HS2 is an expensive, carbon-intensive, vanity project

So the coalition government is backing the construction of High Speed Two (HS2), a new railway line from London to the north. At more than £32bn (and probably much more) this is likely the greatest white elephant the Britain has ever commissioned. At a time when frontline services are being cut to the bone, all three main parties apparently think it's a good idea to spend money the nation doesn't have on a high speed rail network which won't cut carbon emissions, which most people won't be able to afford to travel on, which business travellers don't need and which won't cut congestion any time soon.


In 2007, the Department for Transport commissioned a report - "Estimated Carbon Impact of a New North-South Line" - to investigate the likely overall carbon impacts associated with the construction and operation of a new rail line to either Manchester or Scotland including any expected modal transport shifts, and the comparison with the case in which no new high-speed lines were built.

The report concluded that there were no carbon benefits in building a new line from London to Manchester. That's partly because very few passengers are expected to switch to rail, partly because the nation's power supply will not be based on renewable sources, and partly because of the high carbon cost of building the new line, including tunnels and demolition of buildings.

Since then the project's green credentials have got worse. In an attempt to shore up support for Tory MPs in vulnerable seats along the line the Transport Secretary has announced that there will be more tunnels.

The only legitmate argument the government has is that we need more capacity between London and the North. But for a long time now most transport experts have agreed that there are plenty of other ways to increase capacity that would be cheaper and that could be completed faster. See here for the Better Than HS2 website.

Of the four main parties only the Greens are against HS2.

In Camden the Green Party has lined up alongside the many voices arguing that the proposals will destroy too many homes and blight neighbourhoods for decades.

Natalie Bennett, Chair of Camden Green Party, said: “It’s astonishing that the government has entirely ignored the strong opposition to the project in Camden, particularly the extensive demolition of homes planned in Regent’s Park and the valid concerns further north in Camden about the impact on homes."

The HS2 decision has been made in spite of clear public opposition as expressed in the consultation process, with the key question on the survey having 16,000 responses in favour of the current HS2 and nearly double that many against. What's more, analysis has shown that 24% of the positive responses were through one organised postcard campaign!

HS2 is a gargantuan vanity project which won't reduce carbon emissions (and may actually increase them), won't increase capacity any time soon and will cost a fortune. Like renewal of Trident and the war in Afghanistan, it is not something the Green Party would choose to spend money on.