High speed rail delays

The debate on high speed rail rumbles on. The latest round of arguments has been partly inspired by the Transport Secretary's decision to delay a decision until early next year so that she can decide whether to spend an extra £500m on another tunnel under the Chilterns. To put that figure in perspective, note that it's three times the amount announced in the Autumn spending review for local transport projects once again raising the issue of priorities. Another way to think about it is as a 3% increase on the £17bn budget. That makes the already quite weak cost benefit just that little bit worse.