HS2 is Leeds and Bradford vanity project – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Graham Brown, Alverthorpe Road, Wakefield.
Will HS2 benefit Leeds and the rest of Yorkshire if the eastern leg of the high-speed rail line is built?Will HS2 benefit Leeds and the rest of Yorkshire if the eastern leg of the high-speed rail line is built?
Will HS2 benefit Leeds and the rest of Yorkshire if the eastern leg of the high-speed rail line is built?

FOR someone who represents West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin is selective in choosing the facts to back up her argument.

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The fast train from Wakefield to Sheffield only takes 30 minutes, not 45, which is the time for the stopping train. HS2 will not stop at Wakefield so there will be no improvement, and it is likely that the number of fast trains will be reduced if HS2 proceeds.

Will HS2 benefit Leeds and the rest of Yorkshire if the eastern leg of the high-speed rail line is built?Will HS2 benefit Leeds and the rest of Yorkshire if the eastern leg of the high-speed rail line is built?
Will HS2 benefit Leeds and the rest of Yorkshire if the eastern leg of the high-speed rail line is built?

HS2 will not benefit Wakefield or Kirklees. It is a Leeds/Bradford-orientated project.

From: ME Wright, Harrogate.

WEST Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin reminds us that HS2 is about capacity, more than speed, offering a means of avoiding the increasing chaos and pollution of road transport (The Yorkshire Post, September 20). It would also have a beneficial effect well beyond Leeds.

Mayor Brabin rightly mentions more than 10 years of talking about it. Unless something kicks off soon, passengers arriving at the major European city of Leeds would continue to be greeted and confused by the total absence of a Metro system. This has been talked about for more than 30 years. Is there any hope?

Tracy Brabin is the mayor of West Yorkshire.Tracy Brabin is the mayor of West Yorkshire.
Tracy Brabin is the mayor of West Yorkshire.

From: George McManus, Whins Lane, Long Riston.

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FOR many years we’ve been campaigning to see Hull and York, two of Yorkshire’s largest cities, get a direct rail link.

Time after time, we’ve been told that to re-open the route via Beverley would be too expensive.Currently about £400m, construction would see the 
re-opening of 34 miles of railway closed by Beeching.

Readers will be delighted to hear that the Northern Line extension is now opened in London. A total of two miles of line with two new stations have been delivered on time and within budget at a cost of £1.1bn.

Clearly, London mayor Sadiq Khan is delivering for residents in London. If only he’d move to Yorkshire.

From: Henry Cobden, Ilkley.

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WHY can’t pro-HS2 contributors explain how many extra local and regional train services will run here if high-speed rail’s eastern leg is built? Surely this piece of work has been done? If not, why not? One for the Northern Powerhouse Partnership perhaps?

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