There are many options for raising capacity and reducing journey times, without HS2
Of course High Speed 2 is heading for the buffers (Editor's Comment, PE December 2010), and of course we'll live to regret the wasted time and missed opportunities. Like so many projects, the detail work was started before the specification was sorted out. It's a solution in search of a problem.
You mention the opposition to the scheme, but fail to say that the key feature of HS2, its 400 km/h design speed, has been criticised by our own Institution! Policy Statement 10/01 says HS2 should be kept to a maximum speed of 320 km/h - until the electricity supply is truly decarbonised. Here's the nub: the engineering decisions have been made by politicians, in particular, the design speed and the dog-leg route via Heathrow. They've also decided to plump up traffic projections by stimulating long-range commuting, and have ruled out any upgrades of the existing infrastructure. A cost-benefit analysis hasn't come into it.
The adverse effects of High Speed Rail go up as the square of the speed and the Government's business case is marginal, even if HS2 is jam full and every travel hour saved gives the nation £37! Unfortunately, the actual annual growth in rail travel for the last 30 years is only 40% of the Government's fanciful forecast, and the resulting shortfall will saddle us with insupportable debt and running costs. The demand for HS1 in Kent was over-stated in the same way, which is why it's been leased out at a fixed return of 1.2% for 30 years - from which the taxpayer has to subsidise the train services.
Equally dubious is the scaremongering about a lack of capacity. It seems you can put 288 carriages an hour down the track at 400 km/h, compared with today's peak track occupancy in the Midlands of 8 trains and 53 carriages.
HS2 is routinely compared with Concorde. True, they share an obsession with speed, a tiny customer base, and a profligate use of energy, but at least Concorde was a stimulant to genuine technological progress. Back in the real world, there are many options for raising capacity and reducing journey times, within existing transport corridors, and at far less cost.
Those interested should read the HS2 proposal in full.
Richard Lloyd, Coventry