We know many very committed Greens are involved in these protests against HS2, concerned about the loss of habitat and woodland. We respect their dedication, but they’re protesting about the wrong thing. The real enemy is the government’s vast RIS2 road-building programme. Unlike RIS2, HS2 is an investment in a… Read More »RIS2: The real enemy is roads
HS2’s drilling and tunnelling into the chalk rock below its route has many people worried about drinking water supplies, and chalk streams such as the River Misbourne. This is an engineering challenge, but there isn’t a reason to be alarmed. It’s not a venture into the unknown. A few words… Read More »Chalk streams and drinking water
“All this, just to get to Birmingham 20 minutes quicker”, people say. Nope: on the day that HS2 starts, in 2029, its trains will also serve Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. Here’s the service pattern. Each line = one train per hour both ways: The trains run on the new railway… Read More »“Just for 20 minutes quicker to Birmingham”
We often hear from Greens, including very senior ones, that HS2 is a climate disaster because it won’t be CO2-neutral for a long time. “120 years!” is quoted, “HS2’s own figures!” One big problem with this: it isn’t true. Let’s take a look at HS2 and CO2. HS2’s official position… Read More »120 years to carbon neutrality?
There has been many calls to cancel HS2, and spend the money on more immediate needs like properly funding the NHS or buying everyone a bike. We all want the NHS to be funded – but HS2 doesn’t work this way: in fact we’d be worse off. Let’s look at… Read More »£100bn+ for a railway? What about the nhs?