More MPs questioning HS2

Following on from the WCML franchise fiasco, MPs and the news media are turning the spotlight on the flaws with HS2.

Financial Times: Pressure on Cameron over HS2

Joe Rukin talking to Michael Crick (Channel 4)

Joe Rukin being interviewed by Michael Crick from Channel 4 news

A group of MPs are set to ask the prime minister to release an assessment by the government’s Major Projects Authority into the proposed HS2 link between London and the north, which classifies the project as “amber/red” – Whitehall code for “in doubt”.

The MPs include Conservatives Andrea Leadsom, Ian Liddell Grainger, Stewart Jackson and Steve Baker as well as Frank Dobson, the former Labour minister. Mr Baker, MP for High Wycombe, said the “incompetence” exposed at the Department for Transport by the West Coast debacle raised fresh questions over the economic case for HS2.

Express and Star – MPs lead calls to re-visit HS2 plans

Jeremy Lefroy, Tory MP for Stafford, and Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant said the decision to scrap the award of the contract to FirstGroup raised questions about the business case for the £32 billion HS2 line.

Conservative Home: Cheryl Gillan MP: After the West Coast Main Line trouble, the case for HS2 needs to be fundamentally re-examined

The decision earlier this week by the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, to scrap the West Coast Main Line contract has brought into question the overall integrity of the Department for Transport’s decision-making process. With this in mind, I believe that a root and branch re-examination of the whole of the High Speed 2 rail project and its viability is now essential. …

Politics.co.uk: we spoke to politics.co.uk at the Labour Party Conference – HS2’s enemies take heart from rail franchise fiasco

The abandoned west coast main line rail franchise could be followed by the scrapping of the Department for Transport’s controversial planned high speed rail network linking London with Birmingham, its opponents are hoping.

2 comments to “More MPs questioning HS2”
  1. isnt this group made up of mps who have already stated their opposition to hs2 ? do we know for sure that red/amber means in doubt or does it mean it is a large costly project which needs careful management ? and how do we know that the west coast debacle has any bearing whatsoever on hs2 as this is a project not a franchise and is not run directly by dft which may be a very good thing ! remember that the estimated west coast passenger numbers projected by first and indeed virgin are higher then those upon which hs2 was based.

    lets wait until we hear what caused the error in calculation before assuming that because this has occurred with a franchise bid it also applies to hs2. i think those against hs2 are clutching at straws at the moment so better for both sides to wait for the facts to be revealed

  2. If it is an “absolute necessity” to have HSR in this country (Still not convinced) the government and all pro-HS2 MPS owe it to the country to get it right.
    It seems to me that it is being assembled in a piecemeal fashion and without consideration to other forms of transport or indeed any strategic transport planning……try this for example;

    http://www.jameselles.com/2012/10/uk-transport-infrastructure-why-hs2-has-to-change-tracks/

    No this is not just my “NIMBY viewpoint”, if it must be built to keep up with Europe then at least have the nous to get it right. It is likely that the 3rd runway at Heathrow will go ahead at some point and therefore connecting to it would seem to be obvious regardless of what I may think about HS2 progressing for a number of other reasons.

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