HS2: On Track?
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 26 August 2021
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
HS2, a high-speed railway linking up London, the Midlands and the North of England has been in development for more than a decade. It was described by Boris Johnson as the ‘spine’ of a new network to deal with the ‘great musculoskeletal problem of UK transport’. The ‘spine’ is costing an arm and a leg.
In 2012 the project was priced at £32.7bn. That was revised to £55bn in 2015. Last year a review by civil engineer Doug Oakervee said the final figure could top £100bn. The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has already warned that Covid has severely damaged public finances and that will likely impact decisions made in the comprehensive spending review taking place this autumn.
So how is HS2 progressing and is its completion threatened by its rising costs?
Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are -
Nick Kingsley, Managing Editor of Railway Gazette International Bridget Rosewell, Commissioner, National Infrastructure Commission George Parker, political editor at the Financial Times Tony Travers, Professor in the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics
Producers: Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight and Sharon Hemans Editor: Jasper Corbett Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.4 | Welcome to the briefing room with me, David Aronovich. |
| 0:09.6 | You, me, top experts, 28 minutes and a big issue of the day. |
| 0:14.3 | Let's go. |
| 0:17.0 | This week, by train. |
| 0:19.4 | HS2, England's high-speed rail project will deliver a new anatomy of British transport, according to the Prime Minister. |
| 0:26.8 | But there are predictions this week that a third of it will be put on hold. |
| 0:32.0 | So what's the point of HS2? |
| 0:37.0 | This week, there were reports that the government is planning to mothball a major part of the massive HS2 project, |
| 0:43.3 | the plan for a high-speed railway linking London with the north. |
| 0:48.3 | For cost reasons, the bit going from the Midlands to Yorkshire may be delayed, perhaps forever. |
| 0:55.6 | But huge enterprises like this are never just about the upfront cost. |
| 1:00.6 | They're about politics, status, regional sensibilities and economic development. |
| 1:06.6 | So what exactly is happening with HS2 and is it worth it? |
| 1:12.8 | Step into the briefing room and together we'll find out. |
| 1:17.4 | First, let's recall why we embarked on HS2 in the first place and how much of it has already been built. |
| 1:24.6 | Nick Kingsley is managing editor of Railway Gazette International. |
| 1:29.0 | Nick Kingsley, how and when did the idea for a new national high-speed rail network come |
| 1:34.5 | about? As the early years of the new millennium came into view, it was becoming increasingly clear |
| 1:40.9 | that rail passenger numbers were going up very strongly, and there were |
| 1:45.2 | mounting capacity challenges, certainly on the West Coast mainline, but also on several of the |
| 1:50.2 | other strategic north-south routes, and also at several of the key city hubs, thinking |
... |
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