Deep beneath the rolling Chiltern hills in England lies a marvel of modern engineering: two pristine, 10-mile tunnels built for the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway. There is just one problem—the trains might never arrive.

In a cautionary tale for Kenya’s own mega-infrastructure ambitions, the HS2 project has become a global case study in ballooning costs and political indecision. The tunnels, described as "eerily spectacular" in gleaming concrete, were meant to be part of a high-speed network connecting London to the North. Instead, budget cuts have left them as "mothballed" monuments to bureaucracy.

The SGR Parallel

For Kenyan policymakers, the HS2 saga rings uncomfortably true. Like the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) extension to Kisumu that stalled in a "tunnel to nowhere" near Naivasha, the UK project shows that even wealthy nations struggle to balance ambition with affordability. The lesson? Infrastructure needs political continuity, not just concrete.

• The Cost: The HS2 budget has spiraled out of control, much like Kenya’s own debt-fueled projects. It raises the question: at what point does a "national asset" become a "white elephant"?
• The Environment: The tunnels were built to protect an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty—a level of environmental sensitivity that contrasts sharply with the SGR’s traversal of Nairobi National Park.

As Kenya eyes the extension of the SGR to Malaba, the "ghost tunnels" of Chiltern serve as a grim reminder: build it, and they might come—but only if you can afford to finish the tracks.