New HS2 farce as trains to be made slower and even more expensive
Experts believe Labour is repeating the mistakes of previous governments by "meddling" with the project once again
HS2 high speed trains could run slower than initially planned to keep costs down – but it could end up inflating them even further, The i Paper has learned.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has asked HS2 boss Mark Wild to look at whether slower trains could cut costs and delays, as the project has been hit by repeated delays and a ballooning budget.
If business schools exist in our coming Islamic Republic they will teach the HS2 disaster as case study in stupidity and incompetence.
ReplyDeleteSince the (apparently) strongest case for HS2 was the reduction in travel times it seems peculiar to ask if making the journey times longer might not be acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI guess that's the disjointed style of politics we are expected to accept as 'normal' nowadays but in my opinion it just shows how inadequate politicians are.
Whatever next? A celebration in a brewery using only zero alcohol drinks?
dearieme - and some level of corruption too, it's far too optimistic to pretend the whole mess has been above board.
ReplyDeleteDJ - yes we are expected to accept a monumental mess like HS2 as 'normal' nowadays. Conditioning as to what can be accepted as 'normal' does work, at least it works on enough people to get the next disaster on the road. SNAFU indeed.
So High Speed 2 will now be Low Speed 2, and be more expensive. And yet, the numpties responsible for this are now demanding a pay rise. I fail to see how this country's humiliation can get any worse.
ReplyDeletePenseivat
As a resident of Buckinghamshire, I watch this rape of our countryside on a daily basis. All I can say is that on current reckoning, this debacle will create the most expensive cycle path in the world.
ReplyDeleteLet's spend billions on a high speed train service we don't need.
ReplyDeleteCool, and let's make it slow.
Perfect
Chris - that must be depressing. We only see bits of the mess on our way to Devon and there is something wicked about even that, the futile, blockhead destruction.
ReplyDeleteBucko - and each government will hand it on to the next without doing anything worthwhile.
An engineer once described this to me, AKH, as "masterly inactivity". Think he had a point.
ReplyDeletePenseivat - yes that's the word for it - it is humiliating.
ReplyDeleteJames - and some seem to find it easy to learn.
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