HS2 Built on Sand

The debate about HS2 (the proposed high-speed rail link from London to Birmingham) is taking place on shifting sands. This is no way to build a railway which should last for centuries; it needs solid foundations that will survive the test of time. The amount to be spent is colossal; it should be spent wisely and spent well.

The economic arguments shifts between arguing the case for HS2 based on spreading the economic benefits of the capital to regions further north and the case against based on whether this amount of money could be better spent. The environmental case shifts between the argument that HS2 will be a credible alternative to short-haul flights (thus saving CO2 emissions) and concern at the damage to the countryside over which it will be built. Each party in the debate has a drum to beat but instead of leading to a harmonious (logical) resolution to the debate everyone involved is making an almighty din. The vision in my mind is of a rabble of drummers standing on shifting sands slowly seeking deeper until the racket stops as they sink beneath the weight of the their own arguments.

The debate has to turn down the volume and shift onto solid ground. The rock on which HS2 should be considered is the UK’s transport infrastructure for the 21st century. There is an amount of money to spend and an infrastructure badly in need of improvement. The two need marrying together under the umbrella of coherent policy.

We do not have to look far for the corner stone of transport policy. The size and shape of the UK’s transport infrastructure for this century (and next) is dictated by the imperative that it be low-carbon. Whatever other political whims might grab the political parties, the solid point of reference for major transport infrastructure is how it fits the low-carbon future. Where this takes the debate is not entirely clear cut. We certainly need improved rail capacity and would want it to be fast, high capacity and reliable; but how fast is justified? Focussing on rail is not enough; the whole transport system has to be considered including of course the future for travel by air:

http://zerocarbonbritain.com/
http://zedbooks.co.uk/paperback/fly-and-be-damned

Putting the debate on solid ground does not immediately lead to the final solution but it does at least allow reasoned debate and the possibility of cutting through the political posturing to agree the way forward.