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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The rot at the heart of British infrastructure projects is endemic
When elected to power, Labour promised to be the party of the builders, not the blockers, and committed itself to unleashing a housebuilding and infrastructure boom. Nearly a year into government, and the legislation that is supposed to make this happen, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, is slowly wending its way through Parliament, having not yet been submitted to the House of Lords for scrutiny. The intention is to cut planning restrictions, but whether it also delivers in reducing the spiralling costs and interminable delays of development in the UK is anyone's guess. There are good reasons for scepticism. Meanwhile, the endless sorrow of HS2, the most expensive piece of infrastructure ever built in Britain, continues apace. According to a recent report in Rail magazine, which has not been denied, the London to Birmingham route is now likely to be pushed back a further six years, and may not be complete until 2039. Estimated costs have also further escalated to a jaw dropping £100bn, this despite the fact that the northern leg has been scrapped and that initially at least, the line will terminate not as planned at Euston but at Old Oak on the outskirts of London. Just to add a touch of the surreal to this towering example of ill-spent taxpayer pounds, the spanking new Birmingham terminal at Curzon Street is likely to be completed years before the line itself, and will therefore stand empty, its seven platforms gathering tumble weed in the long wait for their first passengers. In any case, the travails of HS2 have become a symbol of Britain's seemingly stultifying inability to get anything done. Somewhat misleadingly so, as it happens. The largest part of the problem with HS2 is not the planning constraints, or even the ruinous project management, but that it should never have been attempted in the first place, an admission disarmingly made by Peter Mandelson, now Britain's ambassador to Washington, more than 12 years ago. The previous Labour government only went ahead with the project, he admitted, because it was afraid of being upstaged by the Tories in creating a high-speed, north-south link. The economic case for it was always 'flimsy', he further conceded. Back then, it should be pointed out, the line was expected to cost 'only' £35bn before rolling stock, and include stage two branch lines to Manchester, Leeds and Wigan. The whole thing should have been axed there and then, but the Coalition government was terrified of the stick it would get from northern lobbies and voters for cancelling a project seen as totemic in any levelling up agenda. What's more, so much time, effort and money had by then already been expended that it was considered too big a write off to be politically palatable. So on it went, but the main explanation for its mounting costs was already obvious. Planning restrictions, constantly changing specifications, outlandish environmental demands such as the notorious £100m 'bat tunnel', were admittedly a part of it. Yet the contrast with HS1, which came in roughly on time and on budget, could scarcely have been greater. HS1, which links the channel tunnel and London, actually had a purpose and an economic rationale. Furthermore, it had a responsible minister, John Prescott, who after taunts from the French to the effect that the British couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, was determined to grip the project and push it through. HS2 has never commanded a similar consensus or a convincing commercial justification, making it an ongoing object of bitterness, compromise and delay. Oppressive planning rules and environmental impact studies can no longer be used as an excuse; for HS2, these have all been put to bed, but still the costs keep rising. Shockingly, according to a report by the National Audit Office, simply cancelling the second phase of the project linking Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds is in itself likely to consume £100m. Why? Apparently it's to do with 'safely and efficiently' when closing down Phase 2 construction sites, insignificant though these are. Losses on land already compulsorily purchased but no longer needed further up the ante. And they wonder why the country is going bust. The Department for Transport, the authority responsible for overseeing and funding the project, might seem a particularly egregious example of Britain's inability to get anything done, but sadly these failings are not confined to the public sector. The other standout example is the privately funded Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset. It should have been up and running by now. Indeed, the one-time boss of the sponsoring company, EDF Energy, once ventured that by 2017 people would be cooking their Christmas lunches on power supplied by Hinkley. It scarcely needs restating that the latest target date for completion stretches out to 2031. In the meantime, costs have ballooned from an initial estimate of £18bn to £46bn in today's money. Once up and running, Hinkley will be one of the most expensive sources of electricity anywhere