Is HS2 Construction Creating Additional Divides Between the North and South?

Tunneling is an important aspect of train infrastructure and an environmentally sustainable way of reducing energy and resource demand. In the initial stages of the HS2 project, proponents tried to offset objectors who thought the train would be environmentally degrading by claiming that they would take measures to ensure HS2 would be as sustainable as it could be, and vowed to reduce environmental impacts by constructing tunnels throughout the HS2 tracks (3). However, upon taking a closer look, it appears that the HS2 design had overly simplistic view on how their plans could be executed without running into loopholes, especially financial ones, and now HS2 may arguably be increasing the North and South divide instead of reducing it.

In June 2016, the National Audit Office concluded that the first phase of HS2 was set to cost £27.4bn, £204m over budget, and said that the £55.7bn funding package “does not cover funding for all the activity needed to deliver the promised growth and regeneration benefits which is the responsibility of local authorities” (2). A big portion of that money was dedicated to building tunnels, as 29% of the track from phase one, comprising of London to Birmingham, was due to be tunneled (3).  Now, the HS2 team is trying to compensate for their overspending on tunneling in the South by cutting the amount of funds allocated to tunnels in the North. It was revealed that only 2% of phase two, or the 123 mile long Yorkshire line from the West Midlands to Leeds is to be built in tunnels as a result of public pressure to decrease HS2 costs (3). In July, the UK government decided that the Northern section would run to the east of Sheffield instead of going through the Meadowhall shopping centre on the city’s border with Rotherham (3), claiming that the modified route would generate £1bn saving, including spending £212m less on tunnels (2). In the 2015 policy paper 2010 to 2015 Government Policy: HS2, High Speed Rail, the UK government vowed to “minimise the local environmental impact of the new railway wherever possible by using tunnels, deep cuttings and existing transport corridors” (1), however, by reducing the number of funds allocated to the Northern section and as a result reducing the amount of tunneling, HS2 will be unable to keep their promise of ensuring environmental sustainability.

In addition, critics are complaining that HS2 is dumping the high costs from the first phase of the project in London and the south-east, to the second phase in Yorkshire. This is causing Northerners to feel like they’re getting largely taken advantage of, and Jon Trickett, MP for Hemsworth (an area on the Northern end of the HS2 line) affirms that this decision of decreasing the funding in the North will make Yorkshire believe that there is “one rule for the Tory marginals in the south and a completely different rule for the north”, bringing about feelings of resentment (3).  Trickett furthers this by claiming that this scenario has reinforced the idea that the “North is a place where they can save money, make cuts and leave communities damaged to the benefit of the South” (3). In fact, one of the arguments in favor of HS2 was that it was presumably supposed to bring the North and South together and reduce the divide. However, it appears to be creating more conflict and further alienating the two geographical regions by making Northerners feel like their agenda comes second to that of the South. In the name of environmental sustainability and conflict resolution, the HS2 must come up with a way to increase tunneling in the North.

REFERENCES:

(1) GOV.UK. (2010). 2010 to 2015 government policy: HS2, high speed rail. [online] Available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-hs2-high-speed-rail/2010-to-2015-government-policy-hs2-high-speed-rail [Accessed 4 May 2018].

(2) Services.parliament.uk. (2018). High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017 — UK Parliament. [online] Available at: https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2016-17/highspeedraillondonwestmidlands.html [Accessed 4 May 2018].

(3) Perraudin, F. (2018). HS2 accused of cutting costs in north by stripping out tunnels. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/30/hs2-accused-of-cutting-costs-in-north-by-stripping-out-tunnels [Accessed 4 May 2018].