Better never than white elephant
of gas and oil that lie under this inhospitable continent of ice.
The fact is that no one really knows what HS2 will eventually cost, certainly not Bojo, or his (what might turn out to be) interim government.
What we do know is that the timetable to complete the project is also way off track.
Remember, it started 10 years ago and phase one, London to Birmingham, is not scheduled for completion until 2026 and work hasn’t even started on phase two, Leeds to Manchester.
And as for links further north to Scotland, well that simply isn’t going to happen, whatever they decide about HS2
Finished by 2033? More like 3033. The billions being squandered could have been put to far better use – funding new hospitals, schools, social housing and, in the north of England or in Scotland, an overhaul of the existing rail network.
So I welcome the brakes being put on HS2, and I hope the review’s findings have shunted it into the sidings for good, especially when you realise it’s reckoned that their “high-speed” trains will only ever run at the same speed as current carriages.
It’s nothing more than an expensive, destructive vanity project for its backers and high-profile supporters who wanted something other than their failings to be remembered by. I mean Labour’s Lord Adonis, ex-tory PM David Cameron and his Chancellor, George Osborne, for starters.
HS2 has run out of track.
At a time of great uncertainty and austerity it is not the way forward and HS2 should be derailed immediately and, more importantly, all those guilty of being grossly negligent in costing the project and lavishly rewarded for being wasteful with our cash, should have the book thrown at them and be fast-tracked through the courts.
It’s high time they were made accountable for their incompetence and their frivolous spending of our hard-earned money that isn’t really theirs to waste.