The Reader: We don’t need HS2 — invest in existing rail

The entrance to the Chiltern Tunnels on the new HS2 line (Steve Parsons/PA)
PA Wire
23 November 2021
WEST END FINAL

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Even before Covid, HS2 was seen as a wasteful environmental catastrophe. I have seen first-hand how people are devastated by the loss of ancient trees and precious green space. I have also seen — on my way to visit my daughter in Leeds — people fighting for space on trains with too few carriages at rush hour.

What is actually needed to get people out of cars and on to trains (and buses) is re-nationalisation and investment in the existing network. Britain went from the pioneer of railways to the embarrassing, broken, hugely expensive system we see today. As a non-car owner, for most journeys I can hire a car and pay petrol and still get to any destination cheaper than buying a walk-on train ticket. Yes we need connectivity, yes we need affordable, well-run, viable public transport — but as always with this government — expensive headline-grabbing projects are not going to get us there.

Amanda Baker

Editor’s Reply

Dear Amanda

New lines have attracted opposition from those on the route since the railways began in Victorian times, but I don’t think the abandonment of HS2 to Leeds is anything other than a dismal failure. Equally bad is the decision to scrap the promised new fast link between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford. Like HS2, it was intended to add necessary capacity and encourage people out of their cars for everyone’s benefit.

Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor

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Tony Howarth

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