Monthly Archives: August 2019
Our reaction to the review of HS2
Joe Rukin gives the Stop HS2 reaction to the review of HS2, on Day 13 of his walk along the route:
(Includes that Joe did a broadcast quality interview with Sky news using his phone from a field in Cheshire.)
Press release: All HS2 work must stop until review concludes
Man and dog to complete Birmingham to Leeds HS2 walk
Woodland Trust call for Action
Walking the route, capacity and the Independent
Last Friday, Joe Rukin set off from Curzon Street to walk the north-east route of HS2. We’d kept the plans a bit quiet, in case he got to Day Three and decided he’d done enough. However, if you’ve subscribed to our mailing list, you will have read that he is now past Toton station, and in fact is across the River Trent.
Joe is keeping a video diary of his journey, and uploaded Day Four to our Youtube channel earlier:
In it he talks about capacity, which is once again the current argument for HS2. Whilst Joe talks about why building HS2 will not do much for releasing capacity, the Department for Transport has today announced the franchise winner for the West Coast Main Line, and also announced that there will be another 263 services a week from December 2022. This just proves a decade of arguments from HS2 are essentially hollow.
The other news is that Joe wrote an article for the Independent, which was published on Monday in their Independent Voices section: I have spent a decade fighting HS2, and the arguments to support it keep getting worse.
PS You can keep up with Joe’s progress on Twitter, and also see longer videos on Youtube and facebook.
Act now to Stop HS2
Funding Envelope Turns into Blank Cheque
Serious Fraud Office wants details on HS2 compensation practices, as possession orders escalate.
HS2: Still on Track?
On Thursday, ITV Central broadcast a special programme ‘HS2: still on track’. Luckily for people outside the Central region, they’ve put it on youtube.
Along side Joe Rukin, Brent Poland from Erewash and the Wildlife Trusts and others affected by HS2, they also interviewed Mark Thurston and would have interviewed Grant Shapps, the new Secretary of State for Transport, except he declined the chance to talk about HS2.
Mark Thurston’s interview was notable for his refusal to say how much HS2 is expected to cost, even though he admitted being in talks with contractors on the cost since last year.