HS2 High-speed Rail Consultation Launched on a Bumpy Ride

HS2, £30 billion, 250 mph bullet trains have a one track option from the government - through part of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Chiltern Hills west of London.
HS2 High-speed Rail Consultation Launched on a Bumpy Ride
The high-speed Deutsche Bahn ICE3 InterCity Express at St Pancas International station, October 19, 2010. The 200-mph trains are due to run cross-channel links from London's St Pancras station to European destinations including Frankfurt and Amsterdam in 2013. European Union rules now permit competitors on the Channel Tunnel route previously dominated by Eurostar.(Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
3/3/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/105690404(2).jpg" alt="The high-speed Deutsche Bahn ICE3 InterCity Express at St Pancas International station, October 19, 2010. The 200-mph trains are due to run cross-channel links from London's St Pancras station to European destinations including Frankfurt and Amsterdam in 2013. European Union rules now permit competitors on the Channel Tunnel route previously dominated by Eurostar.(Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)" title="The high-speed Deutsche Bahn ICE3 InterCity Express at St Pancas International station, October 19, 2010. The 200-mph trains are due to run cross-channel links from London's St Pancras station to European destinations including Frankfurt and Amsterdam in 2013. European Union rules now permit competitors on the Channel Tunnel route previously dominated by Eurostar.(Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1807368"/></a>
The high-speed Deutsche Bahn ICE3 InterCity Express at St Pancas International station, October 19, 2010. The 200-mph trains are due to run cross-channel links from London's St Pancras station to European destinations including Frankfurt and Amsterdam in 2013. European Union rules now permit competitors on the Channel Tunnel route previously dominated by Eurostar.(Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Journey times might be cut in half by the new 250 mph bullet trains, but so would local beauty spots, say protesters who are threatening legal action as consultation begins on a new high-speed train line.

The £30 billion HS2 project would link London to Britain’s second city, Birmingham, as well as to Leeds and Manchester, with potential journey times between Paris and Leeds dropping to around 4 hours.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond justified the huge price tag, saying that the benefits of the initial stage, linking London to Birmingham, would deliver around £44 billion worth of benefits at a cost of £17 billion for that section alone.

Launching an extensive process of consultation, he said high-speed rail offered a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way we travel in the 21st century”.

“Countries across Europe and Asia are already pressing ahead with ambitious plans for high-speed rail, while some of our key rail arteries are getting ever closer to capacity,” he said at the launch in Birmingham.

“We cannot afford to be left behind - investing in high-speed rail now is vital to the prosperity of future generations.
“The government believes that the benefits delivered by a Y-shaped national high-speed rail network, connecting London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, would be significantly higher than those of any other option for enhancing the capacity and performance of Britain’s key inter-city rail links, and well in excess of twice its costs.”

Local opposition

But while the plans have been broadly welcomed by the rail industry and passenger groups and much of the general public, they are met with an array of local opposition from residents’ groups, some councils, and some Conservative MPs.

The most prominent objections stem from the fact that the new rail line would cut through the low-lying Chiltern Hills west of London, much of which is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Chiltern Society states on the Stop HS2 section of its website: “High Speed Rail isn’t some latter day Thomas the Tank Engine chuffing gently through glorious countryside and adding to the atmosphere. High speed rail is a mass of iron and steel and concrete and noise that will leave an indelible, ugly scar across one of the most beautiful areas of England.”

The Chiltern Society, like other campaigners, take the government to task for its “take it or leave it” approach, which provides only one set of plans and does not allow negotiation over alternative routes during the consultation.

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This once-in-a-century opportunity

Mike Overall, vice chairman of the society, said: “This seemingly determined and arrogant attitude of the government is perhaps reflected in the lack of any reference in any of the seven consultation questions to the ‘environment’ or to the importance of protecting the nation’s finest landscapes when considering major infrastructure projects.

“This once-in-a-century opportunity to improve the national infrastructure, and to achieve the government’s transformational objectives, has more than one solution. The government has a duty to properly investigate a range of options, rather than just adopt its predecessor’s ‘grand project’ for the sake of political expediency.”

The Chiltern Society also says that the lack of alternative routes as part of the consultation provides the legal leverage they need to mount a challenge in the courts, according to the Times.

But campaigners are not limiting their opposition to the impact on the local environment alone. Ducking the charge of “nimbyism”, they also argue that the plans are a waste of taxpayers’ money and will fail to deliver on the economic hopes of the chancellor.

These objections are echoed by Matthew Sinclair, director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

“With so much pressure on the budgets of families and businesses, it is utterly indefensible that the government is planning on spending such an incredible amount of money on this project,” said Mr Sinclair in a statement.

“There are more affordable ways of getting the capacity needed, and a high-speed line for the rich, on a route already served by very quick trains, can’t be the priority over giving ordinary families and firms across the country a better deal. HS2 should be cancelled.”

Mr Hammond said: “HS2 will be a piece of national infrastructure which will bring benefits to Britain as a whole.
“Of course we will do everything we can to mitigate the impacts on areas like the Chilterns, but projects like this have to be decided on the basis of the national interest and the overall net benefits it will bring to Britain.”

David Higgins, Network Rail chief executive, said in a statement: “HS2 is a vital infrastructure project of national importance. It will be a hugely significant enhancement to the national rail network and will unlock tremendous capacity to tackle, what will be by 2024, critical overcrowding on the West Coast Main Line.”

Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said a new high-speed rail line was “key if we are to meet the transport challenges that will face the country over the coming decades”.
Ashwin Kumar, Passenger Focus rail director, also welcomed the consultation.

“All forecasts show that Britain’s railways are only going to get busier,“ said Mr Kumar in a statement. ”Putting longer-distance journeys onto these new lines will allow more trains to serve commuters and middle-distance passengers on the current network.

“Wherever this new line is built, there will be winners and losers.”