MP Sheerman demands rejection of “national folly”
On the day Royal Assent was given to HS2 on February 23, criticism of the project continued with Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman claiming: “Today marks another step towards the national folly that is High Speed 2.”
During a Transport debate in the House of Commons, Sheerman said: “May I beg the Secretary of State, even at this late stage, here is a project that is totally out of control in terms of expenditure - zooming past £60 billion - with the chief executive having resigned. Will the Secretary of State change his mind and invest this money in a fast rail network in the north of England and the NHS?”
Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling replied: “Of course, it is not an either/or. We are currently spending money on the Ordsall Chord in Manchester, which will provide a dramatic improvement to services in the Manchester area and enable more services across the Pennines.
“We also have the most ambitious improvement plan that the northern rail network has seen in modern times. So, I am very proud of what we are doing transport-wise in the North of England.
“I would simply say that if we are going to meet the capacity challenges of the future, we are going to need to build a new railway line. And if we are going to build something new, why would we not build something state-ofthe-art? That is the view of the overwhelming majority of Members of this House?”
On March 7, HS2 Ltd spokesman Alastair Cowan added that as of the day of Royal Assent the costs were £24.3bn for Phase 1 and £24.4bn for Phase 2, with a further £7bn for the rolling stock - making a total of £55.7bn.