We’ve certainly taken to taking it easy here. We knew the weather wasn’t predicted to be up to much today so we hadn’t planned anything more than having a slow morning and venturing out to collect some supplies – and possibly a bit of exploring.
As it was the day very much went to plan. The rain started dropping from leaden skies about 10:00 and never let up so we relaxed and enjoyed a leisurely brunch before sallying forth to nearby Wellington where I’d (thanks to the wonders of the internet) found a decent but typically tatty Asian supermarket where we could stock up on a few exotic culinary ingredients to add to our collection. The drive into the town via the backroads was interesting as it showcased just how much new housing is being built in the area. Wellington appears to be expanding at quite a rate and not just on the outskirts, we passed several new developments in the town centre where brownfield sites were being reused. For me, this always begs the question. If we’re demolishing factories for housing, what are people doing for a living nowadays?
Much as it would’ve been good to explore the town we had other bits to pick up so made a bee-line for the town’s bigger neighbour, Shrewsbury. I have to admit to having a soft spot for Shrewsbury. In some ways its one of England’s most underrated and undiscovered towns. Yet it has a wealth of history and some amazing architecture, which is hardly surprising as the town has 660 listed buildings! There’s a glut of timber-framed buildings dating from the 15th-16th centuries and medieval street layouts with lots of winding, fascinating alleys. Plus, far more independent shops survive here than in many comparable towns. Sure, there’s all the big names you’d expect to find (M&S, Boots, etc) as well as all the charity shops that have become a fixture of UK high streets but then there’s many bespoke boutiques, tailors, pottery shops, cafes and many others that give the place a real local feel and identity. Oh, there’s also some cracking pubs, like the Loggerheads, a tiny, multi-room real-ale pub that looks drunk even if you’re not. There’s probably not a true vertical line in the place!
The three-storey building has an 18th century brick shell which is believed to encase an earlier stone structure from the 1600s. One of the rooms is identified as having been ‘men only’ until 1975. With the weather being what it was today it seemed like a good excuse for the pair of us to pop in for a quick drink. Dawn’s never explored the town before, so really enjoyed what she saw. No doubt we’ll return when the weather picks up.
Right now we’re back in the warm and dry, cooking some of the ingredients we picked up earlier in Wellington and the Sainsbury’s on the outskirts of Shrewsbury. Not only had the supermarket run out of petrol, there was many gaps on the shelves. Odd, some people are desperate to claim that none of this has anything whatsoever to do with Brexit – no siree! Odd then that I can’t find any mention of either shortage hitting any EU country or their national media and politicians going to town on the problems. Funny, that…
Meanwhile, we’ve had a lovely evening at ‘home’ doing what we both enjoy doing. Cooking. I made spicy Bombay potato whilst Dawn steamed some beans and cooked Salmon in spices, then improvised a dish that produced an aromatic beetroot curry. Here’s the result…
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Today’s been transition day. Sorting out a few final work bits at home for me whilst Dawn’s been busy with packing and paperwork, then finally getting in the car to escape for a week in the first holiday we’ve had together since Covid pandemic turned the whole world upside down. As much as we’d have loved to have got away for longer than a week and escaped the UK for somewhere warmer (drier) and more exotic, we felt that in these turbulent times it just wasn’t worth the aggro and uncertainty. Instead, we plumped for a part of the UK which I consider a hidden gem and one that Dawn’s never really visited. Shropshire. We managed to get a very good deal on a self-catering apartment in a farm conversion between Shrewsbury and Telford, which puts us within striking distance of many of the counties best sights.
To add to the joy as we approached the mish-mash of Manchester motorways known as the M60/62 our satnav informed us that a vehicle had broken down on the M6 South, causing an hour-long tailback. ‘Bugger that for a game of soldiers’ we thought, so struck out across country. This meant that we explored parts of Cheshire I’d not seen for donkey’s years and Dawn had never visited, like lovely Lymm, which has a very pretty town centre boasting some lovely half-timbered buildings, a canal and even a duck pond. After a brief dalliance with the M56 we made it on to the A49 which was going to take us South to Shrewsbury. Yet again we were frustrated by sclerotic roads due to heavy traffic and carriageway repairs. By this point we’d become resigned to our fate so broke out the emergency humbugs!
