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About this book
The first major account of HS2 – and how it went so wrong
‘A jaunty account of a monumental cock-up. Makes the unbelievable readable.’ Sir Michael Palin
‘High-Speed 2’ was to be the crown jewel of British rail. The first Intercity railway built north of London in over a century, it would connect London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, bridging the North–South divide and propelling Britain’s infrastructure into the twenty-first century.
Dogged by mismanagement, overspending and incompetence, HS2 has collapsed. What remains is a bleeding stump between Birmingham and the outskirts of London – Euston, the central London terminus, still seemingly unreachable. All of this has cost taxpayers tens of billions.
Sally Gimson meets with the politicians, engineers and ordinary people affected by the failure of HS2. Travelling from demolished council estates in Camden to ghost towns along the now cancelled Northern branch, Off the Rails provides a forensic examination of how a vital social project imploded.
***
'Deeply researched.' Daily Telegraph, &&★&&★&&★&&★
'Forensic, gripping.' Sir Ivor Crewe
'Penetrating, fair and ultimately furious.' Financial Times
‘A jaunty account of a monumental cock-up. Makes the unbelievable readable.’ Sir Michael Palin
‘High-Speed 2’ was to be the crown jewel of British rail. The first Intercity railway built north of London in over a century, it would connect London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, bridging the North–South divide and propelling Britain’s infrastructure into the twenty-first century.
Dogged by mismanagement, overspending and incompetence, HS2 has collapsed. What remains is a bleeding stump between Birmingham and the outskirts of London – Euston, the central London terminus, still seemingly unreachable. All of this has cost taxpayers tens of billions.
Sally Gimson meets with the politicians, engineers and ordinary people affected by the failure of HS2. Travelling from demolished council estates in Camden to ghost towns along the now cancelled Northern branch, Off the Rails provides a forensic examination of how a vital social project imploded.
***
'Deeply researched.' Daily Telegraph, &&★&&★&&★&&★
'Forensic, gripping.' Sir Ivor Crewe
'Penetrating, fair and ultimately furious.' Financial Times
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Yes, you can access Off The Rails by Sally Gimson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Business General. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Contents
- Map
- Introduction
- 1 A Very British Project
- 2 The Rise of London and the Motorcar
- 3 A National Mission
- 4 In the Public Interest
- 5 Rebellion in the Shires
- 6 Clearing a Path Through the City
- 7 Grand Projet Angst
- 8 McLoughlin to the Rescue
- 9 Obama Tactics
- 10 The Naysayers
- 11 Hybrid Wars
- 12 Euston, We Have a Problem
- 13 Another Rethink?
- 14 The Special Minister for HS2
- 15 A Green Revolution
- 16 ‘Robbing the White Elephant to Pay the Red Wall’
- 17 Our Friends in the North
- 18 In the Path of the Ghost Train
- 19 A Disaster for Crewe
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary
- Further Reading, Viewing and Listening
- Index
- Copyright