Cost of HS2

SIR – When it was announced that HS2 had been given the go-ahead, I wrote to the Telegraph with my prediction that it would run over budget, and would be beset by delays.

It has now been announced that the project will be up to £30billion over the original budget, and is unlikely to be completed on time. Before the Government embarks on its next ambitious project, I suggest it consults Old Mick’s Almanac.

Michael J Collins

Cowbeech, East Sussex

SIR – The news that the cost of HS2 could spiral to “between £70 billion and £85 billion” is disturbing, not for the overspend but because the calculations vary by £15 billion. Easy for those in charge to be so cavalier when they are not paying out of their own pockets.

The new prime minister should knock this on the head straight away.

Carey Waite

Chailey Green, East Sussex

SIR – It is a sad reflection on the state of our politics that, after nine years, Bob Seely, the MP for the Isle of Wight (which is nowhere near the route), is the only minister to have resigned over HS2 (report, July 18).

If ministers with constituencies on the line had been prepared to resign at various key stages as the legislation passed through Parliament, we might by now be rid of this highly wasteful and destructive project.

During my time campaigning against HS2, I have often heard it claimed that ministers are in a better position to fight it while in office than they would be if they resigned. Yet this approach has seen ministerial and parliamentary careers flourish, untainted by opposition to HS2 – while the project has continued unabated.

Nicholas Ward

Banbury, Oxfordshire

SIR – Mr Seely is at least consistent in his opposition to infrastructure spending, even when it is to the detriment of his own constituents.

The Isle of Wight still relies on old-fashioned floating ferries. A bridge or a tunnel would, for a comparatively small sum of money (about £5 billion), transform the island. With 80 per cent of our GDP being tourism-related, the sooner we get on with this, the better.

George Bristow

Brading, Isle of Wight