HS2 - a good thing?

Or not in my back yard?


I am far from convinced HS2 will ever get built. It certainly seems very very expensive for a modest gain.

Every shire Tory between London/Birmingham/Manchester etc will be against it.

Currently estimated at £33 billion, it will doubtless cost more and the governments economic benefit forecasts have already suffered credibility issues.

There are three aspects that annoy me the most a) the length of time it would all take (2026 is the current opening time), b) I have no doubt this will cost the taxpayer a fortune to underwrite and finance and finally if this is so good for the North why not start building it in the North first.

There are in fact loads of points I suppose like the proposed position of some of the stations appearing ludicrous, the cost of compensation will be huge etc.

Also I reckon it will adversely affect lots of regional offices of law firms, accountancy firms etc. I mean why bother having a large regional office when you can get to London so quickly via HS2. That's no economic benefit, that's an unintended consequence.

I really feel sorry for all those who will suffer blight and uncertainty, potentially for decades.

One thing seems certain to me and that is London will benefit most, it normally does. That's not to say that other cities shouldn't do more to improve, they should - eg Birmingham should sort out a rapid transit system then it could flourish etc.

We shall see what happens in decades time, when we'll probably all have hover craft and HS2 is a heritage attraction!