The UK Government is publishing a hybrid bill today to get the first phase of the £50billion HS2 high-speed rail project started.
As ministers and supporters of the controversial scheme set out its benefits, opponents of the project will gather for a rally outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.
Today’s bill will, if all goes to plan, enable the building of the first phase of HS2 which is costing £42.6billion, plus £7.5billion for the trains.
The first phase, to be completed by 2026, comprises a high-speed line running from London through Tory heartlands in the picturesque Chilterns to Birmingham.
A second phase, to be completed by 2032/33, envisages a Y-shaped extension of the line, taking it from Birmingham to north-west and north-east England.
Staunchly supported by some and vehemently attacked by others, the project has been dogged by claim and counter claim as to its eventual benefit to the UK on a rail network that is already struggling to cope with passenger numbers.
Today’s rally is being organised by the Stop HS2 group.
Stop HS2 campaign manager Joe Rukin said: “With the widespread criticism of HS2 from independent bodies, it is quite depressing that MPs and Lords speaking for the project recently are so ill-informed and unwilling to listen to the exceptionally sound arguments which make it clear HS2 should not go ahead.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “HS2 is vital for this country, providing a huge economic boost which will generate a return on investment that will continue paying back for generations to come.
“Over the last 15 years the number of long-distance rail journeys in this country has doubled to 125million a year and without HS2 the key rail routes will soon be overwhelmed.”
Labour seems set to back the Bill in Parliament.
Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said today: “Labour supports HS2 because we must address the capacity problems that mean thousands of commuters face cramped, miserable journeys.”
An anti-HS2 group, the HS2 Action Alliance, described the scheme as “a £50billion vanity project that generations of taxpayers will be paying for”.