HS2- is there a need for it and can we afford it?
There has already been £51 million investment in it and that cost is rising, aren’t we in enough debt already? Apart from that there is the massive environmental impact to consider, areas of the countryside will be lost forever and pollution. All of this to benefit only a minority of travellers.
HS2 is being built in the name of progress, but maybe we should question what we want from progress. Do we just want a stronger economy (the economic arguments for this are weak in the first place) or do we want to think about what future generations may want or need?
We also need to consider who is profiting from the venture and at what cost. Every council along the route of this so called fast rail link are having their budgets every year tightened or money taken off them altogether for schools, hospitals, education, and mental health care, would you rather have a share of that money or build the HS2, and you have your answer.
So again, I ask the question, is HS2 really needed? To save 20 minutes of journey time?
