The beleaguered HS2 railway is again in the spotlight with the current inflationary environment having pushed up costs and the CEO of the project admitting that aspects of it might be delayed as a result.

It doesn't look like a triumph of organisation, with HS2 appearing to be on the hook for most, if no all, of the cost increases rather than having negotiated the forward buying of supplies. Factor in the effect of inflation on wages, and I haven't even used the B-word yet, and you can see why costs might have increased.

But at the same time, having travelled across Italy on high speed trains last summer, it seems lamentable that we have no such thing - although that doesn't necessarily make it good economics.

Please read: HS2 delays being considered to cut rising costs