Pan Up
Hardly a week goes by without a ‘Scrap HS2’ story appearing somewhere, yet UK transport desperately needs it. Where is the counsel for the defence?
Any discussion on infrastructure never gets far without mentioning the Victorians. You might think they were some ancient race, like the Romans, who transformed the country, only to leave subsequent generations blinking in wonder at how such magic was done. Queen Victoria died in 1901, and since then the population has doubled and the Gross Domestic Product risen exponentially, yet we are still trying to manage with much of the same infrastructure and building new takes decades.
MOTOR WAY AHEAD
In the 1960s, motorways were seen as the future, while railways were run down and many closed. Many closures were essential, but much damage was done just by bad economics and lack of vision. I suggest the lack of vision today in being blind to the benefits of HS2 is no different to the lack of vision shown in closing the Waverley route. Try to travel anywhere today and the chances of a quick, trouble-free trip are increasingly slim. Even if you don’t get out much, just listen to the traffic reports – a lorry gets a tyre change and a 10-mile queue builds up. M…
