High Speed Two (1)  

Today we’re due to get the Government’s  announcement about plans for a new high-speed rail route from London to Birmingham. I’m expecting an oral statement in the Commons in either the late morning or very early afternoon. A lot of countries are building high-speed rail lines to link major cities. A fair number of my constituents will have used the TGV in France and other countries in Europe and Asia are pushing ahead with similar schemes and they clearly have important economic benefits. If they succeed in diverting travellers from roads and aeroplanes, they could have environmental benefits for the country too. The problem for our area is that any route from London to Birmingham seems likely to go through the Chilterns. We’d  suffer the environmental damage but, because the trains would not stop locally, we’d get no direct benefit. I’ve not been given...