Campaigners fighting plans for a high speed rail line have restated their belief that cancelling the scheme is the only option.
A lot of the current debate around plans for HS2 have centred on which route the line will take.
But Stop HS2’s Joe Rukin has insisted the scheme should be scrapped in favour of a new approach.
The route from London to Birmingham and the as yet unannounced plan for the line to Leeds and Manchester could both have an impact on Lichfield and the surrounding villages.
“The Government are desperate to announce Stage 2 of HS2 to try and muster up more support for their ailing project,” said Stop HS2 campaign manager Joe Rukin. “But the leaks so far have initiated more opposition than support.
“If the speculation is to believed, the Department for Transport seem to be acknowledging the problems with Stage 1, that it is too fast and lacks intermediate stations when planning Stage 2. However, the reality is that it doesn’t matter how much they tweak with HS2, it is and always will be the wrong project for the country and too expensive a mistake to make.”
Mr Rukin has also criticised the way information about the second stage of HS2 has appeared ahead of any official announcement.
“We agree with transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin that it is irresponsible to speculate before the official announcement, a fact which seems to have been missed by whoever in his department is responsible for the leaks so far,” he said.
“The Government have to grow up and realise that they were in court last month because of their complete failure to get things right so far, so need to stop playing these childish games, accept they haven’t got things right and go back to the drawing board and actually come up with a real strategic solution for UK transport needs.
“If the Government think that announcing Stage 2 will mean anything besides the opposition to the project getting stronger, they are sorely mistaken.”
