The National Memorial Arboretum
The National Memorial Arboretum

The tranquillity of the National Memorial Arboretum will be shattered if a plan by supporters of high-speed rail is accepted, a local action group has warned.

The National Memorial Arboretum
The National Memorial Arboretum

Whittington and Lichfield District Stop HS2 Action Group (WLDStopHS2) say that a proposal to link HS2 – the high-speed rail line from London to the Midlands – with the Midlands Main Line would mean many trains an hour running just metres from the UK’s Centre of Remembrance at Alrewas.

The proposal – by influential pro-high speed rail pressure group Greengauge 21 – would mean the construction of a new stretch of track from HS2 between Lichfield and Whittington to join the Lichfield to Burton line at Wychnor Junction.

The Lichfield to Burton line does not appear on the National Rail Network map because it is a single track used for freight and occasional passenger train diversions and would therefore require a complete rebuild, bringing years of disruption to Fradley, Alrewas and Barton, and the prospect of scores of trains a day.

Greenguage 21, which is funded by an HSR Public Interest Group including Network Rail, Association of Train Operating Companies, the Railway Industry Authority and large city councils, produced the report as a supplementary response to the recent HS2 consultation and a WLDStopHS2 spokesman said: “It is dishonest of Greengauge 21 to attempt to influence the Secretary of State for Transport’s decision on whether to allow HS2 to go ahead after the consultation period has finished.

“If the new Minister Justine Greening accepted the recommendations of Greengauge 21 to build this link, which will greatly increase the cost of HS2, she will have failed in her democratic duty if she does not allow another consultation.

“This plan will bring a double whammy of misery for Lichfield and its surrounding areas, and this is before the Y extensions, taking HS2 north-west to Manchester and north-east to Leeds, the precise routes of which have yet to be announced but which will inevitably add to the human cost suffered by anyone who lives in the path.

“The Royal British Legion says the Arboretum is a spiritually uplifting place which honours the fallen, recognises service and sacrifice, and fosters pride in our country. We believe those qualities will be destroyed if trains a quarter of a mile long were rumbling by every few minutes.”

Greengauge 21’s proposals depend on the electrification of the Midlands Main Line, and the WLDStopHS2 spokesman added: “Greengauge 21 believe that the Government can conjure up some extra billions of taxpayers’ money to pay not just for HS2, but other infrastructure needed to justify this white elephant.

“But the truth is that HS2 will swallow up any available money, and the rest of the railway system will suffer as a result.

“If the Lichfield to Burton line is upgraded, it should be because it benefits the local community, and not as part of a vanity project which will benefit the rich.

“The Midlands Main Line should be electrified, and if it was, and other improvements to the network were carried out as suggested by supporters of Rail Package 2 (RP2), HS2 would not be necessary.

“We would urge Michael Fabricant, Chris Pincher and all local MPs to speak with Justine Greening urgently to stop this new danger to our region and take on board the RP2 alternative and create a railway for the many not the few.”

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B Ferkin
12 years ago

Such a shame that such NIMBI-IST posturing should be deployed to agitate against a great national transport link which will reap benefit for many people in the North and Scotland. Whilst the intrnet expands the freedom to publish such views let us hope that common sense and hopes for the greater good persist and that HS2 becomes a reality along with the future extensions.

It is high time that the UK started taking more futuristic Grand infrastructure projects forward unless we want to be a Third World Country.

dwevans
12 years ago

why waste our taxes on hs2 when we need to improve our defences against water shortages. Drought is with us now