Experts say HS2 cash would better serve easing commuter woes
Billion of pounds earmarked for HS2 would be better spent improving the lives of commuters in the West Midlands, an expert said today.
Professor Paul Forrest said resources had been pumped into the project while existing services were hit by “frequent delays, cancellations and overcrowding”.
He said money saved by scrapping HS2 could instead be used to:
Electrify the line from Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury
Bring back passenger services between Wolverhampton and Walsall
Open up more local stations like Pelsall and Aldridge.
Professor Forrest, of the West Midlands Economic Forum, says our region’s productivity is a third less than Lyon in France, purely because trains services are poor and motorways jammed.
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In a damning assessment, he said: “It would seem reasonable to ask where is HS2 going and what is it for? It is not clear if HS2 will generate actual new jobs for the national economy or simply involve geographical relocation of existing jobs.”
Questions have been raised about HS2 after it was revealed costs will exceed £100 billion – and that the section of line between Birmingham and the north could be halted or downgraded using existing tracks. The National Audit Office said ministers had underestimated the complexity and scale of the project.
Professor Forrest said too much attention had been placed on HS2, to the detriment of long-suffering commuters.
