2 is the most expensive high-speed railway in the world, costing $235m per kilometre of track, according to calculations based on data from the Transit Costs Project at New York University . The second most expensive in Europe runs from Lyon to Turin and passes under the Alps. It only costs $148m per kilometre.2 runs, are densely populated. Yet not much more so than Lombardy, through which high-speed lines have been built at much lower costs.2 is also an ambitious project.
Britain’s legal regime is a more likely villain. The problem, according to construction experts, is not so much the country’s stringent rules but the way they are applied. Planning goes through many stages, creating opportunities for opponents to challenge. Each delay adds to the bill. Another problem, says Andrew Adonis, who advocated for high-speed rail as a Labour minister in the late 2000s, is that “we have too few seriously trained engineers in the state machine and we don’t have a culture of systematic infrastructure investment and planning.” Tendering places heavy emphasis on cheapness, resulting in absurdly optimistic proposals. The end result is pricier than it would have been, because of delays and contingency planning.
Spending on railways has been stop-start. Big projects are followed by lulls. Proposals spend ages waiting for approval, and are then cancelled. Uncertainty over2’s eastern leg is only the most recent example of this. Just last year there were rumours the whole thing might be scrapped. As a result firms struggle to build up the expertise required for big projects. Efficiencies are missed and projects are sub-contracted. The result is a chicken-and-egg situation. Unless Britain continues to invest in infrastructure it will be difficult to push costs down.
Cronyism
hanging out with their American cousins too much
HS2ltd Costs will increase and benefits will reduce - the nightmare sensitivity test project economic evaluation scenario. Only a matter of time before the plug is pulled. grantshapps
Why am I not surprised….
I’m in no way in support of HS2 but, at this point just spend what it takes and get it finished. The waste would be for it to be abandoned.
Almost as much as the per km price of a ticket, I'd imagine.
It is a good thing because only the 'wealthiest' country in the world can afford such luxury. Please PM BorisJohnson , cut electric tariffs by 50%, cancel Universal Credit cuts. We have all the money in the world. Let's show we have a lot of HEART too.
How many millionaires comes off this?
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