GoHS2 consortium responds to criticism of HS2

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The letter below is a response from GoHS2 to the letter from Patrick Barbour, Lord Lawson of Blaby, Ruth Lea and others in The Daily Telegraph of March 10 criticising the proposed high-speed rail project.

‘In their letter, Patrick Barbour, Toby Baxendale and others dismiss high-speed rail (HS2) as something the country cannot afford. How wrong they are – the truth is that if the UK is going to compete in a global market HS rail is something that the UK cannot afford NOT to do.

GoHS2 is a West Midlands consortium which believes HS2  is of national importance, it  will see the UK able to compete on the same stage as our closest international competitors who have been quick to recognize and capitalise on the economic benefits of high speed rail.

It will be the biggest creator of jobs and wealth in a generation, delivering £2 of benefits to every household for every £1 spent, creating thousands of jobs and generating £6bn a year for the Treasury.

The South East is already getting Crossrail at £2bn per year as well as receiving three times the investment per capita in public transport than the national average. We believe the rest of the UK must receive similar treatment if it is to be competitive.

Network Rail and many transport professionals agree that the West Coast Main Line will have reached full capacity by the mid-2020s.

The argument put forward by the anti-HS2 lobby such as longer and more frequent trains or expanding and disrupting the existing line were examined and exhausted – they just will not cut the mustard. Local services would suffer at the expense of inter-city trains, which will subsequently damage the regional economy.

We recognise, and indeed support, the need to maintain investment in the existing rail infrastructure and motorway and road network but HS2 offers the only serious solution.

In the West Midlands it would allow increased service frequencies to local destinations. Places like Kenilworth could have new services such as a direct London service, while released capacity would enable more freight trains to operate along the West Coast Main Line which would otherwise have to travel by road, thereby adding to congestion and pollution.

Britain’s rail infrastructure has long been accused of being unfit for purpose. This is a golden opportunity to do something about it, transforming the UK economy and the way we travel in the 21st century.’

 

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