Here’s to HS2

IT’S been claimed that axing hS2 would release funds for 28 transport projects around the country. But unlike hS2, they won’t be able to deliver more than £2 of benefits for every £1 spent.

It will also not have the great effect of reducing CO2 and getting more lorries off the roads — hGVs produce eight times more carbon dioxide than electric trains.

hS2 is more than a high- speed train line; it’s a heart bypass that will free up space for local and freight trains. It will generate 30,000 jobs during construction and support the economy along its route.

When hS2 is constructed, will we need a third runway at heathrow,

with all the extra pollution, when it will take only 40 minutes to travel from Birmingham Airport to the centre of London?

Many of the same objections were made for HS1 — the Channel Tunnel rail link — and look at what a great success that has been. COLIN TAYLOR, Folkestone, Kent.