Tweet Check

Welcome to RAIL’s new fact-checking service, which aims to answer your questions, debunk the myths, and get to the unvarnished truth behind some of the most common claims and queries we spot on social media.

HS2 documentary

RAIL’s verdict: Journalist and broadcaster Liam Halligan has certainly had a busy few days on social media, since his controversial Dispatches programme aired on Channel 4 on February 11 (see Paul Bigland’s guest column, pages 50-52).

But while some tweeters have applauded him for speaking out against the £56 billion HS2 project, the weight of opinion seems to have fallen firmly against the programme’s highly critical stance, and its perceived lack of objectivity.

In defence of his central conclusion (that HS2 should be cancelled in favour of greater investment in the North), Halligan pointed to the fact that government has “spent millions employing 17 PR companies to ram pro-HS2 messages down our throats”.

Bob Price was one of many people to find this comment slightly patronising, proving here that he is still capable of independent thought.

Vested interests

RAIL’s verdict: RAIL did not manage to escape the attentions of Halligan, after Managing Editor and Events Director Nigel Harris spoke out against Halligan’s decision to omit the much-needed extra capacity that HS2 will create from his analysis of the project’s value for money.

Halligan’s response was to accuse the magazine of being “in the pocket of the huge corporate vested interests driving the case for HS2”, and we are grateful to all the RAIL readers who refuted this ridiculous claim on our behalf.

Particular mentions go to regular contributors and columnists Paul Bigland, Gareth Dennis and Christian Wolmar. The latter has most notably used RAIL as a platform for his unashamedly anti-HS2 views for several years.

Detailed analysis

RAIL’s verdict: Hats off to York-based consultancy Permanent Rail Engineering, which tweeted this long and informative thread of 11 tweets that provide a detailed analysis on the merits of HS2.

The thread is sadly far too long to replicate here but is well worth a read with infographics clearly illustrating how investing £56 billion in the existing railway could not yield the same amount of capacity as HS2, plus the extra time and disruption that would be incurred to deliver the necessary upgrades on parts of the ‘live’ railway.