Tweet
19 July 2011
Last updated at 04:30 ET
The government's planned £32bn HS2 high-speed rail project connecting London and Birmingham is "economically flawed", a leading think tank has said.
A report by the Institute of Economic Affairs said the project will require a contribution of £1,000 per income tax-payer and is not commercially viable.
The high-speed rail link, which will pass through beauty spots, is set to be completed by around 2026.
Last month the prime minister said the government is "committed to HS2".
David Cameron made the comments to an audience in Birmingham.
The HS2 route is set to run through rural parts of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire.
In addition to the connection between London and Birmingham, there are also plans for a Y-shaped extension to Manchester and Leeds, and possibly further north, to be completed around 2032/33.
The IEA, which is described as a free market think tank, said HS2 was a "political vanity project" and based on "bogus assumptions".
It said estimates made by the government for demand on the route were very optimistic.
The report said the first five miles of HS2, from London Euston station to Old Oak Common in west London, will add almost 25% - around £4bn - to the cost of the first phase but would deliver negligible time savings.
'Recipe for disaster'
The think tank also said significant environmental and social costs were not included in the assessment of the economic case, with several areas likely to be affected by planning blight.
And the environmental credentials of the rail link were said to be highly questionable.
The report's authors said that, at 225mph, the trains will be the fastest in Europe and will consume disproportionate levels of power via the National Grid.
IEA deputy editorial director Dr Richard Wellings, one of the report's authors, said: "HS2 is another political vanity project - like Concorde and the Millennium Dome - being ploughed ahead with complete disregard for properly thought through commercial prospects or the mounting opposition to it.
"Its environmental credentials are questionable, its projected passenger figures suspect, and its proposed regenerative effects highly dubious."
He said the decision to go ahead with the planned rail link was "a recipe for disaster" and, adding that it would be "the forever-embattled British taxpayer who will end up footing the bill for this latest white elephant".
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials
A report by the Institute of Economic Affairs said the project will require a contribution of £1,000 per income tax-payer and is not commercially viable.
The high-speed rail link, which will pass through beauty spots, is set to be completed by around 2026.
Last month the prime minister said the government is "committed to HS2".
David Cameron made the comments to an audience in Birmingham.
The HS2 route is set to run through rural parts of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire.
In addition to the connection between London and Birmingham, there are also plans for a Y-shaped extension to Manchester and Leeds, and possibly further north, to be completed around 2032/33.
The IEA, which is described as a free market think tank, said HS2 was a "political vanity project" and based on "bogus assumptions".
It said estimates made by the government for demand on the route were very optimistic.
The report said the first five miles of HS2, from London Euston station to Old Oak Common in west London, will add almost 25% - around £4bn - to the cost of the first phase but would deliver negligible time savings.
'Recipe for disaster'
The think tank also said significant environmental and social costs were not included in the assessment of the economic case, with several areas likely to be affected by planning blight.
And the environmental credentials of the rail link were said to be highly questionable.
The report's authors said that, at 225mph, the trains will be the fastest in Europe and will consume disproportionate levels of power via the National Grid.
IEA deputy editorial director Dr Richard Wellings, one of the report's authors, said: "HS2 is another political vanity project - like Concorde and the Millennium Dome - being ploughed ahead with complete disregard for properly thought through commercial prospects or the mounting opposition to it.
"Its environmental credentials are questionable, its projected passenger figures suspect, and its proposed regenerative effects highly dubious."
He said the decision to go ahead with the planned rail link was "a recipe for disaster" and, adding that it would be "the forever-embattled British taxpayer who will end up footing the bill for this latest white elephant".
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials