![]() ![]() Yet the white elephant that is HS2 plods on relentlessly, at a projected cost of at least £9billion per year – assuming that it will be completed by 2033, which is far from certain. SIR – You report ( July 16) that the Government proposes to “shrink the Army to its smallest size since the Napoleonic wars”. It should also be remembered that proposals from public participation on HS1 (the Channel Tunnel link) greatly reduced its environmental impact. It would be useful for an MP or member of the House of Lords to use emergency procedures to add an amendment to the Bill to prevent these powers being used on Phase 1 of HS2. The Stage 2 Crewe to Manchester Bill is passing through Parliament with the higher default speed, and extra provisions to overrule official bodies such as Nature England and local authorities and added powers to close footpaths and roads. Parliament has not held HS2 Ltd to account. German railways limit high speed trains to 300kph to save energy and track costs and maintenance. ![]() This was to scale back, on Stage 2, the default line speed from 400kph (256mph). SIR – The high costs and damage from HS2 Stage 2 come partly from ignoring a recommendation of Sir Douglas Oakervee, when he approved the Notice to Proceed in March 2022. For future generations this would be immensely more beneficial than an obscenely expensive railway line to allow the diminishing number of train users to get from London to Manchester 20 minutes sooner. Among the many major projects that a minute percentage of the HS2 £100 billion could have been better spent on would be a major system to enable more water to be pumped from the wetter western parts of the country, combined with additional new reservoirs to serve this area. Meanwhile, the Government has indicated that it wants to build 250,000 new homes around Cambridge, in an area where there are already serious water shortages and environmental concerns.Įast Anglia has significantly lower rainfall than most of the rest of the country. SIR – It is beyond belief that work on HS2 is allowed to continue to stutter on with costs now estimated to increase to more than £100 billion, three times the original estimate, and with the original route plans already reduced and time scales extended. This would support growth and development in our economy for decades to come. On top of these dams we can have roads and rail to improve transport. Or spend the funds on building tidal water dam turbines across estuaries. Modular reactors should be built across the UK and we should invest in Rolls-Royce reactor development. ![]() We could be spending that money on developing systems to protect our energy supply. Yet we seem unable to wake this Government up to the fact that it is throwing billions of pounds of our money down the drain. Our country is too small to have any significant gain in time saved getting from the north to the south. SIR – I am in full support of Simon Heffer ( Comment, July 16) on this HS2 debacle. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |