High Speed Two (HS2) rail project should be scrapped ‘and its funding used to revive railway lines abolished by Dr Beeching’ according to a new report.
The report by the right wing think tank Bow Group “claims that dozens of redundant lines could be brought back to life at a fraction of the cost of building one high-speed route to ‘already well-connected cities’.”
Their study found that the reinstatement of existing lines “would ease pressure on crowded commuter routes while providing a lifeline for towns cut off from the rail network for 50 years”.
Reviving Britain’s Railways, sets out the potential benefits of these less expensive schemes, against major projects such as High Speed 2. Recommendations include evaluation of closed routes, and match-funding when private sector investment could help to revive lines which have been closed for years – reconnecting towns and villages across the country with the rail network.
One such, the Borders Railway, was opened by HM the Queen last week, and is just one example of where existing tracks can be used to bring a boost to an area. This line has been so successful in one week, that ScotRail is already looking at increasing carriage capacity on peak services.
The group say that the main focus of High Speed 2 is to take cities, which are already linked, and make those links faster. This ignores the fact that fleets of train which travel at far faster speeds are being developed all the time, therefore the net saving in minutes will be lower than currently anticipated.
It does nothing whatsoever to create new links, and it doesn’t tackle some of the greatest congestion in the UK, which is around London and the South East.
Ben Harris-Quinney, Bow Group Chairman, says
“Now is an ideal time for the government to take positive action that can transform transport, making use of existing infrastructure and therefore cutting capital costs.”
“At a time when the focus is on value for money, government should be looking to fully utilise the country’s existing resources, rather than pouring funds into major schemes such as High Speed 2 which many experts feel will be ineffective.”
“Reviving existing railway lines has the ability to improve lives for people across the whole country, and rather than connecting major cities that already have links, bring effective public transport to areas that have been cut off from the transport grid for decades.”
