HS2: isn’t this track-less railway now also pointless?
HS2: it has cost too much; it doesn’t do what the Tories said it would; and it doesn’t go where they said it would either. And this critical cartoon was published in the usually Tory-supporting Telegraph.
What better symbol of the last 13 years’ Tory government could there be?
HS2 – the long-planned high-speed rail line from London to the north, that was only ever intended to cut 20 minutes off travel times, has already cost three times as much as its original budget. And now we learn that it may not even reach either of its original destinations:
The major but little know city Royal Oak could be the final destination of HS2 trains from Birmingham as PM and Chancellor fear we cannot afford to cover the final 6 miles to London https://t.co/Omd7Ph0lsu News comes after plans to go north to Manchester were also put in doubt
— Paul Lewis (@paullewismoney) September 16, 2023
Simon Harris, below, makes the obvious points:
https://twitter.com/simonharris_mbd/status/1703010323656011971
That’s right; the extra time it would take to travel from London to Old Oak Common would negate any time saving on the HS2 line itself, meaning the reason for spending around £100 billion on it (up from slightly less than £33bn in 2011) is also negated.
Some have taken the announcement humorously…
The millions of Brummies who want to travel to Old Oak Common at 225mph will be delighted by the news that HS2 will stop there and not go into London because PM and Chancellor don't want to pay for the final 6 miles to London https://t.co/Omd7Ph0lsu
— Paul Lewis (@paullewismoney) September 16, 2023
Some have taken it philosophically…
HS2 was never going to succeed. It was a White Elephant from day one. The North would have been far better served if the billions earmarked and exceeded had been spent on failing and disconnected rail infrastructure in the North rather than trying to build an unnecessary vanity… https://t.co/11hQcgOk8O
— Graham Warwick – No DMs – you will be blocked (@GrahamWarwick9) September 15, 2023
And, on the subject of failing and disconnected rail infrastructure in the north, some have simply done better:
My Combined Authority has invested £10m in the reopening of the Northumberland Line. It’ll make #travel easier and quicker, creating #employment, boosting #business and helping combat #climatechange. This is part of my plans to build a Total Transport Network linking the whole… pic.twitter.com/zfPq28XX44
— Mayor Jamie Driscoll (@MayorJD) September 16, 2023
Jamie Driscoll’s achievement demolishes arguments against voting for Independents and the so-called “smaller” UK political parties.
Admittedly, much of the work he did on this happened while he was with Labour, but he and Keir Starmer have parted ways due to a fundamental difference of political views (Starmer is a Conservative cuckoo in the once-Socialist party and Mr Driscoll is a left-winger), meaning that this is an achievement of an Independent.
The conclusion is clear: while Labour and the Tories just flap their tongues and spend your money on nothing, Independent politicians – given power – get things done.
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A fancy railway isn’t totally pointless. But it shouldn’t be linked to the Johnson Jackanory levelling up day dream that was only ever intended to win an election. Levelling up wan never meant to be put into action! But the naïve Labour party have fallen for it.
HS2 has achieved it’s target. It’s given large tracts of green belt land to developers at low prices.