Weekly wrap | Rail rumbles: From HS2 and Crossrail to Heathrow southern access
New year, same old headaches for the rail sector (for the time being at least).
While most of us spent the Christmas break tucking away far too much turkey and enjoying a well-deserved rest, deputy chair of the government-ordered HS2 review Lord Berkeley kept himself busy compiling his own ‘dissenting report’ into the project. Describing HS2 as a ‘wrong and expensive solution’, Berkeley also questioned the competence of government officials. Berkeley claims that review chairman Doug Oakervee’s report – which remains locked inside the DfT for now – has a bias towards accepting HS2 Ltd’s evidence in preference to those of others, leading to a supportive recommendation for HS2 to continue. He also criticises the involvement – and lack of scrutiny – of Treasury and DfT officials in the review and suggested that costs could be cut by up to ￡20bn by reducing the ‘unnecessarily high specification’.
And while the government has resisted the temptation to quash Berkeley’s report by releasing the Oakervee review, those close to HS2 Ltd have wasted no time in dismantling the rogue deputy chair’s report. Speaking to New Civil Engineer former HS2 technical director Andrew McNaughton hit back at the report deeming it ‘factually wrong’.
Elsewhere, further Crossrail delays were revealed as TfL commissioner Mike Brown told the London Assembly that the Capital’s transport body was working towards the “pessimistic but pragmatic” opening date of between September and December 2021. The exit of Crossrail Ltd’s finance chief David Hendry was announced shortly after, with Rachel McLean, current chief financial officer at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government set to take up the hotseat.
And if Crossrail delays weren’t enough to provide a sense of Déjà vu, reaction to Heathrow’s delivery plan has confirmed that 2020 has some way to go before it lives up to its billing as the ‘dawn of an infrastructure revolution’.
HAL’s Initial Business Plan reveals detailed costings for its third runway proposal for the first time, including plans for rail links from the west and the south of the airport. The plan submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) outlines two possible delivery schedules. One focuses on cost savings and the other prioritises services and would require additional investment. The second, more expensive schedule involves spending an additional ￡3bn over the first 15 years including investing ￡750M each in western and southern rail links. Under this proposal a western rail link would be completed in the mid-2020s ahead of the third runway opening, with a southern link scheduled to be completed in the mid-2030s. However, perturbed by a ‘lack of ambition’ from HAL, Heathrow Southern Railway boss Chris Stokes urged the airport to get a southern link up and running before the additional runway is in operation.
Elsewhere this week, London’s iconic Koko music venue became the latest victim of a fire during renovation work, the government outlined its action plan to keeping the lights on following the summer blackout and Old Oak development boss Liz Peace said it would be ‘shameful’ to scrap the West London housing scheme after losing out on ￡250M of government cash.
This week's top stories:
Ex-HS2 technical director hits out at ‘factually wrong’ Berkeley report
Dissenting report claims HS2 is the 'wrong solution'
TfL anticipates late 2021 Crossrail opening
Heathrow wants additional ￡1.5bn for rail links
Heathrow Southern Railway boss slams airport’s ‘unambitious’ delivery plan
Fire destroys roof at iconic London music venue during refurb