Finally we broke free of the chaos and actually had an hour of decent motoring across country on winding roads before we arrived at our new home for the next week, the delightful Rose Cottage, a farm building conversion in the village of Charlton, between Shrewsbury and Telford. Here’s how it looks.
The main bedroom, obviously!
The living room and dining table, with the kitchen and entrance to the ground floor property around the corner to the left. The main bedroom is behind me with a second bedroom and bathroom off to the left.
The kitchen area with the front door behind me.
I’m sure we’ll get used to slumming it like this after a couple of days! The weather’s going to be mixed to say the least but we’re not going to let that bother us. Instead, we’ve got a full programme planned that includes the Royal Airforce museum at Cosford, walking on the Long Mynd and Caer Caradoc at Church Stretton, a visit to Ironbridge and also a tour of historic towns like Ludlow and Shrewsbury. Sorry, did I say this was a holiday?
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m taking an unplanned trip to London due to a problem with one of my cameras. My trusty Nikon D5 has taken a bit of a battering in recent weeks and has decided that enough is enough – so it’s gone on strike. It refuses to work in any mode other than manual, which is a bit of a bugger. So, it’s off on its holidays to Fixation for a bit of TLC. I’d intended dropping it in soon to have all the rubbers on it replaced. I bought the D5 in August 2016 and to be honest, it’s operated faultlessly for over five years since then, despite the amount of pictures it’s taken and the countries it’s been to. My cameras have a hard life as they’re tools, not toys, which means they don’t retain that much second-hand value – even on a £5,000 bit of kit as they really do look like they’ve been through the wars, even if mechanically and electronically they’re still sound. Fortunately,
I always have a back-up as I keep the camera’s predecessor, in this case, the Nikon D4., which is going to enjoy a brief spot in the limelight again. Of course, there’s never a good time for these things to happen, but tomorrow Dawn and I are taking a week’s holiday, so I’ve no commissions to worry about and can take pictures for pleasure. Hopefully, the D5 will be fighting fit by the time I return and need it again. Now maybe it’s time to think about one last upgrade and plan to acquire the D6 sometime next year…
Right now, I’m working from another mobile office. This time it’s another of LNER’s old Mk4 sets on a Leeds – London diagram. The train’s not as busy as my inbound TPE service from Huddersfield (which was packed) but the loadings are certainly in the profitable margin. I’ve a table bay, so I’m happily set up and working away – as I will be on my return. I won’t be hanging around in London once I’ve dropped off my camera it’ll be a quick turnaround, but that’s life. Catch you later…
17:15.
Having delivered my ‘baby’ to be repaired I’m now heading back North having taken a few shots at Kings Cross with the old D4 just to get used to using it in anger again. I’ve not handled it for years so I’m having to unlearn what I did when I switched to the D5. The ISO control switch was the only major button that moved. On the D4 it’s on the bottom of the backplate. On the D5 it was relocated onto the top plate so that you could press it with your finger and change to ISO with the rear control wheel without having to take your eye away from the viewfinder. It was a far better arrangement. You can still do it with the D4 but you need both hands and it leaves you holding the camera in a cumbersome way. Ah well, it’s only for a while and I’m sure I’ll still get used to it. The D4 sounds different too. The mirror and shutter mechanisms make a much louder ‘clunk’. I could literally tell the two cameras apart just by listening to it! Another thing’s the back screen. I’d forgotten just how much bigger and with better colour rendition the D5 has. I’m going to be doing a lot more histogram-checking again now.
Still, first world problems eh?
18:20.
We’re well on our way up the East Coast Main Line now, the weather’s looking pretty miserable with massive rain-clouds dominating the horizon although I’m warm and dry here. As well as ploughing through emails I’ve managed to download the pictures I took earlier to ensure the D4’s still working perfectly despite having been little more than an office ornament these past few years! Everything’s looking fine, much to my relief.
There was no time for blogging yesterday, the day was taken up with Tony’s funeral and the gathering in the Big 6 pub afterwards. It was a sad day, but also one filled with laughter, because so many of us had great memories of Tony to share and remember. The public event was at St Jude’s church on Savile Park, near where Tony lived. The hearse turned up outside his house and a hundred or so of his friends and pub regulars walked behind for the short journey to the church, where many more joined us. During the service memories of Tony were shared. I’ve a copy of the brilliant eulogy which was written by ‘Mel’, an old friend of Tony’s and read out by the vicar. I’ll edit it and publish it as a separate blog in Tony’s memory as it fleshes out his life – which was a full one. I certainly learned a lot about Tony’s early life and brewing career.
