17 January 2012
The government's
go-ahead to the new high-speed rail line between London and
Birmingham will be at the expense of Warrington and the North West as
a whole, according to sustainable transport campaigners. Warrington Green Party
believe the £32 billion project will end up sucking resources away
from vitally needed improvements that would benefit all rail users.
"This is a glamour project that is nothing to do with making things better for the ordinary traveller," said Steph Davies, leader of Warrington Green Party."Anyone who travels from Warrington Central knows that what is needed is more carriages on existing trains to reduce overcrowding and more investment in the current network. This massive amount of expenditure at a time of what is supposed to be austerity beggars belief"
Greens are concerned that the new line will end up offering a transport service only available to the rich.
"All of the government's projections for running the service are based on high fares to begin with and then these are then scheduled to rise hugely once the service is running. The benefits can only be for an elite few."
Warrington Green Party is also critical of local MP David Mowat who is backing the scheme.
"There is clearly nothing in it for Warrington travellers," Steph added. "It is quite clear that we are being represented by yet another Conservative who wants big business to take the profits while local people's travel needs are ignored."
Government keeps telling us there is no money - money is being taken away from vital services, from the weakest in society, There is no money for other priorities, such as a direct rail link from Liverpool to Glasgow, or improving the existing public transport system. But when it comes to prestige projects like HS2, how come there suddenly is 32 billion available?
The government argues that time savings on on HS2 will lead directly to job creation. They have however not explained how that works. How do faster trains create jobs? And why should time spent on trains be wasted time? Many people use the time on a train to work.
Capacity issues can be resolved much cheaper and with less disruption, by more and longer trains on the existing network. At the same time, we should look at reducing commuting, by focusing more on teleconferencing, video conferencing and working from home.
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