Rethink urged on Birmingham high-speed rail route plan

[dutchman]

Parliamentary candidates are urging a rethink on the proposed £17bn national high speed railway route through Warwickshire.

Conservative Chris White, Labour's James Plaskitt and Liberal Democrat Alan Beddow told BBC's Politics Show that the route would cause problems.

However, the three prospective candidates all agreed the new London to Birmingham rail link was needed.

They are contesting the Warwick and Leamington seat.

The government announced plans in March to build the High Speed 2 rail line through Burton Green, Warwickshire, which could require the demolition of homes and a village hall.

Several hundred people attended a protest meeting in Burton Green this month about the proposed high-speed rail link, which could see construction begin in 2017. Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has said the line is important for linking the region with other parts of the UK.

Mr White said: "It will create jobs and it's important for us and for our economy to have high speed rail, but it needs to be thought out better.

"I think the direction it's going through Warwickshire needs greater consultation so people can have a real say on where the line goes.

"If you are going to do this properly it needs to go to Heathrow - why is it stopping outside - it doesn't seem to make sense for our industry?"

Mr Plaskitt said: "We face transport growth and the question you have got to ask is what are the alternatives?

"The environmentally preferable option is high speed rail.

"We are at the really early stages of this process and there will be lots of time to reconsider the environmental impact but there's already agreement that some of the routing through Warwickshire needs to be reconsidered."

Channel Tunnel

Mr Beddow said: "We do need a high-speed railway line because it will revitalise our economy and it's a shift towards far more environmentally-friendly transport but I think the route's just wrong.

"It needs to join up with High Speed 1 otherwise we're just going to end up with another railway from Birmingham to London.

"I think it will just be a colossal waste of money."

HS1 Ltd is the organisation that owns the assets of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), now called High Speed 1.

Speaking after the Politics Show debate on Sunday at The Assembly, Leamington Spa, the Green Party's candidate, Ian Davison, said: "For Warwickshire itself there's not much gain as it's transporting people from London to Birmingham and you are destroying beautiful countryside and people's houses.

"I am very keen on investment in local services, such as reopening Kenilworth station.

"We agree with the idea that it's less bad to go by train than plane but that only works if you cut the number of flights."

A full public consultation on the High Speed 2 rail plans is set to take place in Autumn this year.