railway

Railway design engineer and author Gareth Dennis, who worked on the HS2 stretch through Calvert in Buckinghamshire, agreed.

Natural England is not the only body giving consent to aspects of HS2’s railway.

More areas of railway can be electrified, but this is costly: in 2020, Network Rail estimated electrification would cost £1m-£2.5m per kilometre of track.

The new network will use the European railway track width and connect seamlessly with railways across the EU.

Estonia's national auditor Janar Holm believes several more years of delays are likely: “We have to find the funds to build this railway now or it'll be even more expensive.”