After the church ceremony a small group of us escorted the hearse to the crematorium for a private ceremony. At the Crem’, Steve Parker, a good friend and stalwart of Tony’s help during his illness read out this prayer which was printed in the order of service
After saying our final farewells to Tony we met up with the other mourners back at the Big 6 pub which had opened early especially for the occasion. Needless to say, it was packed. Alison (the ‘new’ manager who’s worked there for years) and the staff had laid on food which would have really appealed to Tony. Pork pies – several hundred of them of all different types! After all, what could be better than a pie and a pint? OK, the pint became several as many of us stayed until the evening! Here’s a couple of pictures from the day, just to give you an idea.
The cover of the order of service used a crop of a picture I’d taken of Tony at one of our many events together. I’d forgotten I’d taken it to be honest, but I’m glad I did as it’s Tony to a T. No-one went short of a pork pie in the Big 6 after the funeral! Oh, vegetarians were catered for too as all the pasties and sausage rolls on the table in the back are all meat-free. The staff from Phoenix brewery were at the funeral. Some were pall-bearers. They’d also brewed a special beer in his memory which was served at the Big 6.
So, farewell Tony, you will be missed, but we have some fabulous memories of you, the times together an the laughs we shared – and your legacy will live on in the Phoenix Brewery, bringing pleasure to many for many years yet…
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It’s several months seen I’ve done one of these, mainly because there’s so few people left protesting against HS2 now that their campaign’s collapsed. Finally, the tiny bunch of squatters at the risibly named Wendover ‘active resistance’ camp have remembered what their camp’s named and decided they better do something other than sit around bumming money via the internet whilst waiting to be evicted.
Come the hour cometh the man! Step forward ‘Drew Robson’ (not his real name, just the one he uses on Facebook), who, along with another person, decided to repeat their old tactic of blocking the entrance to the nearby HS2 work compound by fastening themselves to a ‘lock-on’ (a barrel filled with concrete that’s meant to make it hard for them to be moved).
There was only one tiny problem. Drew’s useless at this. He once glued his hands together through a gate in another ‘cunning plan’ that was an abject failure as the gate he chose wasn’t actually being used by anyone. Clearly, learning from his mistakes isn’t his forte? Why? Well, the comments to this post on the HS2 Rebellion Facebook page rather give the game away…
When HS2rebellion tried to defend this stunt as bringing attention that a ‘fight’ against HS2 was still happening, Aron went on to explain further..
Yep, ‘Drew’ has got it wrong again! What the protesters fail to explain to their gullible audience is that HS2 compounds usually have far more than one gate and the ‘main’ gates are always staffed 24/7, making these stunts rather difficult.
So, Drew (and his friend) have achieved the sum total of sod-all. Again. Their sole achievement has been to block some poor person’s driveway!
‘Drew’ will possibly get arrested again, but as he’s already got a recent conviction for aggravated trespass and criminal damage at another HS2 site I can’t imagine the Magistrates will be terribly impressed with him reappearing. What a waste of everyone’s time. To put this silly stunt in perspective, there’s currently over 300 active worksites on phase 1 of HS2. Many have several entrances/exits. Blocking one (unused) entrance for a couple of hours is just pis*ing in the wind.
UPDATE.
By early afternoon the whole silly stunt was at an end. Despite the best efforts of HS2rebellion to ‘big up’ the farce more knowledgeable locals kept bursting their bubble.
No doubt their Facebook friends and other ‘keyboard warriors will swallow the ‘main gate’ nonsense hook, line and sinker, but more enquiring minds might look at another of the pictures posted on the Rebellion Facebook page and say “that is a *main* gate? Really, at that width? You’re not going to get any wide loads through there, and where’s the site office?”
I had to laugh when ‘Drew’ posted this on his Facebook page earlier.
‘Disruption’? What disruption – unless you count the poor person who’s driveway was blocked! If today’s farce was a ‘complete success’ I hate to think what failure looks like!
UPDATE.
