should be a fair, transparent and prudent appraisal of the HS2 project - it failed to explore alternative options. Without tested alternatives, it appears that the means (HS2) have overshadowed the ends (economy, environment and rail capacity), with no assurance that the two are truly connected.
We can only repeat what we have said before: there could be better ways to meet our national goals, and as custodian of our public funds the government must step back from unsubstantiated rhetoric on HS2 in order to explore and assess these opportunities properly.
