It is difficult to be certain which subject has stirred up most in the way of equally inflated claims by supporters and opponents: plans to introduce the Alternative Vote at elections, or the HS2 high speed rail project.
On the subject of the proposed £17 billion line from London to Birmingham, the scheme’s backers must be glad that its future does not rest on the result of a referendum.
Although Britain’s second high speed rail track, in theory, enjoys support from all of the main political parties in the House of Commons, it is abundantly clear that the strategic benefits of a network stretching eventually to the North-west and North-east of England have not particularly excited the population.
For many people, HS2 is a waste of money at a time when the UK is in deep financial mire. Others ask why a small country requires 200 mph trains and wonder why the West Coast Main Line cannot be further improved.
These are reasonable points to make, and have been fully answered by HS2’s promoters. The fact is that improving the WCML would cost almost as much as HS2, but would rely on using old technology with trains running no faster than 140 mph and, crucially, involve demolishing many more homes and businesses.
With demand for train travel likely to increase from already record figures, as petrol prices continue to soar, making more use of the WCML simply will not do the trick. By building an entirely new railway with much faster trains, not only will it become more attractive for inward investors to come to the West Midlands, freed-up capacity on the WCML can be used to vastly improve local commuter services.
Professor David Begg, director of the Campaign for High Speed Rail, is frank enough to point out that the transport and economic arguments in favour of HS2 may yet be lost at the court of public opinion. The Government is backing high speed rail, but opposition from largely Tory-held constituencies along the planned line is considerable and it may not take too much for Ministers to decide at the end of public consultation that discretion is the better part of valour.
