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Boris Johnson admitted that more people are working from home due to the coronavirus, but defended the HS2 high-speed rail, saying that transportation networks will be critical in the coming years.
When construction began on the controversial HS2 railway, the prime minister insisted that public transport infrastructure projects will be “crucial for our country.”
His remarks came when former Labor transport secretary Lord Adonis said “the death of the office is hugely exaggerated” and insisted that most people “can’t wait” to get back to work.
The Prime Minister is shown building a bridge during a visit to the HS2 site in Solihull
But the chief executive of sandwich chain Pret A Manger said he did not believe workers could return to pre-pandemic levels.
“I think customer behavior is going to change forever,” Pano Christou told Sky News.
“I think flexible working will be more evident than ever.”
The demand for train travel is 31% ofpandemic levels, according to figures from the Department of Transportation.
Johnson said: “I think many people have benefited from working from home. It has been great and has definitely improved people’s quality of life in many, many ways and I congratulate people for the hard work they have put in from home. .
“But I have no doubt that mass transit transportation infrastructure will be crucial for our country, not just now, but for decades to come.”
HS2 will connect London with the West Midlands, Leeds and Manchester, and is the largest infrastructure project in Europe.
The goal is to run 18 trains an hour in each direction to and from London, at speeds of up to 224 mph, compared to between two and six an hour on Europe’s high-speed railways. But the project may not be ready for full network passengers until 2040.
The government-commissioned Oakervee Review on HS2 warned last year that the final bill for the rail scheme could reach £ 106bn at 2019 prices, but the PM gave HS2 the green light in February with a revised budget and schedule. .
Construction work on Old Oak Common in West London where the underground platforms for HS2 will connect with Elizabeth Line trains (Crossrail), Heathrow and Central London.
Speaking at a “shovels on the ground” event for HS2 in Solihull, West Midlands, said: “This incredible project is going to generate 22,000 jobs now, but tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs in the coming decades, linking Birmingham, eight miles away, with London, just 38 minutes behind me when HS2 is built. “
He added: “Transportation connectivity is at the heart of rebuilding better, rebuilding faster and rebuilding a greener recovery.”
Pret A Manger chief executive Pano Christou also said he could not guarantee further job cuts after the decline in demand. “People expect things to come back, there are different countries that have second and third waves. It’s very difficult to say whether it will or not. I think any CEO would be in a similar situation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lord Adonis told Sky’s Ian King Live that “there is no reason to believe that once the vaccine has arrived and the pandemic is over, life will not return to normal.”
He said once COVID-19 it’s over, we have a vaccine and life is back to normal, all the reasons why we needed HS2 – we have a huge shortage of transport capacity between our major cities – that will remain true afterwards and we cannot afford to delay. “
Many offices in London remain empty as the pandemic continues
The former minister added: “Of course there is no one on the railroads at the moment because there is a pandemic and we still do not have a vaccine.”
“But there is no reason to believe that once the vaccine arrives and the pandemic is over, life will not return to normal. In fact, all the evidence is that it will return to normal.”
“If you look at the sectors that are already returning to normal, education and the retail sector, they are behaving as before, and I think the same will happen with the economy in general.
“I think the death of the office is greatly exaggerated.
“Most people are eager to get back to the office, it’s just not safe to do so right now.”
Working from home, although it is recommended during the worst times coronavirus pandemic, now blamed for slowing the economic recovery.
Downtown Retailers they continue to suffer from little footfall as workers stay away from the office, leading Johnson to encourage people to return to the workplace.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released figures on Thursday showing that the proportion of people working exclusively from home has been slowly declining.
The highest point, between June 11-14, saw 38% of adults working alone from home, but in the last week this had dropped to 20%.
The ONS said: “In the last week, the proportion of adult workers who commuted to work reached 57%, its highest level since the series began, after rising steadily over the past two months.”
