So the UK leading the way in failure....
This reminds me of in Greece where they discovered that with the mount of money the government was paying for rail service, they could have paid for individual taxis for every single rail customer using their service, and saved money in the process.
So the estimated cost of $75 Billion dollars, is not expected to be well over $130 Billion, and that is only the reflected in the cost of the land. Not the cost of the construction, rolling stock, and service costs.
Additionally numerous 'whistle blowers' all fired from their positions, in order to conceal the cost over runs.
Now in a capitalist system, the companies investors wouldn't just fork over additional money, but instead demand an investigation into the fraud... and if the company runs out of money, it would end up in bankruptcy. In short, in a capitalist system, fraud would be punished and eliminated from the system, by the free-market.
Ah... but this is government. Government run, government paid for, and there are far too many politicians who would lose horribly in politicians to preside over a doomed project. So undoubtedly the politicians will pass the bill onto the tax payers, and the project will continue.
To the foolish left-wingers saying we need high speed rail... this is why we on the right-wing don't want it. It's a huge money sink, it costs more money, than it will ever produce, and it is routinely filled with corruption and waste, when you have government pushing it.
Japan is a perfect example. Tons of debt, and a sluggish economy. There is no evidence whatsoever that high speed rail improves anything... except the lining the pockets of the politicians, and the government workers, the unions, and their cronies, at the expense of the public.