Government Announcement on High Speed Rail Today

The Government has announced its decision today to go ahead with the construction of a high speed line from London to Birmingham, with the prospect of it being extended eventually to the north of England and Scotland. As a result of all the local campaigning the Government has amended its plans to put the track travelling through the north of the borough into tunnels. There is still no announcement of any route for a Heathrow spur. This is left to Phase 2 of the process when proposals will be brought forward on the options for extending the line from Birmingham to the north and any direct connection to Heathrow. It is clear that the Government is willing to minimise damage to communities in urban areas by the use of tunneling. The plans to tunnel in the north of the borough is a victory for local campaigners but failing to consult on the whole route just increases the uncertainty about the possible Heathrow link and the project overall. This is no way to plan a railway or any major infrastructure project. Further inforamtion is available on the Department of Tranmsport website http://www.dft.gov.uk/highspeedrail  

submitted by John on 10 Jan 2012 at 11:42