The Government must stop throwing good money after bad – and put the brakes on HS2

SIR – The Government should remember the first rule of economics: never throw good money after bad.

Delaying HS2 (report, March 10) is simply prolonging the agony. It needs to be put out of its misery at once. Death by a thousand cuts will just waste more billions on a project that was never anything more than a monument to politicians’ vanity.

The money saved could then be spent on some real levelling-up: a high-speed rail link across the North from Hull to Liverpool, for instance. Francis Bown London E3

SIR – First the cost was £37billion. Then it was £70billion, then £100 billion. And now less is being built, over a longer period.

When is someone going to have the courage to stop pouring money into this bottomless pit?

John Stewart

Terrick, Buckinghamshire

SIR – HS2 has turned from comedy into tragedy, and ruined Britain’s reputation for engineering. Rather than saving 20 minutes on the journey from Birmingham to London, trains are running years behind schedule.

If it is considered too late to abandon the project, the sensible way to save money is to scrap the “high speed” aspect. Lay conventional track and run existing trains.

John Snook

Sheffield, South Yorkshire

SIR – Every day I read reports of executive and administrative failure – on everything from the collapsing NHS to HS2.

This situation has developed over years, and now appears to be considered the norm in our public services. One thing characterises all of the failings: the fact that nobody is ever held to account. Instead, we just see rewards for incompetence.