INSIDE TRACK
The cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 may mark a sea change in English transport policy. At last the government has said ‘no’ to the subsidy junkie railway network, bloated over many years of rail franchising. How has an industry with a largely fixed cost base, which has doubled passenger numbers over 20 years, managed to increase its requirement for subsidy significantly? HS2 has not the faintest idea of cost control.
When the £2 fare scheme was first mooted, I saw it as a cheap political gimmick from an administration only interested in survival, casting around for a momentarily positive soundbite. I was less than pleased when it was extended to the end of this government. One of the problems cited by many was the potential backlash when fares return to normal.
What’s clear now is they will not. After the next election, whoever wins is not going to immediately put up bus fares. They might rise with inflation over time, but scrapping them would be similar political dynamite to scrapping the free pensioner bus pass.
The prime minister cited a massive list of projects on which the billions saved from HS2 could be spent. It’s naive to think this will be the final list; it was clearl…
