HS2 could be obsolete before it even opens

Those who built the Channel Tunnel never saw the low-cost era of airline travel coming. When the tunnel rail link, or HS1, opened in 1997, Brussels’ bureaucrats were busy putting the final touches to the Single Skies initiative, which created a common market for European air travel. It wasn’t long before Ryanair, easyJet and the other low cost carriers took off. Cheap and frequent flights throughout Europe diverted leisure travel from nearer shores (served by Eurostar) to farther flung places across the continent. And the 20 million passengers a year scheduled to use the tunnel in the first decade of the 21^st century never quite showed up. Instead, the number has flatlined at 11million a year – making the tunnel something of a mixed success. Now, with HS2 edging further forward, history looks to repeat itself in another flawed mega project.