I attended a meeting of the Foundation for Science & Technology on the future strategy for High Speed Rail in the UK.  The speakers were all rail enthusiasts, not least Lord Adonis, Secretary of State for Transport, who has recently published plans for new fast rail lines north out of London.  HS2, as it is designated (HS1 being the line from the Channel Tunnel to London), would be the main national priority transport infrastructure project, to follow the Cross Rail project, east-west across London, now under construction.

At present rail accounts for 3% of all trips and 8% of total distance travelled in Britain.  About half of all rail trips are for commuting, for which High Speed Rail, with few stops, has limited applicability.  While rail use is growing, the case for putting all our transport infrastructure investment eggs in one basket is far from obvious.

Another speaker was Guillaume Pepy, President of SNCF, who observed that the main source of carbon emissions from the TGV system was from electric traction, as expected, with the second from passenger movements to and from the stations.  Significant commuting was now occurring from Lille to Paris, well beyond historic travel patterns.  Evidently, the carbon reduction benefits of faster rail need to be looked at carefully, given the scope to extend distances travelled, including by car to stations.

HS2 would require substantial funding from the public purse.  Is this a national priority, given the need to decarbonise the electricity supply system?  I shall have to read the full report on HS2 to come to a view.