How will we afford to travel on HS2?

The present railway fares in the UK have been shown to be unjustified, they keep rising despite many having to take between 20 per cent and 30 per cent wage cuts just to remain employed. If people cannot afford to travel on the existing rail services, how will they afford to travel on HS2?

The argument that HS2 will help businesses grow and expand is utter nonsense.

Many companies now use fibre-optic broadband connections to carry out video-confrencing as it saves the time and considerable expense in sending executives to another city for meetings that last just an hour.

Bombardier has recently lost contracts to build new rolling stock and are shedding thousands of jobs as a result.

HS2 will operate trains build by Japanese company Hitatchi, so even the rolling stock for this line which is supposed to bring prosperity and growth to areas of the UK, is being build abroad.

If the Government wants to bring growth to the UK economy and help businesses ride out these austere times, reduce fuel duty to 20 per cent the same rate as VAT, as that would benefit businesses far more than building HS2, which is simply not needed! - Lee Jennings, Bishops Tachbrook.