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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/may/17/high-speed-rail-airport-expansion
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| Hot topic of high-speed rail and airport expansion | Hot topic of high-speed rail and airport expansion |
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| The planned high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham (HS2 rail project has £3.3bn funding shortfall, warns spending watchdog, 16 May) is the land-bound equivalent of Concorde; both scams for spending billions of pounds of citizens' hard-earned wealth in order to benefit a tiny minority of very rich businessmen and multinational corporations so they can reach their destination a few minutes before they otherwise would. | The planned high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham (HS2 rail project has £3.3bn funding shortfall, warns spending watchdog, 16 May) is the land-bound equivalent of Concorde; both scams for spending billions of pounds of citizens' hard-earned wealth in order to benefit a tiny minority of very rich businessmen and multinational corporations so they can reach their destination a few minutes before they otherwise would. |
| This reckless expenditure of £32bn is as unjustifiable, at a time when citizens are making painful sacrifices, as the £100bn being spent rebuilding our weapons of mass destruction. The job-creating capacity of this project should be compared with the number of jobs that would be created by the government spending £32bn in the sustainable energy industry. Jim McCluskey Twickenham, Middlesex | This reckless expenditure of £32bn is as unjustifiable, at a time when citizens are making painful sacrifices, as the £100bn being spent rebuilding our weapons of mass destruction. The job-creating capacity of this project should be compared with the number of jobs that would be created by the government spending £32bn in the sustainable energy industry. Jim McCluskey Twickenham, Middlesex |
| • Simon Jenkins's attack on HS2 (17 May) helps explain why most environmental groups have been reluctant to condemn the project out of hand. Jenkins argues that new roads such as a Nottingham-Derby-Stoke motorway would be preferable, but a major road-building programme would be environmentally disastrous. | • Simon Jenkins's attack on HS2 (17 May) helps explain why most environmental groups have been reluctant to condemn the project out of hand. Jenkins argues that new roads such as a Nottingham-Derby-Stoke motorway would be preferable, but a major road-building programme would be environmentally disastrous. |
| Much better an investment in high-speed rail – but only if it is done well. HS2 has the potential to destroy a swath of precious, tranquil countryside. So we need to be prepared to shift the route, compromise on top speed and invest properly in tunnelling and other mitigation, so that the line can fit in better with the contours of the landscape. If that means a more expensive HS2, so be it. | Much better an investment in high-speed rail – but only if it is done well. HS2 has the potential to destroy a swath of precious, tranquil countryside. So we need to be prepared to shift the route, compromise on top speed and invest properly in tunnelling and other mitigation, so that the line can fit in better with the contours of the landscape. If that means a more expensive HS2, so be it. |
| Above all, the argument for HS2 is about rail capacity. If it is to be justified it must be part of a larger shift of passenger and freight travel from road and air to rail, not least a reversal of Beeching's cuts to rural lines. Shaun Spiers Campaign to Protect Rural England | Above all, the argument for HS2 is about rail capacity. If it is to be justified it must be part of a larger shift of passenger and freight travel from road and air to rail, not least a reversal of Beeching's cuts to rural lines. Shaun Spiers Campaign to Protect Rural England |
| • I'm glad I am not the only one disappointed with the transport select committee's recommendations for expanded airport capacity (Letters, 16 May). However, the members seem to have their blinkers on. The most significant, indeed, terrifying factor to guide their recommendations should be that atmospheric CO2 levels have just passed the 400ppm mark. With the new transport infrastructure and airport capacity they wish for, they will ensure that we continue on our way to 500ppm and beyond. We are poisoning the life systems of the planet and all, they suggest, in the name of competition. It seems we are actually lemmings being led by donkeys. Dr Colin Bannon Crapstone, Devon | • I'm glad I am not the only one disappointed with the transport select committee's recommendations for expanded airport capacity (Letters, 16 May). However, the members seem to have their blinkers on. The most significant, indeed, terrifying factor to guide their recommendations should be that atmospheric CO2 levels have just passed the 400ppm mark. With the new transport infrastructure and airport capacity they wish for, they will ensure that we continue on our way to 500ppm and beyond. We are poisoning the life systems of the planet and all, they suggest, in the name of competition. It seems we are actually lemmings being led by donkeys. Dr Colin Bannon Crapstone, Devon |
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