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Are the tracks pointed one way for HS2?

As the HS2 ‘Hybrid Bill’ goes before Parliament this week, making the case for the Government’s high speed rail plans - a milestone in a project still hugely divisive among businesspeople. Some local authorities have backed the plans and some supporters have suggested better connections between Northern cities will benefit local economies.

September’s HS2-commissioned KPMG report extolled the benefits of the project for regional economies, although the BBC’s Robert Peston rightly highlighted a flaw in the methodology. KPMG based their findings on the assumption that transport connectivity is the only supply-side constraint to business location.

The problem in this one-dimensional analysis is exemplified by the case of high speed rail in Spain, between Madrid and Seville. As this BBC report explains, the effect is one of gravitation pull towards the city with the greater population and economy. Geographer and North Easterner John Tomaney also raised concerns that HS2 could feed this type of flow.

Would a Northern intercity network better serve business in this part of the country?

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .