With a recent COMRES poll showing 52% of the public are against the current HS2 plans and with 70 seats and 600,000 Lib Dem voters affected, I sat down one day and decided to find a better scheme. One which did unite the north of Britain to London and the South, one which didn’t cost the earth, one with a minimal human impact and one which actually linked up with HS1, Eurostar and the Channel Tunnel – none of the things HS2 can boast off, but all of which an extension to HS1 would. My scheme would be faster, cheaper and better than HS2.
I remind fellow Lib Dems, that while the party strongly supports high speed rail that HS2 was neither in the 2010 manifesto, nor the route spelt out in the Coalition Agreement. In supporting the current scheme we are backing a ruinously expensive toxic amalgam of Labour and Conservative ideas.
In April 2014 I had drawn up a route of 182 miles which passed through the lowest population areas, linking London Stratford International to Leeds New Cross. The scheme would cost only £16 billion compared to the £42 billion and counting HS2 costs.
Because it’s shorter, and passes through more countryside than HS2 it’s average speed would be higher than the 170 mph of HS2 and the Leeds-London journey would be only 59 minutes. Phase 1 could be built before 2020 with phase 2 going direct to Edinburgh by 2024 or before. HS2 makes a mistake not to include Scotland.
The Stratford International station already links to HS1, and was used with great success in the 2012 London Olympics with the Javelin Service. HS1a will deliberately miss out Birmingham and Sheffield. The first does not need high speed to London, the second close enough to the Leeds hub. Phase 2 would also include a Leeds-Manchester link a boost to Northern growth.
I strongly believe HS1a as an alternative can give the Party a scheme which will win us a million votes instead of risking 500,000 votes and allow us to use the £26 billion savings in other priority areas. The outline plans can be viewed here.
* Jonathan Pile contested Wakefield (Crofton,Walton & Ryhill) in May 2014, is a signatory to Libdems4change.org and Acting Coordinator of LibdemFightBack.
