David Vance SubstackRead More
Let me introduce you to Chongquin Train Station in China. Doesn’t it look super cool?
This was rebuilt for £16.5 billion in just 3.5 years. A 150km stretch of 350km/h high-speed rail there cost £5.9 billion and took six years
Compare that to the HS2 project in the UK. Latest estimates put its cost at up to £102.7 billion, with a possible opening delayed until 2039—decades after it was first proposed. It is supposed to reach about 140 miles.
So the distances involved are roughly comparable but the timelines and costs entirely disproportionate!
Now whilst I fully understand that China’s authoritarian model enables rapid decisions, land acquisition, and minimal legal challenges, the disparity still exposes Britain’s deeper rot.
We know the problems; bureaucratic paralysis, regulatory capture, endless judicial reviews, environmental demands and a culture of consultancy grift. UK taxpayers fund layers of private contractors, lawyers, lobbyists, and quangos who actually profit from each delay. Each added “consultation” and legal challenge inflates budgets while delivering less.
As we know HS2’s northern legs have already been axed and yet costs are still ballooning.
What makes all this so sad is that our forefathers built the incredible Victorian rail network far faster with limited 19th-century technology. However they had vision and the will to just get on with it. These days we cannot even replace a train station without a decade-long farce. This results in our crumbling services and zero value for money for us taxpayers.
Radical reform is absolutely essential here. Things like streamlined planning, fixed-price contracts with penalties, and reduced consultancy bloat would help Without it, Britain will keep paying Chinese prices for sub Victorian timelines—while achieving nothing. British rail is off the rails and we need to get back to Victorian values!
