The effect of the train strikes on attendance, the trauma of recent years, and the change in the nature of the Tory Conference itself leave the question hanging.
“HS2 is a gamble and a bad gambler will always keep throwing money at something.”
Voters clearly want it – and the recent past suggests he’s a more credible agent of it than Sir Keir.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester says that “leaving the North with Victorian infrastructure” would “level us down.”
Reports suggest that Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt plan both to scrap HS2’s northern link between Birmingham and Manchester and to stop the line from terminating at London Euston.
The UK’s cheapest project is only barely cheaper than France’s most expensive; on average, Brits pay two and a half times more (on a per mile basis) than their French counterparts to build the same length of track.
At the moment the Government takes the blame as the ultimate boss, whilst lacking many of the powers to put things right owing to the doctrine of independence.
Only 12 per cent of tickets are now bought at offices, down 85 per cent from 1995 – at a time of union disruption and plummeting commuter numbers.
Review Net Zero interventions, cut immigration; freeze Civil Service recruitment, reduce railway subsidies – and tell the Bank of England to stop selling bonds at a loss.
The movement has been increasingly attracting graduates and higher paid workers; the political views of most union leaders are generally ignored by the ordinary member.
Despite dire predictions, travellers are returning in droves. Hunt should not overlook this vital sector in his Spring Budget.
It represents just a tenth of that price tag of Crossrail, yet will improve the economic prospects of huge swathes of the UK.
Rename the whole project to reflect its truly unifying nature and let more of Britain, Scotland and Northern England be connected by the “steel threads”.
What is clear is that people want better-connected places. We need more rail capacity, but this is not just about getting to or from London and it can’t come at any price.