HS2 money would be better spent improving other rail lines

From: Stuart Green, Sparken Close, Worksop.

TRANSPORT Minister Theresa Villiers was quoted as saying (Yorkshire Post, April 18) that an “impressive” business case exists for a £530m electrification of the Midland Main Line (MML) between Sheffield and London, but was quick to add that such a development depends on “a careful and fair assessment of competing priorities elsewhere on the rail network”. Really?

In the past decade, track improvements on the MML and East Coast Main Line (ECML) have been abysmal. Both have been starved of funds and, judging by Network Rail’s 2016 Capacity Review, this is set to continue while the Government progresses the proposed High Speed 2 project. In stark contrast, the West Coast Main Line has undergone a huge £9bn upgrade, which dwarfs anything ever undertaken on other lines.

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A detailed proposal to electrify the Midland Main Line has been tabled by the “51m group” which comprises 18 county, city and local councils, who already oppose HS2. The plan also includes for further improvements to the West Coast Main Line. The total cost would be £2bn, with improvements starting in 2017, which sharply contrasts with HS2’s £33bn price tag.

On the East Coast line, a number of constraints have been widely discussed over many years, but no action has been taken.

Meanwhile, Network Rail keeps busy by tinkering with timetables in an attempt to squeeze quarts out of pint pots. Additionally, plans are being made for what are euphemistically called “holistic” services, which simply means more services, from more stations, with more stops at further down line stations.

So, in the absence of funding for new infrastructure, how can our existing main line services co-exist with holistic ones without reducing speed and capacity?

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The East Coast Main Line is a proven high-speed railway covering the length of the UK in serving 50 major cities and towns from London to Edinburgh and beyond.

In comparison, HS2 is an unproven, high-risk project, with few planned stations en-route.

In her statement to the House of Commons on January 10, Transport Secretary Justine Greening said: “HS2 matters to the long-term success and prosperity of the whole of Britain. It will help to create jobs, support growth and regenerate our regions.”

This being so, it follows that, on the Midland and East Coast lines, spending on infrastructure to increase speed and capacity would create the jobs and growth Justine Greening welcomes, but only in 20 to 30 years time if HS2 manages to arrive at all.

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With the country’s total debts standing at a monstrous £1.45 trillion and still rising, it makes no sense to invest £33bn on the grandiose and high-risk HS2 project which is likely to become the mother of all white elephants.