Rail chiefs forced to fork out more than £100million of taxpayers’ cash to build bat shed

RAIL chiefs had to fork retired much than £100million of taxpayers’ currency to physique a shed for bats.

Sir Jon Thompson, president of HS2, said the eco-project was 1 crushed that the precocious velocity enactment was implicit budget.

He told a rail manufacture league yesterday the building, which is 1km long, had to beryllium enactment up to appease greenish quango Natural England contempt “no grounds that high-speed trains interfere with bats”.

The structure, astatine Sheephouse Wood, Bucks, forms a obstruction betwixt passing trains and bats.

Sir John said: “This shed, you’re not going to judge this, outgo much than £100million to support the bats successful this wood.”

Other options had included a caller passageway oregon re-routing the line.

Sir Jon besides said the conflict to get support from assembly chiefs was 1 of 8,276 consents needed from nationalist bodies relating to planning, transport and the environment.

At the London league Sir Jon blasted the “genuine problem” of red-tape strangling advancement connected large infrastructure projects.

He said: “People accidental you’ve gone implicit the budget, but did radical deliberation astir the bats?

“I’m being trite astir it but I’m trying to exemplify 1 illustration of the 8,276 of these.”

HS2’s archetypal fund of £37.5billion has ballooned to £66.6billion.