The former HS1, Crossrail and Eurostar boss, Rob Holden, said he applied to work on the high-speed rail project but was rejected by a "senior official" in the Department for Transport.
Mr Holden said he was surprised by the decision as his work on HS1 saw it “come in on time and under budget”. His comments come as Rishi Sunak prepares to scrap the northern leg of HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester, weeks after The Independent revealed secret plans to do so.
The former HS1 chief executive said HS2 was always “illconceived” because it was designed to run at an “inappropriate speed” for the UK: originally 400km/h, since cut to 360km/h. Mr Holden said most high-speed lines in Europe run at 300km/h, with the costs of going much faster becoming “exponentially higher”.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 04, 2023 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 04, 2023 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Badenoch blames Labour for new rail strikes to May
Kemi Badenoch has claimed train commuters will suffer” for Labour’s inflation-busting pay rises for unions. The Tory leader’s comments came after train managers voted to hold a series of strikes, beginning on New Year’s Eve.
Fury as PM claims women knew about pension change
Sir Keir Starmer provoked outrage among Waspi women yesterday after he appeared to point the finger of blame at them despite Labour’s decision not to pay them compensation over changes to their pensions.
This catalogue of tone-deaf U-turns will come back to haunt Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer cannot have much enjoyed his last session of Prime Minister’s Questions for the year. The leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, did her job and embarrassed Sir Keir with a timely reminder of the misery being inflicted on older people by the cuts to the winter fuel allowance.
Trans player Van Leuven is a winner even as she loses
As Noa-Lynn van Leuven approached the stage, red hair flowing and lipstick shimmering under the lights, it was hard to know what the reaction would be.
Liverpool's forgotten man will 'get minutes' in cup tie
It was seen as a no-brainer. Liverpool's £12m signing of Federico Chiesa - the Italian golden boy on his nation's triumphant European Championship title run three years ago was heralded from all angles as a coup for Arne Slot.
Fixture chaos is a blueprint for shocks and dark horses
In the immediate aftermath of the Manchester derby, Pep Guardiola was dumbfounded.
Mudryk in 'complete shock' over banned substance test
Mykhailo Mudryk insists he has “not done anything wrong” after submitting a drug test sample which contained a banned substance.
Weakened job market is a grim sign of things to come
Recruiter Reed threw the cat among the pigeons when it warned of a sharp fall in the number of jobs being advertised – and suggested that a recession may be just around the corner.
What's at stake if US goes ahead with TikTok ban?
After amassing more than 170 million users in the country in less than seven years, TikTok is now facing an outright ban in the US.
Teen kills teacher and pupil in shooting at US school
A US community has been left traumatised after a 15-year-old female student killed a teacher and another pupil in a shooting spree at a Christian school in Wisconsin on Monday.
