Britain Spent £100bn on HS2. China Built 50,000 km

On 1 August 2008, China opened its first railway built for 350 km/h, from Beijing to Tianjin. Five months later, Britain set up High Speed Two. Today China has more than 50,000 km of high-speed railway — more than the rest of the world combined — while not one HS2 train has carried a paying passenger, and the remaining programme could cost up to £102.7bn. This documentary follows how a national network estimated at £32.7bn (2011 prices) was cut back to London–Birmingham: the hybrid bill, extra tunnels, the Oakervee review, the cancelled legs to Leeds and Manchester, the Euston saga, the Stewart review and the May 2026 reset. We look at what HS2 has genuinely achieved — the Chiltern tunnel, the Colne Valley viaduct, Old Oak Common — and at Britain's own lost chance, the Advanced Passenger Train of 1979. Then China: technology transfer, the Beijing–Shanghai line built in about three years, why the World Bank found Chinese costs so much lower, and what that speed hid — the Wenzhou crash and a mountain of railway debt. Finally: three lessons for Britain, and what it all means for passengers and taxpayers. Chapters 0:00 Beijing, 1 August 2008 0:21 Britain creates High Speed Two 0:40 50,000 km vs zero passengers 1:01 The £102.7bn figure 1:26 What you'll learn 2:19 The plan in 2012 3:04 The promise: 45 minutes to Birmingham 3:37 The hybrid bill 4:15 Meanwhile in China 4:40 More tunnels, higher cost 5:09 The Oakervee review 5:40 Leeds and Manchester cut 6:13 The Euston saga 7:28 Mark Wild's reset 7:51 May 2026: the new numbers 9:03 The Stewart review 9:50 The £100m bat structure 10:14 What HS2 got right 11:18 The most expensive per kilometre 12:18 The Advanced Passenger Train 13:37 Japan and France lead the way 14:17 How China got the technology 15:30 Beijing to Shanghai in three years 16:35 50,400 km and the CR450 17:16 Why China builds cheaper 17:42 Reason 1: standardisation 18:38 Reason 2: scale 19:02 Reason 3: the system 19:27 The price China paid: Wenzhou 20:08 The debt 20:38 What Britain can't copy 21:00 Three lessons for Britain 22:28 Burnham and a new chapter? 23:03 What it means for you 24:17 Back to Beijing 24:50 Your verdict Figures checked in October 2026. HS2 costs are the government's May 2026 range (mixed price base); older estimates are in the price bases stated in the film and are not directly like for like. Sources GOV.UK — Heidi Alexander statement on HS2, May 2026: https://www.ukpol.co.uk/heidi-alexand... New Civil Engineer — HS2 cost estimated to exceed £100bn: https://www.newcivilengineer.com/late... GOV.UK — HS2 six-monthly report to Parliament, July 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeche... GOV.UK — Major transport projects governance and assurance review (James Stewart, 2025): https://www.gov.uk/government/publica... GOV.UK — High Speed Rail (London–West Midlands) Bill: https://www.gov.uk/government/collect... HS2 — Sheephouse Wood bat protection structure: https://www.hs2.org.uk/sustainability... Rail Technology Magazine — Colne Valley viaduct becomes Britain's longest rail bridge: https://www.railtechnologymagazine.co... Economics Observatory — HS2 and the Transit Costs Project: https://www.economicsobservatory.com/... World Bank — Cost of high-speed rail in China one third lower than in other countries (2014): https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/pre... Railway Journal — How China builds high-speed rail for less: https://www.railjournal.com/in_depth/... South China Morning Post — China's high-speed rail network, 2025: https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-ec... Railway Pro — CR450, the world's fastest conventional train: https://www.railwaypro.com/wp/the-wor... Railway Journal — 350 km/h operation resumes on Beijing–Shanghai: https://www.railjournal.com/regions/a... Free Malaysia Today — China Railway's debt nears US$900bn: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/cat... New Civil Engineer — Burnham would revive HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester: https://www.newcivilengineer.com/late... #HS2 #HighSpeedRail #BritainVsChina