The farce just gets better. After persistent pointing out from locals HS2 ‘rebellion’ finally admit that they were lying when they claimed this was the ‘main entrance’ and all they’ve done is inconvenience a local old lady! Still, it must be reassuring for her to knew that she ‘wasn’t the point’. Answers on a postcard please as to what the point really was…
2023 Update.
After Wendover was evicted ‘Drew’ pitched up at the ‘bluebell’ camp in Staffordshire where he continued with the same daft publicity stunts that achieved the sum total of naff all, other than gull a few people who continued to donate to crowdfunders under the mistaken belief muppets like ‘Drew’ were actually stopping HS2. The truth was these ‘cupid stunts’ failed to achieve anything other than waste time and money. The ‘rebellion’ collapsed completely in 2022 and now Drew (like all the other professional protesters) has drifted off to other causes. He’s currently achieving nothing in the Manchester area where he’s attached himself to the pro-Palestinian cause. HS2rebellion now exist in name only. A few kids still have access to the social media accounts and publish whatever make-believe or newspaper articles they can find that are critical of HS2, but that’s all they’re doing.
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The start of a new week and the end of another month has been a mixed sort of day here in the Calder Valley. It was heralded by torrential rain and winds that beat against the bedroom window as the kind of dawn chorus you really don’t want to wake up to. Fortunately, I wasn’t booked to go anywhere and Dawn has the next fortnight off so I was happy to leave the weather to it whilst I pottered around at home, finishing another magazine article and getting my copy and pictures out to the Editor.
As the day progressed the weather grew tired, the wind and rain abated and the two of us nipped out into Halifax to meet Dawn’s parents for coffee for an hour at the magnificent Piece Hall, which was quiet due to the conditions. Caffeine levels topped up we went our separate ways in order to pick up some shopping and attempt to buy petrol. Thankfully, Yorkshire folks are less prone to panics, so whilst the Sainsbury’s garage in the centre of town was busy, it had fuel and the queues only stretched into a handful of cars – which is just as well as we’re driving down to Shropshire for a week in a few days time!
Back at home I retreated into the office to tidy up a few projects I’ve got in hand and finally get around to scanning a handful of old slides that have been sat on my desk for the past few weeks. The welcome return of commissions and work around the country has meant I’ve neglected that mission recently. As much as I wanted to, I can’t see me getting all the pictures scanned by the end of the year, but I won’t be far off. 2022 will certainly see the last ones completed – much to my delight!
I certainly won’t be getting any done tomorrow as we have have the funeral of our dear friend Tony Allan to attend. With everything that’s happened since he died I’ve not had chance to write the blog about him I’d in mind. Hopefully, tomorrow will provide a few more stories that’ll allow me to add other dimensions. Tony was quite private about sections of his much-travelled life and private family life, so I’m hoping to learn more as Dawn and I only knew him for less than 10 of his nearly 70 years. Sad as it will be, we’ll all be adjourning to our local pub afterwards where we’ll celebrate his memory with his own Phoenix brewery beers.
So, I’ll bring this blog to a close with the picture of the day, which is from the slides I’d scanned today. These were a batch that have never seen the light of day since I shot them back in July 1992. Taken in Java, Indonesia, they’d never even been catalogued as part of the film had been damaged soon after they were taken, so they sat in their sleeves waiting for me to get around to doing something with them. It’s taken a while…!
This shot was taken as I was wandering through Yogyakarta towards the end of the day. I love stree photography and always look out for snapshots of life like this. Stallholders whose shops lined the pavement had packed up for the day to allow their places to be taken by the night food markets, one woman found it all too much and decided to ‘power-nap’ by wrapping her head in a newspaper. The effect novel and all a bit Klu Klux Klan but it certainly caught my eye!
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The pair of us have had a quiet weekend here at Bigland Towers, albeit it’s been a constructive and sociable one! Most of our time’s been spent pottering around catching up on various chores but we did have a very pleasant few hours with friends in our reopened local pub – the Big 6 Inn. It was chance to catch up with some folks we’ve not seen for ages, but also meet some close friends to swap a few stories and banter. The laughs certainly flew, as did the beers! I was certainly feeling mellow by the time we left.
