HS2 endpoints

SIMON Woodley wonders (letters,

March issue) whether the original plans for termini stations in Manchester and Birmingham imply an original concept for HS2 to be “an isolated unit unconnected to the national system?”

The original proposal for HS2 was exactly that, the politicians not trusting the existing railway industry to build anything after continual budget overruns – notably the North West electrification and rebuild, which was over budget and years late.

Peter Mandelson described in a Financial Times article that the HS2 scheme was put forward at a general election to try to convince the voters the Labour party had not run out of ideas after Tony Blair and, of course, would stop the French gloating over UK line speeds on the Paris-London route.

It was clearly stated that HS2 would be built and managed independently of the existing rail network. Connections would only reduce the headline time savings. We just had to be that little bit faster, despite the much smaller distances between UK destinations.

Jim Rodda Great Hampden, Buckinghamshire

AS A former BR area manager at Leicester, Birmingham and Manchester, I must say I completely agree with the comments by Simon Woodley in his letter concerning the terminal points of HS2.

As well as the example he quotes of Wolverhampton, the major centres of Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent and Leicester are bound to suffer a reduced level of service with the transfer of traffic to HS2. It will also be inconvenient for residents in the West Midlands suburbs wishing to travel to London.

Iain King Chester