High-speed rail link campaign stays on track

Business leaders, union bosses and economists are urging the government to press ahead with plans for a high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham.

The final decision on whether to give the green light to the controversial “high-speed two” (HS2) rail link had been postponed until this month.

A group of economists said HS2 would support the creation of up to one million jobs and give an “immediate boost” to the construction industry.

But TaxPayers’ Alliance director Matthew Sinclair argued: “While rich special interests are lining up to defend the multi-billion pound high-speed rail scheme, surveys show that most of the public and most businesses would rather do something else with the huge amount of money it is going to cost them.

“Taxpayers can’t afford the thousand pounds a family that the new line will cost.”