Today’s been more solitary as Dawn’s been cooking up a storm in the kitchen whilst I’ve been pottering around sorting out odds and sods. One of today’s little tasks what to get our bird feeders cleaned, filled and ready for the winter. I have one outside the bedroom window and two outside my office window. All get plenty of traffic but the seed filled tray outside my office has more traffic than Heathrow! There’s a constant stream of Tits visiting it, as soon as one disappears another arrives. Their favorite seeds are juicy Sunflower seeds so I’ve stocked up with another big bag for the winter and also cleaned and replenished the peanut cage although that doesn’t seem to spark the same interest. I keep meaning to set up the camera to get some pictures of my visitors, but never seem to find the time. Maybe this winter…
Whilst all this was going on the smells wafting upstairs from the kitchen were superb. Dee’s been batch-cooking and producing Lasange in industrial quantities. As well as a large gluten-free one for her parents she’s made two for us that will be portioned out and go in the freezer. Oh, there were a pair of Bakewell Tarts made too – both Gluten free. As if that wasn’t enough Dee also made a Birthday cake for Susan, our neighbour who keeps us supplied with the most gorgeous home-baked bread!
So, the picture of the day is going to be dedicated to Dawn’s cooking. I have to admit, I was never someone with a sweet tooth – I’ve always preferred savoury, but as I’ve got older I have developed a real liking for home-made Bakewell tart and Dee does ’em brilliantly!
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Remember this list of Hs2rebellion (what ‘rebellion’? Ed) protection camps from last month? Well, you can scratch another one off the list. The barely functional and utterly pointless Wormwood Scrubs camp is no more!
Having been served with an eviction notice the squatters were ordered to demolish the mess of pallet towers and other structures they’d cluttered a corner of the scrubs with. As they didn’t have the numbers to put up any resistance they’ve meekly complied. Of course, they couldn’t have done this without the aid of the local authority who’re having to cart away the mess they’ve made at local taxpayers expense. Here’s a picture from their Facebook live feed today, which was filmed yesterday.
The remains of the Tower they’d spent ages building that was completely useless. I wonder what the Environmental Impact Assessment was for this pile of junk? Here’s how it looked when I visited the site at the end of August.
To say their camp was a complete waste of time is an understatement. They never stopped any of the work that HS2 contractors are undertaking to divert a sewer. You can see what’s actually happening on Wormwood Scrubs here. Here’s a map showing the extent of the area temporarily affected. The squatters camp was in the hatched area at the top right hand side of the map.
Now the new access road has been completed the temporary track matting is being removed, allowing the grassland to recover. The map also puts into perspective the ridiculous claims of the protesters that HS2 is ‘destroying’ Wormwood Scrubs! Only a tiny area is being hoarded off whilst the sewer’s diverted and once the work’s completed this will be returned to nature.
The removal of the Scrubs camp brings an end to the sorry tale of anti HS2 protests in London which have singularly failed to stop anything – just as they’ve failed everywhere else on the route. Now there’s just one (equally useless) camp left on the Phase 1 route, the laughably named ‘active resistance’ camp near Wendover. This has also been served with an eviction notice and the clearance of this final camp is expected anytime. I suspect that – despite the blustering name, there’ll be little resistance when the bailiffs move in! Sadly, local taxpayers will be left to pick up the bill once more for clearing up the mess left by these faux ‘environmentalists’. The one success Hs2Rebellion and the protesters have had is in wasting millions of pounds of other people’s money, both taxpayers and the mugs who’ve coughed up tens of thousands of pounds to support them through crowdfunding, none of which has never ever been accounted for…
It will be interesting to see how HS2Rebellion spin this latest failure in their fortnightly newsletter, which is due out today. I expect it’ll make ‘Comical Ali seem reasoned and objective!
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It’s a been a very quiet day here in Bigland Towers, mainly because I’ve been the only one here. Dawn’s been back in the Community Rail Network office in Huddersfield, which would normally leave me and the moggie. Only now there’s no moggie, and the place seems very empty without him. Jet always used to wander into my office to see me when I was working if he needed food, or just attention. He was happy to sit on my lap whilst I scanned pictures or typed, only now he’s no longer around and I have to admit I really miss him.
Empty home aside, I’ve been kept busy writing about my ‘3 peaks by rail’ adventure for magazines, so the day’s passed quickly. I did manage to get out for my daily constitutional and pick up some shopping, but then it was back to the grindstone. Not that I’m complaining, I have work, a roof over my head and lots to look forward to – unlike some…
I’m looking forward to having these few days at home before travels commence once again. Next week I have a press trip lined up, a funeral and then a holiday. Well, two out of three ain’t bad – as the old Meatloaf song goes.
