13.11.13
CILT judges HS2 case ‘sound and secure’
HS2 has a “compelling” business case, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) has argued in a new report.
There must be more work to ensure the project’s benefits are maximised, the report adds. Investment should not “crowd out” investment in other projects, and links to both the existing network and HS1 are important.
The CILT also called for more work to demonstrate the integration of freight benefits, and to consider the optimum speed of services to balance journey time, energy cost and carbon emissions.
But they believe that “none of the potential alternatives will meet current, let alone future, predictions of demand”.
Steve Agg, chief executive of the CILT said: “Against a febrile debate with claim and counter-claim about HS2, the Institute has taken a calm and considered view of its merits and weighed up the alternatives.
“On every measure, we judge the economic, social, demographic, commercial and environmental arguments for the line to be sound and secure. We have no doubt that it will deliver handsomely for the UK.”
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Image c. HS2 Ltd