MPs back HS2 T


The government’s HS2 high speed rail plan has been backed by MPs on the Transport Select Committee. But the approval came with strong warnings that important areas need to be addressed. Paul Clifton explains


he MPs think there is a ‘good case’ for a high speed rail link north from London. The government will read that as clear support, and later this month it will signal its intention to press ahead with the plan. Many in the rail industry will consider the battle won. But it’s not that simple.


Most damning of all was the view of the MPs that HS2’s place in


the wider context of a transport and economic strategy was not at all clear. In fact, they warned, HS2 was being promoted in the ‘absence of a transport strategy’. The MPs’ approval comes with provisos. It includes a request


for both supporters and opponents to stop trading insults and name-calling. Areas the committee wants addressed include a more comprehensive assessment of alternatives, a clearer economic


PAGE 14 DECEMBER 2011


case, more detail about the environmental impacts, connections to Heathrow and the justification of the precise route being proposed, on which the government is expected to settle this side of Christmas. The report says: ‘We call on the government to consider and to


clarify these matters before it reaches its decision on HS2. Unlike policies for major roads and airports, this proposal has all-party support. It is not, however, universally supported by MPs or the public. What should have been a serious and factually based debate about how best to address the transport, economic and environmental challenges of HS2 has often been reduced to name- calling and caricature. Luddites, Nimbys and white elephants fought out a battle of “jobs versus lawns”.’ It says evidence from France and Germany shows that the economic benefits of high speed rail can vary and are not easily


Shutterstock/Andrey Yurlov


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44