HS – Highly Sceptical

For or against high speed rail?

Rail trainer Ralph Tiffin looks at the arguments for and against high speed rail in this guest blog post. Hear more from Ralph and learn all you need to know about the rail industry in his comprehensive three-day training course, the 3 Day MBA in Rail: download brochure now>

AGAINST

Saving time – fundamentally what does cutting 20 minutes or an hour off someone’s journey time do for the economy, do for that person? Condescendingly one might say – “Nothing – they will fritter away their lives anyway”.

Passenger numbers – a question for 20 years’ time – why are all these folk travelling? Presumably the economic studies have considered the demographics, the lifestyles we shall lead in 20 years’ time? Who travels inter-city today?

• Business people – to half day meetings – will remote conferencing not become the norm?
• Students at weekends – will three quarters of the “universities” not be shut – better teaching, a better experience and cheaper online
• Seniors – but will the baby boomers not all be “resting” by 2030 and the replacement seniors be slaving away till they are 80!

The cost – one plausible calculation for the capital recovery cost – the access cost per average journey is £97 per passenger – a ticket to Manchester might cost £400 on a full cost recovery basis.

HS2 certainly gives the politicians the chance to make ‘their’ grand promises? As pointed out by many, the real absurdity is that it is to be 20 years before the second phase is completed.

FOR

We need rail capacity – for more reliable travel, never mind increases, and especially for freight.

If the public are to make informed decisions then we need complete honesty and openness about the rationale for HS2 and the billions to be spent.

There are few votes in rail and that is maybe why politicians do not want to get seriously involved. Rail, high speed or other, needs to make its economic case. Let us have the assumptions and calculations to review. Unfortunately they come from Ministers and a department lacking openness and competence.

To make the undoubted case for rail investment we need honesty – and a real country-wide strategy – looking 50 years ahead. Will any party or politicians support this?