Huge waste of money if HS2 is now scrapped – Yorkshire Post Letters

THERE is no pot of money to be re-allocated if HS2 were to be cancelled as the money for its construction is yet to be borrowed and then repaid using fare revenue from the new line (The Yorkshire Post, January 25). If there are viable local rail schemes in the North, then they can seek funding irrespective of HS2.

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The problem for local rail services in the North is successive governments choosing not to support improvements. The congested rail corridor at Manchester Oxford Road which affects Northern and TransPennine services, the cancelling of electrification from London to Sheffield, and the continued use of non-accessibility compliant trains are just a few examples.

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What will definitely waste money is if HS2 is cancelled. The £9bn already spent will effectively have been burned as there will no fare revenue from a line that has not been completed. HS2 will bring massive economic benefit to the Leeds City Region and as a result Wakefield will benefit.

Politicians would rue scrapping HS2 - the alternatives are much worse: Yorkshire Post Letters

Nationally HS2 will support 30,000 skilled jobs. The most likely outcome if it is cancelled is that the high skilled workforce will move on to the next project, which would probably be Crossrail 2 in London.

From: Anthony French, Buckingham Road, Conisbrough.

WHILST union leader Manuel Cortes deserves much credit for his long time support for, and promotion of, the modernisation of Britain’s railways, his tub-thumping endorsement of HS2 is misplaced.

His views will find no favour with those concerned that, apart from wholesale demolition of people’s’ first homes in parts of South Yorkshire, along its planned route it impacts directly on five wildlife refuges of national importance, 33 sites of special scientific interest, 693 designated wildlife sites, 21 designated local nature reserves, 26 landscape scale initiatives, 18 wildlife trusts reserves and 108 ancient woodlands.

All of which, of course, support jobs and have beneficial effects on the comfort and well-being of hundreds of thousands of people across England.

He should be throwing his weight behind calls to improve, as a matter of urgency, the lamentable state of Yorkshire’s own railways. Young people might then want to bring their skills to Yorkshire, and make their home in a place where trains will actually get them from one place to another when they say they will and they’ll be able to sit down.

Sorry, Mr Cortes; given that your position demands your promoting jobs, your promotion of the benefits of HS2 comes across as strident, sloganising businessman’s blether.

From: P A Lord, Holmfirth.

I WAS interested to read Tom Richmond’s comments (The Yorkshire Post, January 18) about the Northern funding offer for community projects.

Their tiny advert led to an online link which enthused about the funding available for almost any ‘worthwhile’ community project but only allowed a week to complete and submit the application form! The deadline was January 22.

A friend and I managed to complete the application form, which you had to complete in one go, and get it in by the deadline, but it was a rush. The cynic in me did wonder if this could have been a token gesture by Northern in order to look good and improve their godawful image. Surely not...