Off the Rails

Sally Gimson has written a thoroughly readable account of how not to build a railway. She chronicles the well-known story of dither, delay and indecision with good humour and thoughtful insight. She paints a picture of arrogant politicians wishing to build the best in the world, worthy environmentalists who wanted the greenest, project developers who kept on offering different engineering options and distressed communities desperate to avoid HS2 coming anywhere near them. She wins the award for the best chapter heading I’ve seen (“Euston – we have a problem!”) and reveals the folly of telling the world how much something costs before you’ve agreed what it is you’re going to build.  Of course, the politicians – of all main parties -  are mostly to blame but the true conclusion is the need to consult more and better at the very start of ambitious projects like this. One should not enjoy reading about incompetence and worse. But Gimson’s book is the best storytelling since Thomas the Tank Engine!