It’s been two years since former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped HS2 north of Birmingham having lost faith in the UK State’s ability to deliver. Yet whilst the alliance of the unwilling has disbanded formally, low level guerrilla warfare remains with pot shots still launched in its direction every week.
What are we to make of all this? Whether HS2 should have been initiated is not a debate for this post. But at Propviews we do think it’s legitimate to question how things are finished off. Some years ago we featured an article on Crossrail 2 and the land which remains safeguarded to enable it. The safeguarding means thousands of homes won’t come forward in those locations.
Crossrail 2 never got started. It is less urgent given London already benefits from a superb infrastructure. It may never start although we hope to the contrary. The point however is the UK state has shown foresight and it’s reserved its position. It may one day decide to release the safeguarding but when this happens, the UK will lose any option it may wish to exercise on this future project.
HS2’s future
HS2 is different. It’s been started. Many many billions have been ploughed into it. It went through a tortuous public approvals process through various Committees in the Houses of Parliament where pork barrel was thrown left, right and centre.
Most importantly though, the case for HS2 was never about journey times. It was about relieving congestion on the West Coast Mainline which appears to be getting worse and worse. This congestion is particularly pronounced between Birmingham and Crewe, the link which has now been aborted. The loss of this infrastructure is likely to drive more and more freight onto the road network.
HS2 was also about giving the UK’s core cities a fighting chance. We’re too London centric. If London gets a cold, the rest of the country gets flu. We need other cities to step up to challenge London but that’s not going to happen if the linkages between them are poor and crumbling.
Time is running out
Despite years ruminating, planning and committing investment to HS2, it appeared to only take a matter of months for the then Prime Minister to guillotine. A demonstration of the challenges of creating versus the ease of stopping.
The land north of Birmingham is still safe guarded. Much of the acquisition continued after Sunak said no. Millions invested.
The CPO powers will formally lapse at the end of February. If these powers go, it would lock in a permanent jam at Birmingham and make a future Government’s challenges more acute. Infrastructure investment in this country is a long-term play. With significant commitments already made, it would be a huge shame if all the hard work of the last few years, not to mention the cash, is lost over a decision which can at least be recalibrated in the future if not reversed.
HS2’s execution has been fraught with difficulties. We must learn the lessons. But what have we gained from all this if we do not at least future proof what is left.
