Frustration at slow progress on high speed rail

At a recent industry conference to promote a high speed line from London to the West Midlands Chris Randall discovered a growing mood of unrest

‘Rail has earned the right to build HS2’ Richard Brown Eurostar

‘Rail has earned the right to build HS2’ Richard Brown Eurostar

“We have got to start planning now.” The message from conference chairman Chris Green couldn’t have been clearer. He had barely finished telling delegates where they could find the fire exits before launching headlong into the theme of the day: building a high speed railway can take 20 years or more from drawing board to track, so there’s no time to waste.

Green, a fabled innovator during a long and illustrious career with British Rail and Virgin Trains, is a...