Don't let the rail lobby get the upper hand with HS2

摘要

Antony Oliver's editorial (NCE last week) is an admission that the macro arguments in favour of High Speed Two (HS2) have so far not been properly put. It is not the case however that the arguments are not there to be had. The pro-high speed rail lobby started by selling us the idea that speed is somehow intrinsically good but people have enough common sense to realise that what matters is minimising time and inconvenience door to door and in this respect all the intermediate towns, cities and villages that are not central Birmingham or central Manchester will actually be worse off.