HS2: Cases For And Against High-Speed Rail
Updated: 3:56am UK, Monday 28 January 2013
Those in favour of high-speed rail say it will create jobs and boost the economy, while critics say the cost - financially and for the environment - is too high.
Here is what two campaigners from opposing sides had to say:
THE CASE FOR
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council (Manchester is included in a later HS2 phase)
High-speed rail is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the rail network in this country. A new, separate, high speed network is the only cost-effective way of extending an existing railway network that is becoming increasingly congested.
It will free up capacity on the existing network for commuter services and inter-city services for smaller towns and give the country a railway fit for the 21st century.
More than that, it will unlock much-needed jobs and investment and help rebalance the UK's economy to ensure that opportunity is open to all.
The Government is to be commended for having the political courage to stick with the plans, in the face of a short-sighted opposition that is as predictable as it is parochial.
The UK's future economic success will depend upon its capacity to compete on a global stage.
For Manchester that means we're up against cities like Munich, Milan and Copenhagen. International-class connectivity already is an essential factor in Britain's future success.
The rest of Europe is already well ahead in the high speed stakes and acting now to catch up is not an optional extra.
HS2 might seem expensive but it is an investment that will ultimately be self-financing. Paris-Lyon opened in 1981 and has paid for itself, and the new high-speed lines in Spain are the only profitable part of the Spanish rail network.
Railways began in Britain. The world's first passenger rail station is right here in my city. But we've fallen behind.
Yes, we need investment in the here and now of transport infrastructure, but just for once, let's also plan and act for our long-term future.
THE CASE AGAINST
Joe Rukin, campaign co-ordinator of Stop HS2, the national campaigning body against HS2
HS2 is completely the wrong priority for Great Britain and any decision to go ahead will not be a rational one, it will be a political one, brought about mainly by strong lobbying by advocates with vested interests.
Building HS2 is like building the Titanic, but without the Steerage section - that will be made up of the rest of the rail network which will be starved of funds if HS2 goes ahead.
But of course commuters will have to help pay the £17.8bn just to get it to run between London and Birmingham.
The supposed benefits are made up by calculating the cash value of time and the jobs figures touted, which are plainly a lie. These would not arrive for decades, at a total cost of £32bn.
And what about the extra costs of environmental protection, inflation, interest, compensation, farm bridges, foot bridges and of course trains?
Having been the treasurer of a national union, I know that union leaders are not always interested in the actual figures.
But the jobs figures on this, based on the amount of money going in, are ridiculously low.
Last week they had the cheek to tout this being environmentally sound. If that is the case, why is HS2 opposed by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Green Party, to start off a very long list of environmental organisations?
HS2 is going through for the same old reasons - because politically it is wanted. It is that simple. You are about to put what money we have left into a fast train for fat cats.
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