Britain is building the most expensive railway in the world. Many people now think it’s pointless | CNN

Britain ’s High Speed 2 rail project now costs an eye watering $416 million per mile.

Only the $128-billion California High Speed Rail project in the U.S. comes close to matching HS2 's soaring costs.

China and Japan have succeeded in threading new high-speed railways through some of the worlds most densely populated megacities for far less than it will cost Britain to build the 140 miles of track between London and Birmingham .

High Speed 2 (HS2) rail line will deepen the regional divide and should be shelved in favor of investments across the rail network, a UK think tank says.

HS2 has always been controversial for a whole host of reasons.

It generated anger from communities blighted by its construction as well as environmentalists trying to save ancient woodland lying in its path.

The need to soothe angry residents in communities along the route added to the massive cost.

HS2 was originally conceived as a Y-shaped network that, once at Birmingham , would split west and east toward the cities of Manchester and Leeds .

Then, in November 2021 , the eastern arm was amputated, followed in 2022 by the Crewe -Manchester section in northwest England .

New Labour government has dismissed calls for the Birmingham-Crewe section of Phase 2 to be reinstated.