High-speed line a great success

I am sorry that Carole Zepler is so upset about the new multi-story car park in Station Road West [‘It’s like living in prison’, February 13]. My reaction in seeing it with the builder’s portacabins removed is how much lower it is than I expected and what a wise decision it was by the city council to remove the shops in front, on the original plans, and retain the existing mature trees.

We have got used to sprawling ground level car parks, which hardly enhance the view, but they are a poor use of space in an urban environment and I am surprised that Canterbury, as a heritage city, has retained so many.

I just hope that the new car park has allowed for more charging points to be installed, as I think the move to electric cars will be the next major change we will see to tackle air pollution in the towns and cities.

Incidentally, whatever the opponents of HS2 say, HS1 has been a great success and linking the high speed line to the existing third rail network was a stroke of genius which has brought Canterbury and most towns in east Kent to within an hour of London.

The irony is that, though the earliest passenger railway in the world ran from Canterbury to Whitstable in 1830, this high speed travel to London is only possible using Hitachi Javelin trains.

I can’t help wondering what Robert Stevenson, the manufacturer of Invicta, would have thought of that?

Mike Armstrong

Queens Avenue, Canterbury