Going underground! We deserve HS2 of the highest standard

‘THERE are roadworks everywhere you go’ was the plaintive cry of my late grandfather when he was a driver living in North Manchester in the 1960s.

And that statement is equally true for all motorists living in Greater Manchester now – more’s the pity for all the many motorists driving around the various parts of Manchester today.

I only mention this point now because it presents a massively important and significant reason why it is vital that the government listens to reason and goes back to its original plans in connection with the scheduled HS2 station in Manchester.

The new station should be constructed ‘underground’ on the northern flank of Piccadilly Station in order to avoid a massive 10-yearlong serious congestion problem in Manchester city centre which would occur if the station was constructed overground.

Grant Shapps, however, announced in April that the preferred policy was that the station should be built overground (by way of a deviation from the original policy of the station being built underground).

The reason why the government has had this change of heart seems to be because they think that to build the station overground would save an extra £5 billion to HS2’s overall cost.

However, this change of heart can surely be seen to be short sighted when you take into account all the very many factors outlined in the two-page article in the M.E.N. (HS2 plans heading in wrong direction!, June 20).

Manchester council also says analysis shows that building the overground station will in effect rob the region’s economy of

£333 million a year by 2050 – compared to what an underground station would generate.

Howard Gardner, Sale