Rural campaigners' fears over impact of high speed rail link

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says the route must genuinely take passengers out of their cars and on to the trains, and said rural communities close to the proposed route must be given a voice on the planning process.

The CPRE's concerns follow the announcement of plans for High Speed 2, a new 200mph link between London and Birmingham, which will then branch out to take in Sheffield and Leeds as well as Manchester.

The link, for which regional businesses have campaigned hard, could shorten journey times to less than 90 minutes between Leeds and the capital and generate an estimated 33bn in revenue for the regional economy.

However, while civil servants say that they will attempt to minimise any impact by building the new rail route as close as possible to existing motorways, there remained the possibility of areas of countryside becoming "isolated" by its construction.

The CPRE's senior transport campaigner Ralph Smyth said: "There is a strong need for more than just fine-tuning.

"The firm commitment to community consultation made by Lord Adonis must be backed up by real engagement and flexibility.

"As with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, local people's contribution can help turn a contentious route into something that works both national and locally."

The CPRE wants to see the proposed rail link deliver on its environmental promises, saying that it must be backed up by action to shift existing trips away from roads and planes rather than simply generating new travel.

It also called for further study into integrating the line with continental Europe.

It also called for transport chiefs o allow local people along the route to exert influence on how and where it is built, saying this would be key to winning community support and reduce the risk of delay from major opposition.

One of the funding methods the Government is considering for the new rail scheme is increases in council tax, a move that would be likely to raise support for local influence on the scheme.

Land redevelopment could also raise funds if property owners, local authorities and other stakeholders contribute directly by pooling or leasing land at high speed stations.

Campaigners also called for "strenuous efforts" to be made during construction to minimise noise and lorry movements, for example by reusing soil locally as noise barriers.

In the Government's High Speed Rail 2 document, published last month, transport chiefs said that they had plans to build tracks close to existing motorway routes, such as the M1, so as to "reduce some of the potential impacts of a new high speed rail line".

However the same document admits that building new tracks could result in "islands" of countryside becoming isolated between current motorway routes and the new rail lines.

It says: "Because high speed rail requires shallower curves than either conventional rail or motorways, it would not be possible for a new line to follow many existing routes without requiring either frequent speed restrictions which would undermine the core benefit of high speed rail or, alternatively, blighting significant 'islands' of countryside by isolating them between the curves of the road alignment and the necessarily straighter railway.

"This would be true of both the M1 and M40."

High speed rail lobby group Greengauge 21 recently published a report which stated that the creation of the High Speed 2 line could be worth up to 50,000 jobs in Yorkshire.

The Yorkshire Post is backing the rail link in its Fast Tract to Yorkshire campaign.

Government Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has previously said that the high speed line would offer "high value for money" with 2 of benefits for every 1 spent.