Motorways and HS2

sir – It is perhaps surprising that in the discussion about HS2 (Letters, January 21), no one seems to have drawn attention to the parallel situation seen in Britain in 1958, when motorways were first introduced.

Exactly the same complaints and concerns surfaced: over the ever-increasing cost, the loss and division of valuable land, the ruin of communities, the demolition of listed buildings and the problems of noise.

Some even questioned whether high-speed road travel was necessary. Yet how many families today would want to live without motorway transport and take two days, with an overnight stay, for a journey such as that from Lancashire to Cornwall?

Perhaps we do need HS2 – but let us make sure that it addresses need before anything else. It is salutary to note that motorways started with the Preston bypass in the North, and not with the M1 in the South. Patrick Powers

Harpenden, Hertfordshire

sir – A radical alternative to HS2 would be to use the available corridor to construct a dual carriageway road dedicated to electric vehicles, with frequent charging stations.

It would be far less expensive to construct than a railway, and when autonomous vehicles are perfected they could be closely spaced to increase capacity. Paul Blundell

Daventry, Northamptonshire

sir – For today’s revised estimate of £106 billion for the absurd HS2 scheme, we could build five nuclear power stations. These would go a long way towards meeting an increasingly ambitious target to become carbon neutral within the next 30 years. Martin Henry

Chelmsford, Essex