The rail minister suggests HS2 would be more cost-effective without the high-speed trains, aiming to control costs and timelines.
London: So, the rail minister, Lord Hendy, recently shared some thoughts on HS2. He mentioned that if the trains weren’t designed to go so fast, it would actually save taxpayers a lot of money.
He was chatting with the Commons transport committee and pointed out that the Labour government is trying to get a grip on the costs and timeline of HS2. Right now, they’re planning for these 54 British-built bullet trains to zoom at 225mph along 140 miles of track between London and Birmingham.
But here’s the kicker: making the trains that fast has jacked up the costs way more than if they just went with a regular railway setup. It’s a bit wild when you think about it.
During the meeting, Lord Hendy admitted that the high-speed railway is going to be a big expense for the country. The government thinks phase one of HS2, which runs from Euston to Birmingham, could cost between £45 billion and £54 billion. That’s a hefty price tag!
They even scrapped plans to extend the line to Manchester because they were worried the total cost might hit over £100 billion. So, if HS2 trains do go beyond Birmingham, they’ll have to use the existing West Coast Main Line.
Interestingly, a recent report said that HS2 trains might actually be slower than the current Pendolinos once they hit the West Coast Main Line. That’s because they weren’t built to handle the curves and bends of that line.
HS2 was supposed to cut the journey time from Euston to Birmingham down to 49 minutes, which is about half an hour faster than it is now. Lord Hendy also mentioned that there are other ideas for connecting Birmingham and Manchester without needing to build more high-speed tracks, which could be a smarter move.
But he did warn that if they can’t get phase one right, it’ll be tough to get support for extending HS2 further north. On a brighter note, he said the government is getting closer to finding more operators to run services to Europe from St Pancras, which is good news for travelers.