The Institute of Economic Affairs has delivered a damning report on the government’s plans to build and operate a high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham. The think-tank claims that the project will require £1,000 worth of funding per income tax payer and that the scheme is not viable in commercial terms.

The completion of the HS2 project has been budgeted at £32 billion and the first phase between the capital and Birmingham will cost around £17 billion of this. On a recent visit to Birmingham, Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed that the government was committed to completing the project.

The IEA has described HS2 as a political vanity project, comparing it to the Millennium Dome and Concorde. Dr Richard Wellings, deputy editorial director of IEA, said the project was being forced through by the government even though there is growing opposition and without proper assessment of the commercial prospects.

Wellings added that the scheme was heading for disaster and that like similar white elephant projects it would be the tax payer who was left to pick up the pieces.

Campaign for High-Speed Rail director, Professor David Begg, said he was disappointed by the report and that the committee had failed to see the wider benefits. According to the Department for Transport, HS2 will deliver economic growth and regeneration and create jobs. A spokesman said the alternative was to cease railway investment and start closing lines and stations while crowding increases, performance deteriorates and the price of tickets continues to climb.