HS2 is a high-speed rail line running from London to Birmingham. It is one of Britain's most notorious infrastructure projects, emblematic of the country's high construction costs. It was championed by George Osborne when he was chancellor in the 2010s as a totemic infrastructure project that would "change the economic geography" of Britain, providing an "engine for growth".
The government's proposals from 2012 said the railway would open in 2026 and cost £33bn in 2011 prices. Since then, two of its three legs have been cancelled on cost grounds and the remaining London-Birmingham segment has been delayed to the late 2030s. Costs are now set to exceed £100bn.
Britain's infrastructure costs are among the world's highest, and HS2 is the most prominent example. A 1km tunnel to protect a few hundred bats cost over £120m. Billions more were spent digging 16km of tunnels through the Chiltern Hills, largely to protect the aesthetic concerns of Conservative voters in the area. The project was approved by a Conservative government whose stated mission was deficit reduction.
HS2 was primarily intended to boost capacity, but a desire for speed led to unnecessarily expensive viaducts and tunnels—an example of "gold-plating", a curiously British disease when it comes to big infrastructure. Contractors are paid a share of total costs, incentivising them to spend more, while officials lack the expertise to challenge them. Britain's sclerotic planning system allows the least relevant stakeholder to block proceedings for concessions.
Adam and Eve had many advantages, but the principal one was, that they escaped teething.