High Speed cover-up
THIS paper has long expressed grave doubts about the merits of the High Speed 2 rail project, which will carve up great swathes of countryside and cause huge disruption for only small reductions in journey times.
But without question the most troubling aspect of HS2 is its eye-watering cost, which will starve of investment the rest of our crumbling rail and road network.
New revelations only serve to compound these concerns. Firstly, one estimate suggests the true bill is likely to be £104billion – nearly double the official prediction – and at £403million per mile, the London to Birmingham section would be the most expensive railway in the world.
Even worse, there is growing evidence that officials are being far from frank about the final cost. Two reports from 2011 and 2012 took years to be published, and today, the Mail reveals another government valuefor-money review is being kept under wraps by the Cabinet Office – which is led by none other than the master of concealment Jeremy ‘Sir Cover Up’ Heywood.
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