So, on to the picture of the day. As I’ve not been scanning any old slides recently I was in a quandry over what to use, so I decided on this, which is a shot of how the urban realm can be vastly improved when we make the decision that people come before cars. This is the recently revamped station forecourt at Doncaster. Previously it had been dominated by the motor vehicle. Previously, most of the area was a car park. Now it’s been transformed into a place for people – and art (hence the railway themed sculptures to the right). If only more of our towns an cities followed suit…
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Today the Public Accounts Committee released their latest report on their investigations into the High Speed 2 rail project. It’s not a bad bit of work. It’s (rightly) critical of some aspects of the project but it doesn’t descend into hyperbole in the way the PAC used to do under a previous Chair. Instead, it’s objective and balanced – which is why it’s been almost completely ignored by opponents of HS2 as it’s shot their fox when it comes to their hysterical and exaggerated claims for the ‘true’ cost of HS2. I read it this morning but I’ll spare you having to do the same as I’ll bring you some of the highlights here. However, If you want to read the full report yourself. here’s a link.
Somewhere in there (and on the other side of the M25 already is a tunnel boring machine going great guns digging one of HS2’s Chiltern tunnels.
The summary immediately upsets opponents of HS2 as it points out that the costs of HS2 are nothing like their distorted claims. The report states that;
“With construction of Phase one underway and plans for Phase 2a approved by Parliament, the current estimated cost of completing High Speed 2 is between £72–98 billion (2019), an increase from the original budget of £55.7 billion (2015 prices) in 2015. While HS2 Ltd consider these estimates to be realistic, uncertainty remains, particularly when a substantial amount of the Phase One programme is still to be procured and HS2 Ltd is already reporting cost pressures of £0.8 billion from activities such as delayed enabling works and Euston station. HS2 Ltd is also unable to quantify the final cost of the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic but estimates the cost to be between £300 million and £400 million at the end of 2020. If these costs are validated, they will need to be covered by the government-retained contingency of £4.3 billion”
So, yes, there are budget pressures, due to programme delays and Covid, but more of that later as the news isn’t all bad. For example, the project has a huge contingency budget, here’s what the report says on page 4;
“The Phase One budget is £44.6 billion including almost £10 billion of contingency (2019 prices)”
That’s a lot of contingency! Page 5 puts this into an even clearer perspctive.
“HS2 Ltd is now able to provide us with a clearer explanation of costs than we have previously seen in its reporting to Parliament. HS2 Ltd reports that it has spent £11 billion to date and used £0.4 billion of its contingency, out of a total budget of £44.6 billion (2019 prices). The contracting of Phase One civil construction, worth £15.5 billion, is complete, of which £2.5 billion has been spent. HS2 Ltd considers the budget for Phase One to be realistic and estimates it has completed approximately 20% of the work, having spent 5% of its contingency.”
Yep, only 5% of the “almost £10bn” has been spent, which suggests there’s still a lot of leeway in the budget despite the pandemic and other unexpected events. Contingency is a figure that most commentators (even those who should know better) routinely fail to explain. When you see that “HS2 will cost £100bn” or whatever headline figure’s being bandied around (normally the fictional £106.6bn lazily and wrongly used by the media) it’s important to understand this isn’t the *cost* of HS2, this is the budget for HS2 – and that budget includes a large contingency that’s there as a cushion in case of genuine, unexpected cost increases – such as the ones allocated to Covid – and only a tiny proportion of it (5%) has been used so far.
So, Quite rightly, the report recommends that;
“The Department and HS2 Ltd should set out as part of its future 6-monthly reporting to Parliament, a more comprehensive view on risk to the Phase One cost estimate and the use of contingency” this would include “a clear indication of whether cost pressures have increased, decreased or remained stable since the preceding 6-monthly report”
This makes sense as the budget is often difficult to understand as breakdowns don’t always follow a logical pattern. Another nugget is the news that the projects finances are not all about the contingency being eaten into. Page 11 contains this item;
“HS2 Ltd explained that it had an efficiencies programme and had found savings and opportunities totalling £200 million, mostly for civil construction such as bulk purchase of fencing and security.”
