Children will thank us for HS2, says boss

FUTURE generations will be grateful for HS2, the project’s boss insisted yesterday.

Chief executive Mark Thurston said Britain must hold its nerve over the rail scheme after the Lords economic affairs committee warned it was ‘far from convinced’ that the high-speed link from London to Birmingham, Crewe, Manchester and Leeds will be built within its £55.7billion budget.

He said big projects such as the M25 and Channel Tunnel ‘divide opinion’ early on, adding: ‘We need to see the regenerative effect HS2 is going to have on our economy.’