£50 billion HS2 fund would be better spent on improving railways, says Tony Travers

A leading London academic has claimed that the estimated £50 billion fund for the high-speed rail link from London to the North of England will not provide value for money for taxpayers.

Tony Travers, an expert in Government and advisor to the mayor, said the public cash for HS2 would be better spent on improving the railways and other transport projects.

Mr Travers’ comments came as chancellor George Osborne prepares this weekend to lead a Government fightback over the project after mounting concern over costs and economic benefits.

The London School of Economics academic said: “If the same money - whether it’s £50bn or £70bn - were available for public transport in London, Birmingham, Manchester and other cities it’s hard to believe it wouldn’t be better used there. But the truth is the money would not be available so either you get the money for HS2 or you get nothing. If I were prime minister I would not spend the cash on this, I’d spend it on improving the existing railways and transport infrastructure.”

Mr Travers said the scheme would have “marginal benefit” for London with the regeneration prompted by new stations at Old Oak Common and the southern terminus at Euston.

But he added: “The real risk is that it will take money away from the conventional railway. It will compete with commuter services such as that from London Bridge to Sussex. That’s the way the Treasury thinks - it will not treat the conventional railway and the new high speed line separately, they will both be viewed as transport spending.”

He said the Government would be forced to step in and regulate the three commuter services already operating out of Euston. Trains on these lined would be less frequent in order to force passengers to travel on HS2, he predicted.

London’s two main business lobby groups - the Chamber of Commerce and London First - remain supporters of HS2.

Their backing is steadfast even after a poll of the Institute of Directors published last week showed members did not see the claimed business benefits of the rail link.

But Peter Bishop, deputy chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce said the Government was “missing a trick” by not revising the route to include a spur to Heathrow airport in the initial phase.