Right-wing think tank slams HS3 decision despite government optimism

Reacting to the decision to go ahead with the line, head of transport at the IAE Richard Wellings said, "The proposal for a new high-speed rail link in the north is little more than a costly vanity project. HS3 is an expensive and inefficient way to link northern cities, which are relatively close in distance. A high-speed rail line would make little difference to door-to-door journey times for most travellers, northern conurbations being geographically spread out to include numerous different towns.

"Rather than creating headline-grabbing policies, government resources would be better spent on smaller-scale schemes that deliver high returns for the taxpayer, or, that can be financed by the private sector."

The Government feels the opposite, and plans to make Chancellor George Osborne's aims for a 'Northern Powerhouse' the centerpiece of the budgetary Autumn Statement. A key part of this vision for the North will be interconnectivity of Northern cities, with the aim to improve the economic prospects of the north of the country and "rebalance" an economy seen by many as over-reliant on London. Osborne concludes, "The cities of the North are individually strong, but collectively not strong enough."