How HS2 will transform rail freight – Yorkshire Post Letters
CHRIS Ball of the Green Party shows scant understanding of the realities of rail operation in his claim that HS2 is not needed, and improvement in freight capacity is required instead (The Yorkshire Post, July 24).
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Hide AdWhereas switching goods from road to rail is an excellent ambition, the reality is that with the huge growth in rail travel, North-South main lines are full to capacity and Network Rail has to turn down demands from freight operators.
A prime justification for HS2 is that it releases a huge increase in capacity on the existing network which will be available for an increase in rail freight, and also much-needed new commuter and regional passenger services to reduce overcrowding, in particular in the North.
Alternative ways of providing such a capacity increase on the existing network have been evaluated in detail and were all found to be immensely disruptive, more expensive and provided an inadequate capacity increase.
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Hide AdA brand-new line built to 21st century standards will easily pay for itself by stimulating growth in the Northern economy, just as the high-speed lines in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, China, and Japan have already demonstrated in their respective economies.
Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.
Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.
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Hide AdAnd that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.
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Sincerely. Thank you.
James Mitchinson
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