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divdiv class=story-body readability=37 span class=story-date#13; span class=date29 October 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time07:44 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=videoInStoryC readability=1#13; div id=emp-24723923-4461 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70771000/jpg/_70771034_70771033.jpg alt=Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin./pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionTransport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin: I hope very much it comes below budget/p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The government's latest business case for the HS2 high-speed rail link has slightly lowered the amount of benefit it predicts relative to the cost./p#13; pThe expected benefit-cost ratio (BRC) has fallen from £2.50 to £2.30 in benefits for every pound spent./p#13; pThat fall is mainly due to a £10bn rise in the scheme's projected £42.6bn cost, which was added earlier this year. /p#13; pThe report is the latest update on questions such as who benefits and by how much./p#13; pIt also has revised an earlier assumption that business people do not get much work done on trains, a view that was widely criticised at the time. /p#13; pThe new study has cut by one-third the value put on saving an hour's worth of time getting between meetings or workplaces on a quicker train, to reflect that productive work is also done while travelling. /p#13; span class=cross-headClosures/span#13; div class=story-feature wide readability=16#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2Analysis/h2#13; !-- pullout-items--#13; #13; !-- pullout-body--#13; pWhen I spoke to the people who wrote this latest business case, they said things like, We've listened and We haven't over-egged it./p#13; pFor example, in the last four business cases, the government's been ridiculed for assuming people don't get much work done on trains. Plainly unrealistic in the world of mobile phones and laptops. /p#13; pSo to tackle that, they've now cut by a third the value of business time lost on a train (from £47.18 an hour to £31.96 an hour, if you're interested)./p#13; pThey were also heavily criticised for using a 12-year-old survey for some of their data. They've updated that./p#13; pBut the reality is, the last four cases have failed to convince enough influential people, people like shadow chancellor Ed Balls for example, that HS2 is worth the money./p#13; pAnd no Ed Balls, no HS2. /p#13; #13; !-- pullout-links--#13; /div p id=story_continues_2BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott says the new report is an attempt to shift the focus away from a controversial assumption of people not working on trains, and towards the benefits of providing lots of extra capacity on the rail network./p#13; pOne part of the report, which came out a day earlier, argued that the alternative to HS2 would mean 14 years of route closures and longer journeys./p#13; pA study, prepared by Network Rail and the management consultancy Atkins for the government, said that without the project, there would have to be 2,770 weekend closures on the East Coast, West Coast and Midland main lines for the same intended capacity of HS2./p#13; pThis could lead to travel times between London and Leeds doubling./p#13; span class=cross-head'Play politics'/span#13; pTransport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said without the new line, the West Coast, East Coast and Midland Main Lines were likely to be overwhelmed. /p#13; pHe said it would also bring benefits for regional and commuter services, as well as increasing the amount of freight that could be carried by rail. /p#13; pBut he warned it needed broad political consensus or it would end in nothing: You can't play politics with our prosperity. The new North-South line is a multi-billion, multi-year investment in the future of Britain./p#13; pShadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said: We must address the capacity problems that mean thousands of commuters face cramped, miserable journeys into cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and London. But there can be no blank cheque and ministers must get a grip on costs./p#13; #13; pPenny Gaines from the Stop HS2 organisation said: The big flaw in the government's argument is that phase one of HS2 won't open to the travelling public until about 2027, meaning there would be no change for passengers until the middle of the next decade./p#13; pBut building HS2 would cause years of disruption at [London] Euston, and other places on the rail network as well as chaos along the route of HS2, with roads being diverted during the build and in some places permanently shut./p#13; #13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center