A NEW budget for building HS2 has been announced by the Transport Secretary.
It now includes a greater contingency margin of some £14 billion, which has boosted the total to some £42 billion. The rolling stock is expected to cost a further £8 billion.
Opponents to the scheme have highlighted the increase as fresh justification for abandoning it, but Patrick McLoughlin told Parliament that investment in transport would provide the infrastructure the country needs to ‘compete in the global race’, with better rail links as a key component.
He was speaking as he launched the Second Reading of the HS2 Paving Bill, which will unlock key funds for the next stage of development.
Mr McLoughlin warned MPs that HS2 was essential, because without it, “the key rail and road routes connecting London, the Midlands and the North will soon be overwhelmed”.
He continued: “Even on moderate forecasts, the West Coast Main Line – the nation’s key rail corridor – will be full by the mid 2020s. Upgrades do not provide the extra capacity that we need. The choice is between a new High Speed line and a new conventional railway. The significant additional benefits make high speed the right answer.
"The easiest thing in the world would be for the government not to build HS2, but the cost of doing nothing would be huge. A cost in jobs. Our modest estimates are that HS2 will create and support 100,000 jobs, while the group of Core Cities predict that HS2 will underpin 400,000 jobs, 70 per cent of them outside London. Some estimates suggest HS2 will add over £4 billion to the economy even before it is open."
Several MPs have criticised the Paving Bill, but a motion to kill it was defeated by 325 votes to 37. The rebellion, supported by 21 Conservative backbenchers as well as Labour's Frank Dobson among others, was led by former cabinet minister Cheryl Gillan. She has consistently opposed the project, because her Amersham constituency is on the route of Phase 1. Mr Dobson is mainly concerned about the effect of redeveloping Euston station on some of his constituents who live nearby.
Ms Gillan accused the Government of sponsoring a project which was '30 years too late', and went on to claim that "technology and the whole of the UK is moving in a different direction."
HS2 has cross-party support, although Labour's shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle said she was concerned about potential delays to the project.