The Government must consider the environmental impact of any high-speed link, the Ramblers said. Photo: Southeastern Railway CC-BY-SA-2.0
Britain’s biggest walkers’ charity called for a rethink on the proposed high-speed railway line between London and Birmingham, saying it would affect at least 150 footpaths.
The planned route of the line, dubbed HS2 by the Government, runs through the Chilterns area of outstanding natural beauty.
The Ramblers said the Government must demonstrate the project is the best option for future transport strategy saying, while they agreed on the need for green initiatives, the impact on the environment and rights of way was paramount.
The call followed the release of a report by the Institute of Economic Affairs that said the project was ‘economically flawed’.
Ramblers chief executive Tom Franklin said: “The report has highlighted a variety of problems with the HS2 initiative, from economic flaws to questions of environmental impact.
“We called on the Government to demonstrate, clearly and overwhelmingly, that HS2 is the best answer to Britain’s transport woes, and yet the definitive case for HS2 has still not been made.
“Whilst we support improvements to public transport, successful green transport must work with our countryside, not against it. With the benefits of HS2 becoming increasingly unclear and the damage to this beautiful walking country all too obvious, it may be time for the government to rethink its strategy on HS2.”
The Ramblers said Britain’s plans for high-speed rail must be fully integrated as part of a national strategy; taking into account the adverse impact on access and the natural environment and agreeing steps to minimise their effect at an early stage.
They said the plans for HS2 have not yet considered the number of footpaths affected by the route nor what solutions could be found to lessen the impact.
A spokesperson said: “It is suggested that such detail will not be looked into until the final Government go ahead is issued, by which point it may be too late.
“The Ramblers again calls on the Government to clarify the advantages of HS2 and urges that the full impact of the route, to walkers, residents and the countryside, be taken into account before the decision is finalised.”
The Ramblers are supporting the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s Right Lines Charter which sets out four principles ‘for doing High Speed Rail well’.
NewtonBugler
20 July 2011Definitely time to go back to the drawing board on this one. Quite apart from the fact that we simply can't afford it, there's clearly no business case - and no evidence of significant economic benefit to the country, let alone the North. The Government needs to show that it's listening to what the expert and the public are saying and call a halt to the consultation before wasting any more money on it. By all means revisit the idea when the country's back in the black. But, for now, let's improve the transport links we already have and build a world-beating digital economy - with ultra-high-speed broadband for every corner of the UK. There'll soon be far more virtual meetings than face-to-face. Rail will always have its place, but this is the age of the internet, not the train.
John Jefkins
20 July 2011Of course we can afford it.
Yesterday's report was totally flawed.
It said that passenger growth was less than the miserly DfT forecast of only 1.4% per annum when every rail expert is pointing out that for the past 15 years passenger growth has been running at an average of 5% per annum. Even through the recession it grew 15% over 3 years.
We just paid half the cost of HS1 by renting it out for 30yrs and it should be easy to get the rest paid back in a 2nd rental in 30 yrs time. There are lots of associated tax revenue and fare income also help pay back costs.
HS2 will have a far bigger market than HS1.
We are not starting to pay any real costs until 2017 and the expense is being spread out over so many years, it will be easy to pay for it - eg by increasing air taxation or taking a little of the road fuel taxation.
The No campaign is falling apart. One of the expert witnesses at the House of Commons select committe the other day admitted he would be in favour if it cost a little less.
We need more rail capacity and we need it soon. Lets get on with HS2 - as its speed helps pay its costs by winning air passengers on the Heathrow- Europe, Manchester-Brum-Europe and London-Scotland routes.
For that we need the Heathrow spur from platforms by Heathrow T5 built in phase ZERO - ie before HS2 even reaches the Chilterns