HS2 and the political cost of binning bad schemes

Andy Mayer has an interesting piece in CAPX about HS2. It is worth reminding ourselves how obvious it is that HS2 is unlikely to be a worthwhile project and a huge waste of money. Mr Mayer brings this out very well.

The central economic proposition of high-speed rail is that by improving transport links between major conurbations, it can stimulate economic growth, freeing up commuting time for more useful work and linking new markets. The central economic problem is that the sums do not add up…

Even the commuting case is weak, since the savings in time are so small that they largely mean more time in bed and less time to play with phone apps for the minority using trains, rather than a major stimulus to productivity.

The whole piece is well worth reading as a reminder of a particular political reality.

If the political cost of binning bad schemes is very high, it is because they have chosen to make it so. They could instead be angrily challenging the Government to help reduce the appalling cost of these schemes through planning reforms, stimulating competition and the abolition of various sock-puppet quangos that solely exist to add cost to any decision to build a network.

Of course with HS2 we also see the bureaucratic reality of major government schemes. Bureaucrats often do their bit to ensure that the political cost of binning bad schemes is very high. It’s what they do.