The High-Speed 2 (HS2) project, designed to enhance rail capacity across the UK, has come under scrutiny from industry insiders. Ed Lister, a former Deputy Mayor of London and Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has pointed fingers at the UK’s planning system, citing it as a significant obstacle contributing to the project’s complications. This criticism emerges more than 15 years after the ambitious plan to construct a high-speed railway along the West Coast Mainline was first proposed.
HS2 was sold as a key move to release pressure on the overcrowded 700-mile West Coast Mainline from London to Glasgow. Built in a cut throat, piecemeal manner by rival Victorian businessmen, the corridor has been riddled for years with capability limitations. The original vision for HS2 was to do trains that were capable of going up to 250 mph fast. This ambitious goal aimed to revolutionize the UK’s rail infrastructure and fuel economic growth across the country.
As Andrew McNaughton, HS2’s inaugural technical director, explained, this required a design flexible enough to take account of future developments in train speed. He had faith that the chosen alternative would keep the project economically sustainable for decades to come. There are significant challenges ahead for the ambitious HS2 project. These hurdles become particularly acute as it passes through largely Conservative rural constituencies. Vital local MPs had already returned to their constituencies, with their support conditional on meaningful compromises having been forged.
In October 2013, the first leg of HS2, connecting London to Birmingham, received parliamentary approval via a hybrid bill. This legislative move was only utilized twice since 1992. While this is certainly progress, the planning process is still getting in the way of development.
Ed Lister expressed frustration at the current state of the planning system, stating, “If these are your big projects, then they have to go through.” He called the current infrastructure “archaic” and “too complex.” He called for changes to streamline the unnecessarily complex processes that are inflating costs and pushing schedules out.
HS2 is a great and terrible project. During peak periods, it’ll operate 18 trains per hour in and out of London Euston. Yet, detractors say that serious problems remain at the core of the UK’s puppy on major infrastructure projects. Andrew Meaney highlighted a lack of confidence in decision-making: “We don’t have the confidence to say, right, this is what we’re building and let’s just go and get on and build it.” He added that public opinion can easily shift the direction of any given project, making planning even more difficult.
China’s national, centralized governance model and its high-speed rail network that comes in at almost 30,000 miles. This comparison highlights the wider challenges HS2 now needs to overcome. China’s critics counter that China’s system allows for faster project delivery. They argue that this is mostly because of increased limitations on right to protest and expedited regulatory procedures.
Indeed, the rollout of HS2 has drawn critics even from within the back halls where some of the very policy decisions are shaped. Sir Geoffrey Clifton Brown recounted a moment when a Secretary of State for Transport acknowledged the financial implications of a change in plans: “I remember very clearly one of the Secretaries of State for Transport say… you’ve just cost us another couple of hundred million this afternoon.” These kinds of comments really highlight what’s at stake financially with every change in project scope or trajectory.
Even given all of these headwinds, some titans of industry are hopeful. Andrew McNaughton is confident that once it’s operational, HS2 will win over the public to its side. He remarked, “When it’s opened… I still believe that people will go, oh, for heaven’s sake, let’s just get on with the rest of it.”
Ed Lister’s concerns reflect a broader sentiment among industry experts regarding the UK’s infrastructure framework. A Chartered Surveyor noted, “There has always been a fundamental problem in this country with the cost of building anything,” emphasizing that reform is necessary for future projects to succeed without similar issues.
As HS2 continues its slow march towards completion amid planning hurdles and political negotiations, stakeholders must grapple with both current obstacles and future aspirations for Britain’s rail network.