Skip to main content

Mail online UK (web):
15bn boost from HS2 is a sham, MPs are told

6 November 2013

Calculations used by ministers to justify the controversial £50billion high-speed rail scheme were 'essentially made up', a former Government adviser told Treasury watchdogs yesterday. Professor Henry Overman was one of a number of academics giving testimony to MPs which undermined the ministerial case for the 351-mile HS2 line from London to Birmingham and the North. Government-commissioned accountants denied 'cherrypicking' figures to over-egg the benefits of the scheme. But Professor Overman, who specialises in economic geography at the London School of Economics, said he had resigned from the Government's high-speed rail advisory panel after believing its role had changed from giving independent advice to actively promoting the controversial project.

This article was published online by mail online UK on November 6, 2013
Link to article here

Related publications
HS2: assessing the costs and benefits, Henry Overman. Article in CentrePiece Volume 16, Issue 3, Winter 2012

Related links
Henry Overman webpage
Globalisation Programme webpage
SERC website

Read more... Mail online UK (web)