HS2 - a major contributor to our bankruptcy

Accept it was a stupid project in the first place. This is why

• –  The UK is a small island and does not have enough long journeys to create the potential to justify the cost of a high speed rail system It can never offer fares that will be acceptable to large numbers of people. The time saving London to Birmingham is an ego trip for wealthy passengers.

• –  European countries have they whole of the European continent to find long journeys that can be offered with time saving benefits that justify increased fares

• –  Living in the midlands we have been surrounded by scars on the countryside that have taken years to create. As you drive past all you see is millions of cones and dozens of huge machines standing still – machines that cost a fortune to rent and make a fortune for the renter. Also seen is a pathetic notice ‘if you don’t see a worker its because we work at night’ Oh yes! If you’re daft believe they do anything more than token works at night. And why at night? They are not working on the roads. Of course they get higher hourly rates at night. It is a gravy train and we are all paying for it

• –  Unbelievably the gravy train is now in its 15th year. A Labour government started it and subsequent Conservative governments did not have the courage to take a decision that is so obvious to the majority of UK residents

  Stop HS2 now and concentrate on the motorist. Why?

  • –  I still travel extensively on the motorways. They are always full. Take a look at the governments own statistics

  • –  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-statistics-great-britain- 2022/transport-statistics-great-britain-2022-domestic-travel

  • –  7 times as many miles for domestic journeys by car than by train – and the statistics give obvious info going back decades. AND this excludes freight!

  • –  The motorways have almost as many lorries and vans on them as cars! There is a possibility to move lorries from the motorways

    HS2 has happened but it is not too late to stop, think and make the best decision what to do for the benefit of the majority of people in this country, not the few or the foreign companies making millions and billions at our expense

    What to do now? It really is not so difficult

    • –  Look at the HS2 work that has been done so far and decide what can be incorporated into a new total travel plan for Britain

    • –  Some possible ideas
      o Convert as much as possible of the HS2 layout into a UK freight

      movement scheme. Convert fancy planned HS2 stations into super efficient freight hubs that can quickly load or unload lorries into wagons like Eurostar freight. Separate freight movement from cars and coaches

o With an effective hub system lorry distances reduce dramatically and so too pollution. Reduced distances bring in the possibility of electric power for lorries, recharging at the hubs or better on the wagons.

o Perhaps parts of the HS2 routes could become dual benefits incorporating new roads alongside the rail

Basically it needs practical and imaginative thinking to come up with a plan to minimize the negatives of the past 15 years and produce a cost effective plan to maximize the possibilities to benefit the whole of the UK

No chance of the government doing this. The governments of the past 15 years have wasted hundreds of billions creating a gravy train and never having the courage or common sense to see what was wrong and stopping it.

Put together Alan Sugar, Jim Ratcliffe, Richard Branson and give them a few engineers, accountants and transport specialists and in a month they could come up with a plan that could be acted upon immediately. Stop the current waste, stop the future waste and do something that most of us can feel really positive about

It would be so nice to feel positive about the UK instead of watching these so called leaders of our country driving us into bankruptcy – that is a real danger

Iain Exeter 18th October 2024