Sir, Your article “London to Frankfurt in under 5 hours: Europe unites to speed up rail journeys”, (July 3), does tend to show Britain in a state of denial about its railways. The Government even wheeled out Sir Rod Eddington to justify its stance.
We cannot remain the most backward country in Europe when it comes to railways. We should get started on HS2 – the proposed high speed 2 railway line from London St Pancras to Birmingham – now.
There would be many benefits. We might have some hope of reaching our emissions target. Jim Steer, of the organisation Greengauge 21, said that HS2 “would be the final nail in the coffin for short-haul air flights, providing a greener, more reliable and quicker alternative”.
Our subsidised airlines can cut their prices, but they cannot cut the time from city centre to city centre.
With HS2 we could look forward to London to Birmingham in 45 minutes; London to Edinburgh or Glasgow in well under three hours.
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DAVID G. GUILD, Edinburgh