HS2 cut back everywhere, except in the price tag
Artists impression of an HS2 train at a platform v1 HS2
The head of HS2, Sir Jonathan Thompson, has appeared before the UK Parliament Transport Select Committee. He was called to give a briefing on the progress of the project. Sir Jon was candid about the escalating cost of the HS2 project. Despite the radically cut back line, reduced to a London to Birmingham shuttle, the cost is still likely to exceed the original budget for the entire network.
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SIR Jonathan Thompson – oooo he sounds very important. The whole lot of them are bloody incompetent!
The photo shows HS2 under construction and apparently two significant road construction sites, the underpass in front and a bridge in the right upper side back. Will these also be paid under HS2 budget?
Why is construction that much more expensive per km than in France or Spain? Would the Leeds and northern parts be much cheaper per km?
The French built TGV (LGV) bypasses even for mayor cities like Lyon, but usually used existing tracks to get into town, and sometimes built new in open ground. So was this extensive tunneling to get into Birmingham really necessary? A too high price tag for NIMBY attitudes?