Maximizing growth through infrastructure delivery

What can HS2 Phase 1 tell us?

Driving economic growth through infrastructure investment is one of the major issues facing policy makers today around the world. 

However, the focus is too often on the operational benefits of new schemes, even though these can take years to materialize.  

This report, written by the UK team, models the economic benefits across the pre-operational phases — design, build and procurement — of a major infrastructure project, using the first phase of the UK’s proposed new high speed railway (HS2) as a case study*.

It is clear that, under the right conditions, infrastructure investment can deliver significant benefits even before assets come on line.  

A range of policy interventions should be considered to capture and maximize these benefits; supporting innovation and skills development, enterprise creation and export growth, to position business at the heart of the global boom in infrastructure investment over the longer term.

(* This report was published in March 2013 and the analysis conducted is based on data available at the time of writing.)