Delay to high-speed line announcement prompts talk of project’s cancellation

As the Government announced a delay to its plans for the construction of a high-speed rail network, some leading media commentators reminded readers why they think HS2 is so important

Rik Thomas

16 December 2011

Times columnist Alice Thomson was very much of the opinion that the proposed HS2 high-speed line would be a boon to the British countryside, not a blight on it

The Government’s decision to delay the formal announcement of its decision on the proposed HS2 high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham prompted yet another flurry of media commentary on the benefits, or otherwise, of the UK constructing a high-speed rail network. “If everyone wants high-speed rail, why is it doomed?” the headline to an article by Independent commentator Steve Richards asked rhetorically on December 6, for example. This brief headline is fascinating...