Apply the brakes to HS2 – the concerns are too serious to ignore

Tony May and Jonathan Tyler

29 April 2016

Tony May is emeritus professor of transport engineering at the University of Leeds

Jonathan Tyler runs an independent consultancy, Passenger Transport Networks. Our thanks to Richard Allsop, James Croll and Stephen Plowden for their comments. A full report of the workshop will be published in May.

Last week we convened a workshop in York at which some 40 professionals with widely differing views debated the case for HS2 and its alternatives. Prior to the workshop, experts in transport, planning and economics had written to the Prime Minister recommending a pause in the development of HS2 to enable an objective review of “how best to bring our national rail system holistically into the 21st century”. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the response from the junior transport minister...