This makes the strange assumption that Leeds and Manchester, or even Birmingham is the north. In pure geographic terms they are not even half way up the country from London – what about Newcastle and Scotland?  The evidence for the possibility of a high speed railway helping to solve regional inequalities is decidedly mixed. Theoretically if one region has comparative advantage then providing it with better transport infrastructure should mean that region simply expanding its market – in this case London would likely have the comparative advantage so increasing inequality. [1] While this has not happened with all high speed links what will happen is that the regional hubs may grow but it will likely be at the expense of surrounding towns that are not connected and areas further away from the line. The government’s own figures estimate the cost to the North East of Scotland would be £220million per year. [2]  [1] Puga, Diego, ‘Agglomeration and cross border infrastructure’, European Investment Bank Papers, vol.13, no.2, 2008, pp.102-24,  p.117  [2] BBC News, ‘HS2 ‘losers’ revealed as report shows potential impact’, 19 October 2013,