Formal notification says firms can start work as long as coronavirus safety guidelines are followed
Britain has given the green light for companies to start putting spades in the ground to build a new high speed rail line, saying that work could proceed in line with coronavirus safety guidelines despite the national lockdown.
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced in February that the line, known as HS2 which connects London to northern England, would go ahead.
Continue reading...Naturalist says approval of high-speed rail project failed to take account of climate impact
A fresh legal challenge to HS2 has been launched by the naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham, arguing that the UK government’s decision to approve the high-speed rail network failed to take account of its carbon emissions and climate impact.
Packham and the law firm Leigh Day said the Oakervee review, whose advice to proceed with HS2 in full was followed by Boris Johnson last month, was “compromised, incomplete and flawed”.
Continue reading...PM will promise range of other infrastructure projects to appease nothern voters
Boris Johnson will give the final go-ahead to the first phase of the controversial HS2 high speed rail link early this week – despite fears over spiralling costs and strong opposition from at least 60 Tory MPs.
The prime minister is expected to make an announcement to parliament on Tuesday approving construction of the line between London and Birmingham, two days before conducting a wide-ranging reshuffle of his cabinet.
Continue reading...In the north of England, the arguments over whether to push on with the HS2 project are as polarised as they are in Westminster. Amy Walker speaks to those opposed to HS2
Ask commuters in the north of England what improvements they would like to see on the railways and their wishlist is usually fairly modest: regular, reliable services with adequate carriages, non-leaking roofs and toilets that don’t empty straight out on to the track. Forget USB ports or wifi. Justthe basics – and some dignity.
Few would put at the top of their list a £100bn-plus railway that will get them to London an hour quicker.
Continue reading...Transport secretary tells MPs they ‘won’t have to wait long’ amid continuing opposition
Speculation that a decision on HS2 will be made early next week is mounting as the prime minister and key figures are understood to have held final talks on the controversial project.
The chancellor, Sajid Javid, who has publicly swung behind the scheme, and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, are believed to have met Boris Johnson as the high-speed line continues to divide opinion among backbenchers.
Continue reading...The chancellor is set to support the controversial rail project at a meeting with Boris Johnson and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps
That was a display from Dominic Raab and Mike Pompeo of US-UK unity ahead of Brexit, with disagreements over Huawei, Iran and the Harry Dunn depicted as blips that could be overcome.
Instead, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, reiterated that the UK would be “at the front of the line” when it comes to a trade deal, with both parties concurring that this was achievable before November’s presidential election in November.
There is a follow up question on Harry Dunn from CBS.
Raab says he had a “good conversation with Mike” about it.
Continue reading...Nils Pratley hits the nail on the head (Lobbyists may be having a field day justifying HS2’s burgeoning cost, but a rethink is long overdue, 21 January). In 2009 I reported to the promoters that the benefits of high-speed rail beyond the south-east would require a well-integrated national plan for complementary measures (transport and non-transport). Without such a plan – and a regional delivery mechanism – high-speed rail risked making regional disparities worse.
Fast forward to today: such limited regional mechanisms as existed have been dismantled, while the concept of high-speed rail has given birth to the present scheme. The case for HS2 rested heavily on the economic benefit of user time savings, making speed vital. This led to a higher speed specification than elsewhere in Europe, adding to the cost and environmental impact, while reducing flexibility in routing.
Continue reading...Scrapping the HS2 rail project will cost at least £12 billion in write-offs and compensation and plunge major construction companies into financial peril, ministers are being warned.
Sources close to the beleaguered scheme told the Observer that extra costs of £3bn-£4bn would be incurred even if it were scrapped immediately. £9bn has been spent already. With the issue causing tension inside the Conservative party, Whitehall insiders said that Boris Johnson could decide on the fate of the project as soon as this week as concerns grow that costs are spiralling out of control. Billions have already been spent on the first leg of the line linking Birmingham and London.
Continue reading...Over 40 MPs have warned against making ‘false choice’ over rail infrastructure project
More than 40 Conservative MPs have written to the prime minister to urge him not to cancel HS2, exposing deep divisions within the party over the future of the new railway line from London to the north of England.
At least 30 MPs, including former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell, signed a joint letter on Tuesday night that calls on Boris Johnson to deliver the “long overdue” rail line in full, despite costs apparently spiralling to £106bn, arguing it will be a “key engine for growth that we must not waver from”.
