HS2's illusory benefits. The Social Democratic Party offer an alternative.

The letter below published in The Week (27 February) echoes my thoughts on HS2.   It also adds some pertinent points on working practices following Covid-19.  The letter first appeared in The Daily Telegraph.

 HS2’s illusory benefits.

To The Daily Telegraph.

The Government demanded that HS2 should be designed to reach a top speed of 250 mph – which many experts said was unnecessary given the relatively short distances concerned.  This restricts its route, as curves cannot be included, forcing the line through homes and sensitive areas, including 33 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and 108 ancient woodlands.

The argument that journey times will be shorter ignores the fact that there are no stations between Birmingham and London, so many of the headline time savings will be eaten up by additional journeys required to reach HS2.  Furthermore, even after the completion of the final phase, HS2 only reaches about half way up England, so the true long distances don’t benefit from the dramatic cuts to journey times seen in other countries.

Of course, the case for HS2 has further collapsed now that many people have discovered, thanks to Covid-19, that they no longer need to travel to work anyway.  I’m sure the vast majority of the population would prefer to have superfast broadband for everyone, rather than an over-fast railway for a few.

Gordon Findlay, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The Social Democratic Party has an appealing policy which advocates cancelling HS2 and using the funds on creating a new rail network in The North of England.

All well and good, but I would like to see funds spent on reopening, where practicable, lines and stations closed by Beeching. 

Railways should be operated as a public service under state control – something which the SDP also appears to support.  I reproduce below some of their transport policies from their website.  I hope they don’t mind, but they are ones which I could certainly vote for.

• Our railway system will be nationalised. Rail operator franchises will be taken back into public ownership as they fall due via a re-established British Railways.
• British Railways will be a comprehensive, fully integrated system encompassing track and infrastructure, rolling stock and stations.
• A Minister for Rail will be introduced, responsible and accountable for making the system work for the public and passengers.
• We will scrap HS2 and invest some of the freed-up funds to create a Great Northern Railway Network, better linking up the towns and cities of the North of England to unleash their joint potential.
• Funding for regional and rural bus travel will be increased in order to protect the viability of and patronage on essential routes.
• VAT on motor vehicles costing more than £35,000 will be increased to 25%.

 

Green U-Turns by the British Political Establishment.

Having a wood-burner I sympathise with the letter below which appeared in The Week on 27 February, it was first published in The Times.

As for making things last as long as possible, I scrapped my 1998 registered Subaru Impreza last September.  It was 4 years old when I bought it, and it gave me 18 years of enjoyable and reliable service - I think we both did our bit for the environment!

Green U-Turns

To The Times  

In 2001, Labour introduced new vehicle tax rates that encouraged us to buy diesel cars.  We bought one.  About 15 to 20 years ago the advice was to buy a wood-burner because wood, being carbon neutral, was better for the environment than fossil fuels.  We bought one.  This week you reported that we are being urged to ditch wood-burning stoves as data showed they are the worst pollutants.  On top of this, we are told to make the things we buy last as long as possible, as this is better for the environment.  Presumably this includes wood-burners and cars?  What are we supposed to do?  Will the advice change in a few years’ time?

Marianne Beale, Saltash, Cornwall.

Brexit came too late for the Cadburys factory at Keynsham in North East Somerset. A letter in the WDP.

A letter in the Western Daily Press on February 6.

Cadbury move too late for SW factory.

It has been reported that Cadburys is bringing Dairy Milk chocolate bar production back from Germany and other sites in Europe to its Bournville site in Birmingham.  Very good news for workers in the Midlands, but we should spare a thought for those who were employed at the Cadburys factory in Keynsham near Bristol who lost their jobs in 2011 when the factory was closed and the machinery shipped to Poland.  Brexit came too late for them.

S.W.

Ilminster, Somerset.