HS2

Up to £800m of public money could be spent on transforming Sheffield railway station and surrounding areas to adapt it for the arrival of HS2, it has been revealed.

From: Sue Doughty, Verey Close, Twyford, Reading.

The chairman of HS2 believes plans for nearly half a million new jobs and almost 90,000 new homes linked to the high speed railway are "just the beginning".

IN my first three months as chairman at HS2 Ltd, I’ve spent time travelling to the towns and cities that the new high speed railway will serve.

At a time when more details are emerging daily about the disruption that the construction of the high-speed rail route will cause to daily life in many UK communities, including those in Yorkshire, it is reassuring to learn that the head of HS2 Ltd is aware of the need to keep the impact to a minimum.

Building HS2 through Yorkshire will cause years of extra congestion and delays on some of the region’s busiest motorways and A-roads, a report by high-speed rail bosses has admitted.

A series of public meetings are to be held across Yorkshire in the next few weeks on how different areas of the region will be affected by the construction and operation of the HS2 high-speed railway line.

New environmental impact assessments have detailed how Yorkshire will be affected by the construction and operation of a HS2 line which will run through South and West Yorkshire up to a newly-built station in Leeds.

From: Mr G Marsden, Buxton Avenue, Heanor, Derbyshire.

Environmental campaigners have warned the new HS2 route through Yorkshire will have a “devastating and lasting impact” on the area.

From: David Howram, Lady Heton Drive, Mirfield.

From: Rosemary Nattriss, Church Fenton, Tadcaster.

Constructing HS2 will “change the character” of Yorkshire communities along the route and “may impact residents’ quality of life”, high-speed rail bosses have admitted.

NICE work if you can get it. HS2 Ltd – the body responsible for building Britain’s high-speed railway – is in the job market.

LAST summer during the unlamented general election, I spent a great deal of time on trains to, from, and around the city of York. The British funk on the subject of their passenger trains is so deep that I hesitate to say this, but British trains are really not bad.

THERESA May began the Conservative Party conference yesterday besieged on all sides over Brexit – by her own party, by a resurgent Labour and by the EU.