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Wednesday, 20 May 2026

Okay we've done appalling - what comes after that?



World's 'most expensive' high-speed rail line to be slower and cost more


A high-speed train line between London and Birmingham will be more expensive, take longer to make and go slower than previously announced.

The HS2 project will cost between £87.7bn and £102.7bn (in 2025 prices), with the first train services not starting until at least May 2036 and possibly not until October 2039, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the Commons on Tuesday.


Mrs H and I are off out for coffee and breakfast this morning. 

We'll walk.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

One of yesterday's newspaper headlines was that HS2 will cost more than that of the NASA Artemis moon trip. If true, it shows what a complete bunch of political numpties we have been toiling under for so long. I don't suppose NASA would consider using the HS2 committee for a Mars trip?
Penseivat

Woodsy42 said...

I wonder what the fares will be when or if it ever gets built.

A K Haart said...

Penseivat - that's a thought, the HS2 committee could be sent on a Mars trip and halfway there they could be told that the project had become too expensive so they would need more funding to come back.

A K Haart said...

Woodsy - a couple of pints of blood?

dearieme said...

When my wife met Rishi - whom she thought a charming and intelligent young man - she suggested he should cancel HS2. He said "But the contracts are all signed". She reported this to me and I said "Then he's not cut out for high office."

DiscoveredJoys said...

Call me cynical but I fully expect 'departure' and 'arrival' times to be redefined for HS2 so that higher speeds can be claimed.

DAD said...

I retired to France in DEC 1997. I was told by the Notaire that SNCF (French Railways) a High Speed Line was in the PLANNING STAGE, but he did not think that one of the proposed routes which was 7km from my cottage. Thankfully it was routed the other side of a small town 10km from me.
WORK STARTED on about 2000. The distance between Tours and Bordeaux is 300 km (188 miles).
The route was opened in 2016. There were great problems at each end as the route had to go to the existing railway stations in the centres of the towns.
Perhaps the UK government should sack the existing contractors and employ the French team.