The report is less optimistic about the redevelopment of one of the key parts of the project – Euston station. The PAC’s very critical of the Department of Transport. They say;
“The Department has made little progress on the design and delivery at Euston since we last reported, and we remain concerned that time is running out. Euston station is a key element of the programme both as the London terminus for High Speed 2 and a link to existing railway network and London Underground. We raised concerns over the lack of clarity of the design and delivery of Euston station in our May 2020 report, but the Department has made no final decisions”
This is spot on and a major concern. The DfT (no doubt driven by the Treasury) has been doing everything it can to penny-pinch on Euston, even going as far as to potentially hamstring the future resilience and expansion of services by trying to cut the number of platform from 11 to 10 just to save a few bob in the short-term. As the PAC states;
“the Department has spent the past 15 months looking for cost saving options”
Sadly, this is a familiar pattern and a classic example of knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing. There’s a number of rail schemes where the DfT is constantly delaying them by asking for ‘reviews’ to relook at crucial (but expensive) options. The Trans-Pennine route upgrade (TRU) is yet another example. Rightly, the PAC point out that these delays can cost more money than they save.
The PAC mention another issue, not with the HS2 railway itself, but with the DfT and Government. They say (page 7);
“We are increasingly concerned that the Department and HS2 Ltd do not yet know how they will turn the benefits promised from High Speed 2 into a reality, including what additional investments will be needed or how these will be funded”.
It’s that vision thing again. It’s notoriously difficult to get politicians (and the Civil Service) to plan for the future rather than the electoral cycle. Of course, without HS2 the question is moot. You can read far more about the Euston station question on page 12 of the report.
There’s also a lot of detail on other aspects of the project including training, consultations and complaints, but I’m going to focus mostly on cost. On page 11 the report outlines the fact nearly of the major contracts for Phase 1 are let so costs are known;
“The construction of the main civil engineering components of the programme (such as tunnels and viaducts) is a major undertaking and was a major cause of delays and cost increases at the time of our last report.16 In a letter following our evidence session, HS2 Ltd informed us that it had now contracted all the civil construction work, worth £15.5 billion, of which it had paid approximately £2.5 billion. It told us that the estimated total cost of all four stations for Phase One would be just over £5 billion, and that it had agreed contracts for three of the four stations. As a result, it expected that the construction for Old Oak Common would be £1.67 billion, Birmingham Curzon Street would be £460 million and Euston would be £2.6 billion. It explained that it had not yet agreed a contract for construction at Birmingham Interchange but expected this to cost in total between £350 million and £500 million. HS2 Ltd told us that it estimated that railway systems will cost a total of £3.6 billion. Although some of the smaller systems contracts, such as the tunnel safety doors, had already been procured, HS2 Ltd told us that railway systems was the part of the programme where most procurement was outstanding. HS2 Ltd told us it planned to procure the larger systems contracts, such as track, electrification, signalling and controls, in the next two years. HS2 Ltd estimated the cost to purchase the trains (rolling stock) would be around £1.6 billion. The Department and HS2 Ltd told us that they hoped to award the contract to design and build the trains later in 2020″.
This is rather a disappointment for those who like to make up exaggerated numbers for how much they claim HS2 will cost!
Section 16 (page 13) goes into detail on the risks of integrating HS2 with the existing network, a problem that’s bedeviled Crossrail and one everyone’s keen to learn from and not repeat. I won’t go into detail other than to say it’s a problem people are focussed on avoiding.
The report contains an updated schedule of works, which says this;
“HS2 Ltd told us it had a 10-year programme of work for Phase One before services started between 2029 and 2033. It further explained that it planned to complete civil construction between 2020 and 2025; railway systems between 2025 and 2028; and, commissioning, integration, driver training and entering into service between 2028 and 2030”. This suggests that HS2 services will begin well before the extended programme date of 2033.
All in all it’s a good report that’s realistic about the challenges that come from the largest construction project in Europe, one that’s going to take many years to complete., with all the uncertainties and wild-cards the world can throw up in such a period. I only wish others would take such a pragmatic and reasoned approach. But that approach is probably why it’s been widely ignored. Journalists can’t roll out their favourite cliché and call it ‘damning’!
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