14/02/2020
The UK's transport network is in a shocking state.
Trains are often extremely overcrowded; so much so that animal rights campaigners would be (rightfully) protesting if we transported live animals in such conditions. The train companies are frequently delivering an extremely unreliable service, causing misery to many thousands of commuters.
So, spending more on our rail infrastructure seems like a sensible thing to do.
However, the huge cost of HS2 isn't actually going to alleviate any of the issues suffered by the vast majority of the country's commuters. HS2 is answering a need that would appear to be rather small.
At the same time, our road network is literally breaking.
It has got to the point that, when you see a car being driven erratically, changing direction frequently, you can no longer assume that they are either a drunk driver or using a hand held mobile device. You actually have to consider whether they are merely trying to avoid the stupefying number of potholes littering roads everywhere.
A few years ago, it was said that the cost of sorting our shocking roads would be about £12bn and might take 14 years. A report in 2016 said that the ‘one-time catch up cost’ to bring England’s entire road network up to scratch stood at £11.8bn, compared to £8.5bn in 2009.
That funding hasn't been delivered and the roads seem worse than ever.
In comparison, the projected cost of HS2 has now reached £106bn; nine times more than the last estimate for fixing ALL of the roads in Britain!
With the suggestion that there will be 18 trains per hour, and each train having a capacity of 1,100 people; one has to ask whether there is a call for so many people to wish to travel up and down the country on a daily basis?
According to a technical analysis, HS2 will be able to carry well in excess of 500,000 people a day. However, just because it has the capacity for transporting this number of people, doesn't mean there is a demand for it.
I am sure that HS2 will be beneficial to many people. I would honestly expect that it would, in the future, be seen as a great improvement to our public transport network. However, at a time when local rail infrastructure across the nation is so poor and with our roads getting nothing more than short term temporary repairs, this level of funding for one project seems completely ill-advised.
If a cost benefit analysis were to be completed on HS2 and compared to a similar analysis on the fixing of the nation's road network, I would expect the findings to be clear. Our roads are used by most people on a daily basis. The HS2 rail network will be used by far less people, and yet the money being thrown at it is substantially more than that which is afforded to repairing our roads.
With the plans to stop the sale of emissions emitting vehicles in the next 15 years, and with further automation of cars happening all the time, it seems likely that people may well choose to make their journey from London to Manchester by car, rather than train, by the time HS2 is finally delivered. If the 'driver' is able to sit their own comfortable environment (the car), listening to music and working, whilst the car takes on the journey autonomously.
I am currently considering what my next new car will be. As I tow a caravan for some of my holidays, I have to ensure that the car I choose is a safe and capable tow car. However, I also like the idea of driving emissions free when possible.
Whilst the Tesla Model X is actually able to tow most caravans with ease, its price is rather too much to be a consideration. So, a petrol hybrid model is the obvious choice.
At the end of last year, I test drove one such car; a Volvo XC90 twin engine. This car is filled with amazing technology, including adaptive cruise control and lane assist. For many miles along the M3, M27 and A31, I was able to let the car do the 'work' of driving, with me simply having a light grip on the steering wheel.
This was a test of current autonomous capabilities and it was startlingly good.
If this is possible today, it is reasonably obvious that far greater technologies will be in place long before the first HS2 train is ready to run on a track.
I'm not saying that HS2 should be scrapped. I don't have all of the information necessary to make a fully informed judgement on the pros and cons of this super-speed rail line.
What I am saying, is that if the government is willing to pledge £106bn (which will no doubt rise even further) to HS2, they should also be pledging £15-20bn (to allow for some possible increase in costs) to have our roads repaired properly. The short term fixes, which frequently break down again within a few months, are a pointless waste of money.
We absolutely need to push the government into promising to make our road network safe and comfortable for road users.
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