Continue reading...Report calls for work on second phase of high-speed rail project to be put on hold for six months
The political battle over HS2 has intensified following the leak of a government review that found the costs of the high-speed rail link could reach £106bn, leaving supporters in the north fearing the government may scale back or axe the project.
The draft report said there is a “considerable risk” that costs could rise by another 20% from the last estimate in September, which priced the scheme at £81bn-£88bn. The original budget was £34bn.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Boris Johnson is due to speak shortly at the UK-Africa investment summit in London. According to a press release from Downing Street overnight, he will announce that the UK is going to stop using overseas aid to support coal mining or coal power plants overseas. No 10 says:
At the Summit, the prime minister will announce an end to UK support for thermal coal mining or coal power plants overseas, ending direct Official Development Assistance, investment and export credit.
This announcement forms part of the UK’s wider commitment to use its expertise and experience to help Africa transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable, sustainable forms of clean energy. In 2019 the UK went a record 83 days without generating electricity from coal. The UK was also the first major economy to set a legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and Glasgow will host the COP UN Climate Change Summit later this year.
During the general election Boris Johnson told a radio presenter that HS2 would cost more than £100bn. The presenter expressed surprise, because the official budget for the project at that point was just £88bn. but Johnson stuck to his guns. He said he thought the final bill would be “north of £1oobn”.
Perhaps Johnson knew more than he was letting on. Today’s Financial Times says a leak of the review of HS2 by Doug Oakervee says it could cost up to £106bn. The FT story is here (paywall) and our own follow-up is here.
Related: HS2 costs could rise to £106bn or more, warns government review
I’m worried by the suggestion that there might be a delay in the north, or even that we might get some kind of second-class option, a mix of high-speed and conventional lines that it’s talking about.
And to me that would be the same old story. London to Birmingham, money is no object, and then all the penny pinching is done in the North of England.
This isn’t just about north-south rail. The point about HS2 is it lays the enabling infrastructure for the east-west links that we crucially need and most people here would say that those are even more important.
This is about building a railway for the north, right across the north, for the rest of the century.
Continue reading...Business and city leaders warn of economic damage of cancellation and call for 2012 Olympics-style authority
A review of HS2 by northern business and city leaders has called for control of construction of the high-speed railway to be devolved to the north and Midlands – and warned that its possible cancellation would leave no viable alternatives for transforming their economies.
The Northern Powerhouse Independent Review (NPIR), established to inform or pre-empt the government’s own review of HS2, recommended a new body, HS2 North, be established to integrate HS2 with proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail links.
Continue reading...Journalist Andrew Gilligan has long argued for a slower, cheaper rail line to be built
The prospects for survival of the high-speed rail line HS2 look slimmer after the prime minister, Boris Johnson, appointed an arch-critic as transport adviser.
The journalist Andrew Gilligan, who was cycling tsar in Johnson’s London mayoralty, has long opposed what he says is a “disastrous scheme”, arguing for a slower, cheaper line to be built instead.
Continue reading...CBI among industry groups to sign open letter amid concerns over project’s future
Business leaders are calling on the next prime minister to commit to completing HS2, adding that if they do not they risk blocking future investment in the north.
In an open letter, more than 20 figures from industry and commerce have called for the next Tory leader to back the project in full.
It comes amid speculation that the next prime minister – with Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson now the final two MPs vying for the position – could decide to axe the second phase of the project due to concerns over spiralling costs.
Johnson is reported to have asked a former boss of the £56bn scheme to carry out a review if he is made prime minister, while Hunt has said HS2 is “absolutely vital” and he would not scrap the project in its entirety.
Signatures of the letter include the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses and London First, the BBC reports.
Continue reading...HS2 is a once-in-two-century chance to rebalance the UK economy. It isn’t just about creating links to London. There are over 25 stops from Scotland to the south-east. It increases desperately needed capacity on existing lines, creating more space for extra commuter trains. It takes lorries off the road as freight moves to rail, creating more space for the driver on our motorways. There is something in HS2 for every traveller.
The report by the New Economics Foundation (Scrap HS2 and pour £56bn into regions, says thinktank, 20 March) ignores what cities including Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham have all been doing to make sure we benefit. Altogether, cities around the route have plans to create nearly 500,000 jobs, 100,000 new homes and add billions to the economy of the country. Poor connections between our major cities have been holding us back for far too long. Together HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Connect will give us the links that will unleash investment and bring prosperity to the Midlands and the north.
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