in the world. If it's any consolation, the UK is far from alone in the sclerosis that seemingly grips infrastructure development, gainful or otherwise. Like the UK, Germany used to be good at this kind of stuff, but became a laughing stock after Berlin's Brandenburg airport came in nine years behind schedule at a cost of more than three times the initial estimate. A McKinsey study of more than 500 global infrastructure projects found that only 5pc of them were completed within their original budget and schedule. The average project ran 37pc over budget and 53pc over schedule. Separate research by Oxford's Saïd Business School found that of more than 3000 infrastructure projects studied, only 0.2pc were completed on time and to budget. All the same, the situation appears to be notably worse in the UK than elsewhere. According to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista), the cost of construction in Britain has risen by nearly a third more than GDP per capita since 2007. That often asked question – why is it that we seem to be getting ever fewer bangs for our bucks in terms of public services and state-backed infrastructure – is partly answered by phenomena such as this. It's not just about population growth or the demands of an ageing society; it's also about incompetence, lack of clear objectives, and a cartel-like contracting industry that knows how to play the system to its own ends. At both national and local level, it's endemic and verging on the corrupt. As it embarks on the fantastically costly and disruptive decarbonisation of Britain's electricity network, the Government promises that it will be addressing these and many of the other issues that have been slowing things down and compounding their cost. Relatively straightforward improvements in project delivery systems alone could reduce final construction costs by between 10pc and 25pc, Nista says. Don't hold your breath. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Sun
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
New UK train station to be first of it's kind in 130 years gets green light for upgraded plans as works set to start this year
REVISED plans for a major new high-speed train station in the UK have been given the green light. Birmingham's Curzon Street Station is set to open as part of the HS2 rail network - and will be the first mainline terminus to be built since London Marylebone in 1899. 3 3 The new £460 million build will have seven platforms and a curved roof, inspired by Victorian station designs. It will also have four public spaces outside, featuring gardens and a promenade. Revised plans that were approved on Thursday included a change in material for the station roof - from timber to aluminium - due to updated fire regulations. The eastern concourse of the vast station had also been re-planned. Councillor Gareth Moore said: " HS2 offers tremendous benefits to Birmingham which we, as a city, should very much welcome. 'To unlock those benefits, we need a station so this application is crucial.' Plans for the build include a 'Station Square,' kitted out with a green space, while Curzon Square will provide an area for outdoor events. The station will also feature Curzon Promenade - a cycle and walking paths that links the station to the Eastside City Park while Paternoster Place will have paths and "urban space". Trains are not expected to run from the station until the mid 2030s, but tours of the current construction may be allowed sooner. The final build is designed to be completely net zero and will run trains that get to central London in just 49 minutes. The new station has been pitched by officials as a "world class 21st century landmark building'. And council docs say it will contribute to 'maximising the regeneration and development potential' of HS2 in Birmingham. Construction work for the foundations of the station began in January 2024, with the station itself set to begin being built this year. The station is set to be finished by 2028 but a "reset" of the HS2 programme has led to delays. HS2 CEO Mark Wild said recently: 'This is of a scale never done before – the last mainline terminus we built was 1899 in Marylebone. 'Truth is also the construction has been harder than we would have thought so we've lost ground in construction. 'So a combination of factors of getting a little bit behind and also the complexity to come means we need to reset the programme.' What is HS2? HS2, which stands for High Speed 2, is a project that aims to create a high-speed rail network between London and major cities in the Midlands and Northern England. It is the biggest rail investment ever made in the North of England and is Europe's largest infrastructure project. New trains will run on HS2 lines with a top speed of 225 miles per hour - the aim is to cut journey times and make it easier to travel across England. Last year, then-PM Rishi Sunak decided to scrap the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the line. It is now hoped that the train will run to Euston despite dears this route would also be scrapped. Another huge HS2 station Old Oak Common, is set to open in 2029 in West London. The station is set to cost £2 billion and will be the 'most connected in the country'.
