High-speed Rail

Lord Brennan of Canton Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

The principal benefit will be not just the high-speed link between London and Birmingham but the fact that it could connect to the west coast main line, which means that people will benefit from shorter journey times that persist as they continue their journey further north. That is really good news for people in that area.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Did I hear the Secretary of State aright? Did she say that the Chilterns tunnel would cost £250 million to £300 million less than the cost would be without it? That raises the question why, if it is cheaper to tunnel, she is not burying the entire line. Will she please give us the true figure for building the tunnel?

[Justine Greening]

It will cost £250 million to £300 million less. The hon. Gentleman asked why we cannot tunnel the whole way under the Chilterns. Of course that is predominantly an engineering question concerning the amounts of spoil and the geographical nature of the land that we are going through. It is quite a complex question but the brief answer is yes, it really is more cost-effective.