HS2 'losers' revealed after report omitted figures
The areas that could lose out if a new north-to-south rail link is built have been revealed for the first time.
HS2 would make more than 50 places across the UK worse off - among them Aberdeen, Bristol and Cardiff - previously unseen research by accountants KPMG suggested.
The findings were only released in a freedom of information request passed to BBC Two's Newsnight programme.
The chief executive of HS2 Ltd said the figures were unsurprising.
A KPMG report, which was hailed by the government when it was published in September, said the line could boost the UK economy by £15bn a year.
It listed the regions it said would benefit, with Greater London (£2.8bn) and West Midlands (£1.5bn) the biggest winners.
But the 92-page document omitted data for those parts of the UK not on the proposed line which stand to be net losers from the project.
Economic output would be worst affected, according to the research, in:
- Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray (-£220m)
- Norfolk East (-£164m)
- Dundee and Angus (-£96m)
- Cardiff (-£68m)
- Norfolk West (-£56m)
James Bream, policy director of Aberdeen's Chamber of Commerce, said it was "really disappointing" that such a huge number was left out of the original report.
He added the negative impact for the whole north-east of Scotland could be "significant to say the least."
Dundee and Angus could lose as much as 2% of its annual GDP, KMPG found.
Kettering, Suffolk West and Cambridgeshire East are all listed as zones that could see a 1% drop in GDP.
The accountants used data from HS2 Ltd's assessment of the direct transport impacts of the scheme, which would connect London to Birmingham and to Manchester and Leeds.
The Department for Transport say ultimately the line would reduce journey times to Edinburgh and Glasgow by an hour.
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