Signal stop to this high-speed waste

THE collapse of Carillion may appear to be an unmitigated disaster. Not so, I suspect it will turn out to be a blessing. Quite simply, Carillion was a thoroughly badly run company. Capitalism, being relentlessly self-examining and where need be selfcritical, spotted this and pronounced a verdict. Had it been in the public sector (a euphemism for bureaucrat-run) it would have been allowed to fritter away taxpayer money for decades.

Most of what Carillion – commissioned by governments both Labour and Tory – ran and managed is necessary and will go on, hopefully under better management by others. Most of the staff will be re-employed by those others. Their pensions will be honoured.

But there are a couple of white elephants that with a bit of wisdom at the top could beneficially be shelved. A glaringly obvious example is the HS2 railway project from London to Birmingham and the North.

The Netherlands has a hyper-fast railway, rammed through despite shrewd advice, and it is a commercial disaster. Spain examined a similar vanity project and dumped it. Consecutive British governments have insisted on ploughing ahead even as the costs went through the roof. It is the vanity factor: the obsession of politicians and bureaucrats that they must never be seen to have got something wrong.

We do not need another railway line. We have one which could be upgraded for a fraction of the almost £60billion (and rising) cost projected so far. The original reasons have been invalidated and replaced by other invented ones. It started as an excuse to get businessmen to their offices fast. Then it was revealed they work on their computers in their seats. Nowadays the office accompanies the executive, provided he is online – a simple technical facility.

NOW the justification claims the existing trains are congested. So extend the platforms and lengthen the trains. Chris Grayling, the new (how many so far?) Transport Secretary, normally levelheaded, is enmeshed in the “can’t stop now” syndrome. The fact is that not a forkful of earth has been dug yet. A few millions have been spent on plans, tests and inflated salaries. There are other companies involved but Carillion was the main contractor.

And if anyone thinks there is nothing else we could more beneficially spend £60billion on, just look around.