Sorry about the rail link hassle.. 500 miles away
Pensioner left bamboozled by ‘administrative error’
BUNGLING bosses behind a £55billion high-speed rail link in England warned residents 500 miles away in Aberdeen of excavation work near their homes.
Hundreds of envelopes were sent to the wrong addresses due to “an administrative error” when generating post codes.
Baffled householders in the city’s Garthdee and Ferryhill areas were sent letters and maps about proposed archaeological digs on their doorsteps.
London-based Mike Elrick, who was on a trip home, said: “My 82-year-old mother received a letter from HS2, the company planning a rail-link between London and Birmingham.
“It was notifying her of “archaeology works in your local area”, enclosing a map indicating archaeology trenching adjacent to Addison Road, Calvert, near Shepherds Furze Farm.
“The letter indicates ‘How may this affect you?’
“Only problem is, my mum lives in Aberdeen – 490 miles north of Buckingham.”
Mike’s mum Aileen said: “I was a bit surprised to get a letter regarding archaeology work in the local area.
“And even more surprised after reading the letter to discover it referred to works nearly 500 miles away.
“I hope HS2 have a better sense of direction when it comes to building their high-speed railway line.”
The UK Government are funding the link to increase journey times between London, Birmingham, the East Midlands, Leeds and Manchester.
Yesterday, an HS2 spokesman apologised for the gaffe and put it down to an “administrative error”.
He explained: “We are reviewing the processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again and we apologise for any confusion and inconvenience caused.”