The Government is consulting on plans to build a 400kph High Speed Rail line (HS2) from London to Birmingham, with possible extensions to Manchester and Leeds at a later point. Construction could start around 2017, with the line to Birmingham open in 2026.
High speed trains are considered more climate friendly than planes, but still have considerable
environmental impacts. The new line(s) will also cost billions of pounds to build and
construction itself will have huge environmental implications. A high speed line will only cut carbon emissions if it is part of a transport strategy designed to shift people away from cars and planes. Most carbon emissions from transport are from short journeys – many of which could easily be shifted to walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing – not the journeys that will be made on the proposed high speed line.
Tell the Department for Transport we urgently need a new transport strategy which makes rapid cuts in carbon emissions a priority by responding the the consulation here on the Friends of the Earth website.
