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NEWS


Campaign for High Speed Rail director David Begg has claimed that senior Conservative Party donors are threatening to cut off funds over HS2.


Speaking to the Commons Trans- port Select Committee, Professor Begg said the project was “not a done deal” because of the threats and the huge imbalance in funding.


Reports suggest that donations


to the pro-HS2 campaign total around £120,000 – compared to more than £1m on the anti-HS2 side.


Professor Begg suggested much of that amount came from wealthy Conservative Party supporters in counties through which the rail link will pass. He said some of them are “threatening to withdraw funding” to the party because of its high-speed rail policy.


members backed the line, saying: “The response from the member- ship is that they believe that short- er journey times would benefit their businesses and the regional economies.”


David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Com- merce, told the committee the overwhelming majority of his


The end of the consultation on HS2 – one of the biggest in UK history – is on July 29.


For more on the campaign for high-speed rail, see page 26.


David Cameron has suggested there is nothing protestors can do to derail HS2, saying, when asked if opponents could block it: “No – the Government is committed to HS2.”


The Prime Minister’s response suggests that the results of the ongoing public consultation on the high-speed London-Birming- ham rail link will be taken into ac- count only as regards the specific details of the scheme, rather than the concept itself.


Cameron was speaking to the Bir- mingham Post as he visited the city to address the Local Govern- ment Association annual confer- ence at the end of June.


He told the newspaper: “I think it’s right that Britain gets on board the high speed rail revolution. The whole point about high-speed rail is that London to Birmingham is just stage one. That’s always been essential. This links and shrinks – links the whole country and shrinks the distances between our greatest cities.


“And my personal passion for it is, if you look at what’s been suc-


cessful in regional policy, I would argue that things like the Jubilee Line (Extension), HS1, the build- ing of the M1, building of the M40, if you ask yourself the question what were the events that really reduced regional inequalities, that really got regional economies go- ing, so often they are transport links. And there’s a reason for that – that is one of the ways to change the economic geography of your country. And if you want to make sure that in the future the whole of the country can share in the eco- nomic prosperity, and it’s not so constrained to the South-East, I think this is the sort of thing that needs to go ahead.”


The House of Commons Transport Select Committee is investigating


for itself whether the business case for HS2 stacks up, while Cameron faces opposition from many Conservative MPs whose constituencies will be affected by the line.


He said he was relaxed about sug- gestions China might help to fund HS2, as Transport Secretary Philip Hammond made clear that the HS2 infrastructure will be quickly sold on to private investors to re- coup some of the Government’s costs, as happened with HS1.


Hammond has said he expects a 30-year concession and for pri- vate companies to pick up much of the £17bn cost of the first phase of HS2, and more as it is extended northwards in future years.


Cameron explained: “I think Brit- ain’s very open to investment from overseas, including investment in our infrastructure. What matters is whether this is built on time and on budget, is it done efficiently, effec- tively, is it good value for money. Should we welcome investment in our infrastructure? Yes, of course we should.”


Conservative MP for North War- wickshire and Bedworth, Dan Byles, said that Cameron’s words contradicted what he had been told by the DfT, while one anti- HS2 protestor wrote: “If Cameron says Government is committed to HS2 and protesters won’t stop it, why the sham of consultations, why waste money pretending?”


rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 11 | 5


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