Wednesday, 18 June 2025
An appalling mess
HS2 ‘in appalling mess’ and will be delayed beyond 2033
HS2 is in an “appalling mess” and the planned opening of the high speed railway line has been delayed beyond 2033, the Transport Secretary has said.
Heidi Alexander promised that the Government would be able to turn the project around, but said there was “no route by which trains can be running” by the target date...
Ms Alexander told the Commons on Wednesday: “I have to be honest – it is an appalling mess. But it is one we will sort out. We need to set targets which we can confidently deliver, that the public can trust and that will take time.
Yes, HS2 is an appalling mess, as with much else the UK government dabbles in. It has been an appalling mess for a long time, but a desire to blame the Tories while kicking at least one big can down the road seems to have promoted this particular mess to the coveted status of Major Problem But Not Our Fault.
Ms Alexander has a brainwave though, a way to deal with it well after this Parliament. Set some targets is the cunning plan. Not targets this government can be blamed for missing though, targets set in the distant future. Politically 2033 is the distant future as we know, even more distant than next week.
Is it worth checking with Ed to see if we'll have the electricity to run the trains by 2033? Probably not.
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8 comments:
Yet using private investors, a gang of Irish labourers and only picks and shovels, the Victorians managed to get a whole network up and running in only a few years.
"If only I'd known that everything in politics was going to be an appalling mess, I'd never have taken it up as a career. There should be some government agency that tells you these things before you give up your job as a charity manager."
As mentioned elsewhere, it would have been cheaper to move Birmingham closer to London.
Penseivat
John - yes they did. We can't do it now though and maybe we should learn from that, but we won't.
Sam - I've checked but you are right, there is no government agency that tells them about the mess before they change career. That's another fine mess she could get her teeth into.
Penseivat - it's a good comment too, brings out the absurd nature of the whole project. I once read a piece by a railway enthusiast who had compiled a list of less expensive and more practical improvements which could have been carried out within the original budget.
I saw a comment yesterday that it would have been cheaper to give the rather few regular commuters Manchester-London a Rolls Royce each. I can believe it.
dearieme - I can believe it too, and the job would have been quicker.
The biggest appalling mess in this whole business is that nobody seems to have the balls just to say “Stop”.
Peter - yes, it has been an obvious mess for some time, but nobody said "Stop". Even now it hasn't been stopped.
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