Code name: HS2 (for High Speed Two). After weeks of speculation, Boris Johnson finally gave the green light, Tuesday, February 11, to this highly controversial high-speed train project. Considered to be the largest in Europe, it is said to open up the Midlands and the north of England, still served today by saturated lines, some dating from the Victorian era. But it could cost British taxpayers a fortune: at least £ 88 billion (104 billion euros), the Prime Minister confirmed on Tuesday.
Work is expected to start as early as April, with a first section between London and Birmingham to be delivered by 2030. The journey, which currently takes just under an hour and a half, would be reduced to around 50 minutes with trains up to 360 km / h. The other tranches – from Birmingham to Leeds and Sheffield – will not be delivered for another 20 years.
This megaproject will "Move the center of gravity of our country far from the capital", assured Mr. Johnson in the House of Commons. "Passengers arriving at Birmingham Airport can reach London in 38 minutes, which is less than the taxi ride from Heathrow Airport to the center of the capital," did he still congratulate himself.
Boris Johnson's green light is not really a surprise. The Prime Minister is known for his taste for major projects. When he was mayor of London, between 2008 and 2016, he had launched the project for a garden bridge over the Thames, which never saw the light of day but cost £ 53 million in studies alone impact. He also put forward the idea – quickly abandoned – of an airport on the Thames estuary to relieve congestion at Heathrow. The Emirates Air Line, the cable car that crosses the river in east London, ended up being built, but its usefulness remains disputed: it is mainly a tourist attraction.
Staggering sums
Downing Street also claims that his idea of a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland is "Serious". Johnson has raised it several times in recent months, but it too has been skeptical, given the depth of the seabed in the Irish Sea and the presence of numerous mines dating from the Second World War.
"It’s rather complicated and expensive, and if the (head of government) has 20 billion to spend, maybe the North Irish people would have other priorities ", Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said without enthusiasm on Tuesday on the sidelines of a press conference in London. "And why not a cable car or a zip line", suggested for his part Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labor opposition, from the House of Commons …
