HS2 - The rail to nowhere

Rail to nowhere - HS2 - the poster child project of a failed British political class

In this week's Lowdown podcast, Nick Cohen talks to author and doyen transport writerChristian Wolmar about the serial UK failed high-speed railway project. HS2 has spiralled to an estimated cost of £87-102 billion pounds due to political fickleness, mismanagement, inefficiency, and excessive environmental requirements. Christian Wolmar, author of "Fast Track: The Extraordinary Story of High-Speed Rail," explains how Treasury interference, lack of coherent government strategy, and environmental concerns (including a notorious £130 million bat tunnel) contributed to the project's catastrophic cost overruns. Nick and Christian compare Britain's failure with successful high-speed rail implementations in Spain, China, and other countries that maintained national strategic vision and better project management. Christian expressed skepticism about current Labour government reforms, noting that Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apparently shown little interest in the Euston station project despite being the local MP.

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Christian Wolmar Christian Wolmar is an award-winning writer and broadcaster specialising in transport and is the author of a series of books on railway history. He has spent nearly all of his working life as a journalist, and his interest in transport began at The Independent when he was appointed transport correspondent in 1992, a job he did until 1997. Christian's latest book is Fast Track: The Extraordinary Story of High-Speed Rail.

Nick Cohen's @NichCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.