28.09.16
Crossrail and HS2 part of ‘great opportunity’, Japanese investors told
Transport secretary Chris Grayling has promised the government’s continued support for HS2 and Crossrail during a trade tour to Japan.
Grayling attended the G7 Transport Ministers’ Summit in Karuizawa, Nagano on September 23-25, and also visited Tokyo to meet the city’s governor and Japanese transport and infrastructure investors.
Speaking at a reception at the British Embassy in Tokyo, he said that following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, Britain wanted to “have a more global focus” and “strengthen ties” with trade partners like Japan.
“In total, our infrastructure programme to 2020 is worth over £100bn – and there will be lots more to come in the years that follow,” Grayling added. “That’s why Britain represents a great opportunity for Japanese firms.”
Clive Heaphy, HS2’s director of finance and operations, said in the past that he is “worried” about the long-term impact of the referendum on the high-speed rail project.
Significant figures including Lord Berkeley, the chair of the Rail Freight Group, and Sir Amyas Morse, the head of the National Audit Office, have also warned that there could be a shortage of funding for large-scale infrastructure projects, such as HS2, if the referendum leads to an economic downturn.
A recent report from the Public Accounts Committee said that HS2 has failed to provide a clear completion date for phase 1 of the project or a cost for phase 2.
Andrew Tyrie MP, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, has also written to Grayling saying that the government has failed to “comprehensively examine” the cost of HS2. Simon Kirby, the chief executive of the project, recently announced that he would be leaving the company to join Rolls Royce.
Despite this, Grayling told investors that work on building HS2 would start “next year” as planned. He also said that the Crossrail project would be complete in two years’ time, providing “a new, high capacity railway under London’s streets”.
(Image c. AP/Press Association Images)
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