 |
| The Dream |
I’m sure we have all read a great deal about the supposed benefits of
HS2. The economic advantages of fast modern rail travel plus the impetus it
will give to the north and how it will bind together the whole country in a new, modern dynamism. What is often overlooked is the real reasoning behind HS2.
HS2 is whizzy and futuristic and lots of middle class progressives think all modern countries ought to have one. A rail network of shiny, super-fast
streamlined trains zooming around all over the place making an impressive whoosh as they hurtle through the countryside.
That’s it really - economic benefits don't come into it.
Boris knows this.
Boris knows this.
7 comments:
It is also (or maybe now WAS) part of the EU Ten-T project:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/High_Speed_Railroad_Map_of_Europe.svg
And meanwhile the rest of the network struggles on underfunded . . .
I think Boris was trying to out-do Corbyn's free broadband offer.
He's certainly not behaving like a Conservative premier, and lots of people are starting to have doubts now...
It is important to remember that the Conservative Party is a party first and “conservative” second, sometimes distantly so. It has been so effective at winning elections for so long precisely because it rarely allows beliefs to get in the way of votes. So, if today’s election-winning formula is tax-and-spend to keep former Labour voters on side, high-speed trains for middle-class commuters and ruinous eco-crap for the chattering classes then that’s exactly what it will offer, until the electoral calculus changes again.
Blair had The Dome and the Channel Tunnel, I can't remember who started Crossrail, but it seems to me that it's all about paying people to build the thing, rather than saving eight minutes on a journey anywhere.
If I ever wanted to save eight minutes on any journey, I usually got out of bed a bit earlier, and started then.
The Channel Tunnel will of course, have fewer passengers when we don't pay all that money for useless MEPs in Brussels. That might save enough to pay for HS2...
Politically, could Boris approve the 3rd runway at Heathrow after cancelling HS2?
Dave - I always disliked that aspect of HS2 although I've never been sure if the EU part was merely rubber-stamping.
Jannie - and the roads are still riddled with potholes.
Sam - yes lots of people are starting to have doubts - I'm one of them.
Andrew - good summary. In an important sense we really do get the government we deserve.
Scrobs - yes it is all about paying people to build the thing. By the time we have the benefit of hindsight the main actors left the stage years ago.
decnine - good point. Probably not.
Post a Comment