News Media
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Express & Star, 21 Feb 2012
Express & Star, 21 Feb 2012. "High speed rail – it’s the price that matters, not speed... Speed only really matters if you are commuting to London regularly for work. Then yes, high speed rail would make a difference if it opened up the possibility of someone living in Birmingham and commuting every day to work in the capital. This would allow Midland people to go for the higher paid opportunities London offers without the higher living costs. But this could only work if high speed travel was really cheap. And it won’t be. Therefore, it’s pointless."
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BBC News, 20 Feb 2012
BBC News, 20 Feb 2012. "High-speed rail link 'yet to boost Canterbury visitors'... Canterbury is yet to see a boost in visitor numbers from the high speed (HS1) rail service linking Kent and London, a report has found. Southeastern began running the Class 395 Javelin trains between Kent and London St Pancras two years ago."
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Northampton Chronicle, 19 Feb 2012
Northampton Chronicle, 19 Feb 2012. "Northamptonshire MP Andrea Leadsom leading the battle for residents affected by HS2 rail link. MP ANDREA Leadsom has reassured homeowners left in limbo following the HS2 announcement that fighting for compensation is one of her top priorities... While the route from London to Birmingham has been agreed, the full list of homes which will be bought under a compulsory purchase order has not been disclosed by Government-owned developers HS2 Ltd."
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Telegraph, 19 Feb 2012
Telegraph, 19 Feb 2012. "High speed rail link 'at risk of derailment' because of 225mph trains... Professor Peter Woodward, one of the world's leading experts on the geo-engineering of railways, said that high-speed running created "new problems" in track which "may threaten the stability and safety of the train". In papers lodged with the Government's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Prof Woodward warned that speeds as high as those proposed by HS2 could trigger "significant amplification of train-track vibrations" causing "rapid deterioration of the track, ballast and sub-ballast, including possible derailment and ground failure". By Andrew Gilligan
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Tamworth Herald, 17 Feb 2012
Tamworth Herald, 17 Feb 2012. "Farmers voice concerns over impact of HS2 at meeting. CONCERNS over the impact of HS2 on farms across the region prompted more than 60 farmers to attend a meeting organised by the National Farmers Union. All of the landowners in attendance at the meeting in Stoneleigh were keen to know what the impact of the 250mph rail line would be and what compensation packages would be available."
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Guardian, 16 Feb 2012
Guardian, 16 Feb 2012. "Camden council launches legal challenge to HS2. Camden council on Thursday signalled the start of legal action against the government, joining rural anti-HS2 campaigners seeking a judicial review. The first section of the £33bn project's route from London to Birmingham will demolish much of an estate housing many hundreds of people near Euston station... The redevelopment and expansion of Euston will affect businesses in adjoining streets. Plans show Drummond Street, site of the first Patak's store in the 1950s and a historic home of British curry, will be partially knocked down and restaurateurs in the renowned stretch of curry houses say they face a huge loss of trade." By Gwyn Topham
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LocalGov, 16 Feb 2012
LocalGov, 16 Feb 2012. "Camden LBC poised to join HS2 legal challenge. The council – home to Euston Station where the line will start – served Ms Greening a formal ‘letter before claim’, on 16 February, alleging to have identified legal flaws in the Government’s decision to proceed with the project. Camden is also concerned the Government has not offered any binding commitments to address the impacts of HS2 on the borough – these include the demolition of at least 216 homes, with a further 264 homes at risk of demolition, the loss of at least 20 business premises, and the destruction of listing buildings and open spaces." By Dom Browne
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beleben, 16 Feb 2012
beleben, 16 Feb 2012. "HS2 is about speed, not capacity (part two). Table 10 from the January 2012 HS2 updated Economic Case shows that time savings (to business users) are assessed as being far more valuable than crowding relief (to all users). In other words, the economic argument — if such a thing could be said to exist — is about speed, not capacity. The update also shows a revised forecast for modal shift from air travel, down to just 3% of HS2 ridership. The pie chart previously used by HS2 Ltd gave a 6% figure for shift from air."
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Ealing Gazette, 15 Feb 2012
Ealing Gazette, 15 Feb 2012. "Ealing HS2 campaign is promised Boris meeting. THE deputy mayor of London has promised to get his chief Boris Johnson to meet residents in Ealing fighting the proposed high speed rail. Richard Barnes, who also represents Ealing at the London Assembly, made the commitment to a packed out hall of HS2 opponents on Sunday afternoon. More than 200 people from areas closest to the tracks in Perivale, Greenford, Northolt and Acton squeezed into Perivale Community Centre." By Poppy Bradbury
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Kenilworth Weekly News, 15 Feb 2012
Kenilworth Weekly News, 15 Feb 2012. "HS2 ‘has made house prices drop by 20 per cent’... House prices along the proposed high-speed rail route have already dropped in some areas and in spring a public consultation will be held on the proposals to compensate those affected by planning blight. Iain Johnston, HS2 legal advisor and head of the planning and environmental team at Birmingham law firm SGH Martineau, gave guidance to businesses and landowners at HS2 seminars this week. He said: “Many landowners on the route of the HS2 or near to it have suffered a blighting effect on their properties."