Matthew Sinclair argues that the government’s plans for high-speed rail would not create enough jobs to justify the
government spending money on the project. But his argument is disingenuous as he is not comparing like for like. He is comparing predictions about jobs created directly by high-speed rail with
predictions about jobs created indirectly by investment in the wider economy.
The 40,000 jobs created directly by high-speed rail are simply the tip of the iceberg – tens of thousands more will be created by the investment boom in the cities the new line will link up. These are the jobs being created by the “wider economy” that he mentions, but which the government does not attempt to quantify. The calculations he makes are therefore fundamentally flawed and do not stand up to scrutiny.
A high speed network in Britain has the potential to generate benefits of around £44 billion.
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