Revived rail route has the edge over HS2

SIR – William Barter (Letters, August 6) is incorrect about the former Great Central Railway route from Marylebone to the North. It would provide a perfectly reasonable alternative to HS2.

The Great Central Railway was short of funds when the line to London was built; and, looking at Marylebone, one can see that only half of what was intended to be built was finished. That is why the concourse is about twice the size of the platform frontage. To complete it would involve demolishing the buildings to the west of the existing platforms, but there is room for several more platforms, and these would cause less disruption than HS2.

There is also a feasible alternative route to Birmingham, which is linked with the Great Central. This is the former Great Western Railway route from Paddington to Birmingham, Snow Hill. The current route from Marylebone uses the Great Central and Great Western joint line to Aynho and then on via Banbury, from where there was (and could easily be again) a northfacing link from the GWR to the GCR.

South of Aynho the former GWR is fairly quiet, while the link to the joint line from Paddington is barely used. The south-facing link from Oxford to the joint line via Thame is long closed but could be reinstated to complement the north-facing link at Banbury.

Finally, the GWR’s Birmingham and North Warwickshire line was originally promoted to provide a Great Central route into Birmingham, but was completed by the GWR to give it a line from Birmingham to the South West in competition with the Midland. The GC link was abandoned when the GC and GWR joined forces to build their joint line into London. It would not be difficult to build the connection.

The cost of all this would still be much less than HS2, and the network would serve many more places as part of a modern route to the Midlands and the North from London. David Pearson

Haworth, West Yorkshire