HS2 protests taking place in Birmingham
It's as the bill to extend the line to Manchester is introduced in Parliament later.
Protests are set to take place in Birmingham and across the country today, against HS2.
It's as the bill to extend the line to Manchester is introduced in Parliament later.
The line's due to open in 2040 and will take nearly an hour off the journey time from London to Manchester.
Work's already underway on the first phase of the project between London and Birmingham.
Part of the line is set to go through Warwickshire, where multiple protests have taken place in the past.
Alan, a spokesperson for Stop HS2 North said;
"Despite spending vast sums of public money on PR and greenwashing to try to promote HS2 as a green project, HS2's own figures show that it will never be carbon neutral during its 120-year lifespan. The UK government's own strategy commits us to Net Zero by 2050. HS2 actively harms our ability to achieve that.
"People are being faced with a choice between being able to 'heat or eat.' Meanwhile, HS2 has a blank cheque to commit terrible and irreversible ecocide. This money ought to be used to properly fund our NHS, improve local transport links, help ordinary people with the rising cost of living, and to resolve our energy crisis.”
There is support for the project though.
Maria Machancoses CEO of Midlands Connect said:
“This is another watershed moment in the future of our high speed railway. This extension of HS2 from London and Birmingham to Manchester will give the West Midlands and North West the fast, reliable rail connectivity these regions so desperately need. What’s important now is that we seize upon this momentum to accelerate the job creation, investment and regeneration that makes this investment so transformative.
“While it’s great news that the Western Leg of HS2 is moving forward with pace, the Eastern Leg of HS2 from the Midlands to Yorkshire and the North East is still vitally important. We’re working with Government to feed into its study into how to best connect these areas and in the meantime are keen that a Bill is introduced to speed the delivery of the network between Birmingham and the East Midlands, as outlined in Government’s Integrated Rail Plan.”