In focus: The need for speed
It was somewhat disingenuous of transport secretary Philip Hammond to dismiss opponents of high speed rail plans as "truck importers and climate change deniers". There is undoubtedly an element of self-interest amongst some of the critics of the scheme but a lot of people genuinely think HS2 is a bad idea and are against it for that reason and that reason alone.
It is understandable that Hammond should feel frustrated after a group of high-profile business leaders, Tory colleagues and economists wrote to the Daily Telegraph to describe the HS2 plan as an “extremely expensive white elephant” and a “vanity project”.
But some of that frustration also seems to be directed at pro-HS2 business leaders for not making the business case for high speed rail.
He commented: “There are an awful lot of people who assume this is a done deal. There is a danger of some of the people who are going to benefit most from this thinking they don’t have to get out of bed and argue the case.”
It is the nature of these things of course that opposition voices will often be the loudest. Some of the areas that will be most affected by the building of HS2 are the leafy shires north of London and these are populated by celebrities, business leaders and politicians who will continue to wage a well-orchestrated and high-profile campaign against this plan.
My view is that on the whole HS2 will be a good thing. I’m a supporter of grands projets such as this generally but in the present economic climate I think schemes of this scale are one of the best hopes of getting the economy moving.
I do have some concerns about how the finished article will be priced. If the fares are astronomically high then - like the M6 toll - it will become a white elephant: something that was set up to alleviate transport problems but now appears to be about making profits.
But that aside I take the view that our dilapidated and overcrowded railway system needs a big injection of cash and ideas of this kind. Anyone who has used the fast trains in Europe - or even HS1 from London to the Continent - will be well aware that the rest of the UK deserves better than what we’ve got at present.
But the business case for it does need to be made in a more powerful way than it has thus far. John Rider, the regional chairman of the Institute of Directors, makes the point that the M40 motorway faced similar opposition but has proved to be very useful to the region.
It’s a useful comparison but not a direct one. Whilst the M40 also cuts through the Chilterns it does allow people who live in that part of the world to benefit from it. In the case of HS2 they will get all of the pain of the development work and none of the gain of the service as it won’t be stopping where they live.
It’s a difficult task asking people in this position to think of the greater good of the economy and perhaps it would be a waste of energy.
What needs to happen is for the business case of HS2 to be made in a much more compelling way. Business leaders who support it need to become more vocal and the government needs to outline its plans in a lot more detail.
It won’t make the opposition voices go away but it will move them from centre stage.
Comments? Andy Coyne, Insider
