HS2 is the kind of infrastructure project the national economy needs

SIR – As the debate over HS2 rumbles on, everyone seems to focus on the cost rather than the need. There is a clear need for additional rail capacity between London and the Midlands and the North of England.

As a fairly frequent rail traveller I have experienced problems arising from this lack of capacity. Recently I tried to book a journey online with London North Eastern Railway from Doncaster to Gillingham in Kent for February 15. Bookings became available on January 17 – but when I tried to secure a seat on January 19, four out of the five services which would have suited my needs were already fully booked; the other had just four seats available.

Hopefully the Oakervee report – details of which were leaked last week – will recognise the importance to the national economy of proceeding with this project. John Molloy

Doncaster, South Yorkshire SIR – Political and business leaders across the Midlands and the North are united behind HS2 because it is the right thing to do.

Our railways are full; our country is divided physically and metaphorically. We are in desperate need of a reliable, modern railway line to allow people to avoid polluting air travel and take lorries off our roads. HS2 is the only “shovel ready” project that can tackle these problems. Will Roberts Director, High Speed Rail Group London WC1

SIR – Anyone who has travelled by rail from Monday to Friday will be aware that business passengers are not staring out admiring the landscape, but are on their laptops, phones or in discussions with travelling colleagues. In effect, they are already working.

Remove the assumed boost to worker productivity due to shorter journeys, and the benefits of HS2 do not stand up to scrutiny. Steve Brown

Beverley, East Yorkshire

SIR – When I was building an extension to a property, a friend advised that I should double the estimate in order to arrive at a possible overall cost.

If the Labour peer Lord Adonis had applied this analogy to the projected cost of HS2, the initial estimate of £36billion would have suggested an overall cost of £72billion. A dozen years later, the probable cost stands at £106billion. There are many projects of more importance that the Government should be considering. Athol Forsyth

Wroxham, Norfolk

SIR – In 1903, a rail spur opened in Lochaber in Scotland. It ran for 23 miles along a single track from Spean Bridge to Fort Augustus. The cost, apart from rolling stock, was £344,000 – £15,000 a mile, or roughly £3 per foot. Compare this to the projected cost of HS2, which is now £106billion for 500 miles of track – or £40,000 per foot. Richard Buckley

Weymouth, Dorset