Railfuture has released its position paper on high speed rail.

On the day of its high speed conference at Bletchley, the paper puts forward Ralfuture's response to the Government's plan for a high speed rail route from London to Birmingham.

The conference heard from Professor Andrew McNaughton who explained the Government's and his own attitude to HS2.

It also heard an emotional plea from Lizzy Williams who is involved in the Stop HS2 campaign.

She said: "I don't know much about trains but I care passionately about sustainable public transport."

She said it was more important to tackle pollution from road transport in the big cities rather than build a high speed rail line through beautiful countryside.

She said the priority should be local transport for local people.
Even the Department for Transport accepts that there is a good case for cutting traffic in cities purely on health grounds.

Professor McNaughton said it would be "bonkers" to think of upgrading the West Coast main line as an alternative to building HS2.

He added: "Good transport is an essential part of the nation’s economic health."


Copies of the Railfuture paper can be downloaded from here