Leader: North-south divide puts HS2 on the line

FEW projects have more sharply divided the Westminster coalition than the high-speed rail link. This ambitious scheme appeals as a major capital project that would bring a much needed employment boost while improving the country’s transport infrastructure.

But it has brought furious protests from Conservative MPs representing rural constituencies in the heart of England through which the track will run. At the same time any extension of HS2 north of the Midlands is lost in the mists of futurology. This paradox notwithstanding, the Commons transport select committee backs the project, but says work should begin with the London to Birmingham section, and has rejected a recommendation from the Scottish Government and cities in the north of England that the work on the second stage should start in the north and work down to London instead. This now exposes HS2 to attack on two fronts: as yet another southern-centric transport project and as one deeply unpopular in the Tory shires. Starting in the north would at least enable the project to gain some momentum while planning problems down south are resolved. Scotland should look seriously at working on a high-speed rail link from Edinburgh lest the next 20 years come and go with nothing to show for them.