Good question.
Here's a great discussion about HSR from the UK. They are intending to build their so-called HS2, a second high-speed rail line, first from London to Birmingham, and eventually to Scotland and Edinburgh. The project has recently become fraught with conflict. It's almost a mirror of our situation in California.
Here is an article about it from The TaxPayers' Alliance. I wonder if they are the British equivalent of our Jarvis Anti-Tax group. The case they make here poses exactly the same question I have for our HSR in California, and more widely, in the US. "Why are the Government taxing the poor to pay for a rich man's train?"
I find it stunning that the Democrats, friends of the poor, are not asking this question. It is a reprehensible oversight, most probably intentional.
There are several videos embedded in this article and you can watch them by logging on this web-site:
Also, the article refers to a report commissioned by Parliament and done by Oxera Consulting, Ltd., apparently a professional independent research group. Here is the web-site to that report:
WHY ARE THE GOVERNMENT TAXING THE POOR TO PAY FOR A RICH MAN’S TRAIN?
June 20, 2011
The Government’s planned high speed rail line will benefit a fortunate minority of passengers but cost well over £1,000 for every family in Britain. Why are ordinary families doing their shopping and paying higher VAT; motorists paying a fortune at the pump; and commuters who will get a worse service, all set to pay such a huge price for this huge white elephant?
You can watch the three adverts, here: [This is where the video is on the web-site]
The adverts follow a programme of research from the TPA looking at the problems with the business case for the new high speed rail line and identifying the many towns that will lose out and get worse train services if HS2 goes ahead:
•High Speed Rail – Examining the problems with the business case
•Will HS2 create jobs? – Looking at the Government’s claims about the effect of the line on employment
•HS2 Capacity Analysis – Revealing the towns and cities getting a worse service as a result of the project
Matthew Sinclair, Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“Families will wonder why, with so much pressure on everyone’s finances, the Government are taxing the poor to pay for a rich man’s train. High speed rail is an incredibly expensive white elephant. It is the wrong project, particularly when the priority should be keeping down the cost to taxpayers and simpler improvements that can cut overcrowding for commuters, not a prohibitively expensive new high speed line. They need to reconsider their plans and look at more affordable ways of improving the rail network.”
We’ve also today reacted to the release of an independent report on the Goverment’s HS2 high-speed-rail project. The report, by Oxera, can be found here.
Matthew Sinclair, Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“Oxera’s report this morning confirms that the Government haven’t fairly compared their high speed rail plans to other more affordable options. They also point out there is little evidence for claims about the economic benefits of faster trains, and that rigorous assessments have suggested those benefits can be ‘very small indeed’. Hopefully this report will encourage serious scrutiny from Parliament, before billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is committed to high speed rail. The Government should look again at other ways to deliver the capacity the rail network needs, without risking so much money on what could turn out to be a huge white elephant. They shouldn’t be taxing the poor to pay for a rich man’s train, particularly on the basis of such an uncertain economic case.“
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