Station location better than speed for drivers

But only three per cent of drivers said speed would be an important factor in persuading them to use the Government’s proposed HS2 high-speed rail line, according to the AA/Populus survey.

Cost was the most important factor for 62 per cent of the 16,850 AA members polled, with 18 per cent stating proximity of a station to their home or office was vital.

Asked if they would use high-speed rail (HSR) if it was available for a journey they usually made by car, 33 per cent of those polled said they would, 34 per cent said they would not and the rest did not know.

With HS2’s planned first phase due to run from London to Birmingham, the poll indicated that those most likely to immediately benefit from the project were those least keen on it. A second phase of the planned £32bn network will see lines built from the Midlands to Leeds and Manchester which are predicted to be worth billions of pounds to the economy and have the backing of politicians and business leaders in the region.

AA president Edmund King said: “It appears that perhaps the main raison d’etre of HSR – speed – seems pretty irrelevant to most drivers. Two thirds of members are concerned about costs of using rail and therefore we believe that rail enhancements that are cheaper, based more on reliability and increased capacity, rather than speed, would be much more effective in convincing some drivers to let the train take the strain.”