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The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
How the HS2 shambles could have been avoided – if we'd copied the Swiss
'Eighteen years in, we still don't have a design for Euston,' laments Thomas Ableman. 'And then we wondered why the cost ballooned.' He is, of course, talking about HS2: the high-speed railway linking London Euston with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. Regrettably, you can forget about the last two cities; those crucial spurs were scrapped under the last government in an attempt to save money amid ballooning costs, while seeking votes from motorists. You can also forget for now about trains starting and ending at Euston in central London. With no design for the terminus station (and currently no cash to build it), when HS2 finally opens a decade or more from now, it will be a shuttle between a place called Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham. Whether you are a passenger, a taxpayer or a resident of one of the locations being dug up for ever-diminishing national benefits, you have the right to be furious at a succession of politicians who have created the world's greatest example of how not to manage a vast infrastructure project. Within the transport world, everyone has an opinion on who is to blame. But Mr Ableman is different. He has had a distinguished career with Transport for London, Chiltern Railways and National Express, and created an intercity start-up named Sn-ap. He writes and podcasts about delivering better mobility. And his best blog this summer is called: ' This is how the Swiss would have done HS2 '. They wouldn't start with a grandiose project with 'a glossy brand or separate company', says Mr Ableman. 'No HS2 Ltd with its own culture and operating model and interface challenges. Just a series of connected but self-contained projects, each delivered by Network Rail as part of normal business. 'They pick a year in the future – 2045, say – and ask: what should the national train timetable look like then, if we want to meet our national objectives as a country? They work out what a good timetable looks like in that future. Then they build backwards from there. 'It sounds simple – even obvious – but it leads you to a very different way of working.' What is also crucial: a fund that guarantees a certain amount of spending on rail infrastructure every year, rather than a hand-to-mouth dependence on the Treasury and volatile politicians. Mr Ableman contemplates how the Swiss approach would have worked in the UK. Planners would have identified that key regional hubs – Birmingham New Street, Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly – are desperately short of decent rail connections from the suburbs because they don't have enough platform space. They would understand that the line between Coventry and Birmingham has a hopelessly inadequate timetable for the many prospective passengers who live along the route, because suburban trains must share the pair of tracks with intercity expresses. Across the whole country, to improve the service for millions: 'The fast tracks need to be used by slower trains, so the fastest trains need to run somewhere else.' The Swiss would take those problems and create a timetable that solves them. 'And then they'd ask: what infrastructure do we need to make this timetable possible?' Guess what: the solution to Britain's rail needs looks rather like HS2. 'However, because they know exactly what they can afford, every year, forever, they could immediately identify that it's too expensive. 'Because they know what they can afford, they can now value-engineer a version that fits. In the UK, no one really knows how much money the Treasury will be willing to release, or when. In Switzerland, there's a budget envelope. It's predictable. 'So having come up with an unaffordable infrastructure plan to deliver a perfect timetable, they'd go back, iterate the timetable, tweak the infrastructure plan and adjust things until it all fits. And then they'd start building.' Rather than a big bang, a rolling programme of cumulative upgrades would deliver key benefits early along the way to that timetable tuned for the needs of the nation. 'I can't promise every part will be delivered on-time and on-budget but it's much more likely,' he writes. 'And if something isn't late, it doesn't mean that the whole shebang is late – just that one project.' Mr Ableman's conclusion is chilling: that the Treasury's refusal to commit to long-term funding 'creates exactly the conditions that make infrastructure expensive'. Unintentionally, he says, the Treasury is 'the biggest driver of waste and inefficiency in UK infrastructure'. Politicians who really care about mobility – the economic and social benefits it unlocks – should accept that the problems of Britain's decrepit rail network are rooted in a timetable that works for almost nobody. Swiss railways work for everyone.
The Sun
30-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
UK's £2billion ‘super station' reveals huge step forward with new train platforms & plans for 250k passengers a day
A HUGE step forward for a £2 billion 'super station' has been announced. Work has begun at the site as part of the Government's plans to build a station which will serve 250,000 passengers a day. 5 5 5 Engineers have started installing the concrete slabs that passengers will use when boarding at the HS2 station Old Oak Common. Six platforms at the London station are being constructed to serve the high-speed trains which measure a staggering 400m long. As work continues, the delivery director for stations at HS2 said the station will benefit 'generations to come'. Huw Edwards said: 'The installation of the first passenger platforms represents a real step forward in taking HS2 from purely a construction project to the future of Britain's railways. 'Whilst there is still much more to work to do, standing where passengers will alight HS2 services is a reminder of what this railway will achieve – creating connections between people and places, that will benefit generations to come.' Old Oak Common will be the launching point for HS2 services, while development continues at Euston station. The Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last year that her government would be funding a pair of 4.5 mile tunnels between the two stations to make travelling even easier for commuters. It is not yet known when the widely-criticised Euston station will reopen in its new form, after development was halted under Rishi Sunak's government. The then-Prime Minister had hoped to pay for the station's refurbishment using private funding. Old Oak Common will also have platforms for eight other train lines, including the Heathrow Express and the Elizabeth Line. Labour Govt will invest in job training under Rachel Reeves The Elizabeth Line will be the first train route to use the station when it opens. A massive public parkland will be opened outside, along with pop up events such as markets, to make commuting easy. Peter Gow, the HS2 project director for Old Oak Common, said: "We will open between 2029 to 2033 [and] will aim for the front end of that but there are lots of things still to do. 'It's going to make a massive difference to Londoners and nationally." 5 5
The Independent
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
First platform for HS2 revealed at Old Oak Common
HS2 has revealed the first platform section on the high-speed railway. Engineers have started installing the concrete slabs passengers will use when boarding or alighting high-speed trains at Old Oak Common station, west London. Six platforms are being built at the site to serve HS2's fleet of 400-metre trains. Huw Edwards, delivery director for stations and placemaking at HS2 Ltd, said: 'The installation of the first passenger platforms represents a real step forward in taking HS2 from purely a construction project to the future of Britain's railways. 'Whilst there is still much more to work to do, standing where passengers will alight HS2 services is a reminder of what this railway will achieve – creating connections between people and places, that will benefit generations to come.' Steve O'Sullivan, project director for the Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra joint venture, which is constructing the station, described the installation of platforms as 'a defining moment in the delivery of HS2'. He went on: 'It's a powerful symbol of progress, not just in terms of engineering, but also highlights the change in project focus from the current civil phase of the works to the building, fit out and the mechanical, electrical and public health phase of the works.' Old Oak Common will be the London terminus for HS2 services when they launch because of delays in developing Euston station in central London. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in October last year that the Government will fund the building of a pair of tunnels stretching 4.5 miles between Old Oak Common and Euston. But uncertainty remains over the development of Euston. In October 2023, then prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the project would be reliant on private investment. This was aimed at saving £6.5 billion of taxpayers' money. Major HS2 construction work at a site alongside the existing Euston station has been halted since March 2023 because of funding doubts. The entire high-speed railway project is undergoing a reset led by Mark Wild, who became HS2 Ltd chief executive in December amid rising costs and delays.
