We Don’t Need Hs2 (harms birds & wildlife)
The High Speed 2 (HS2) project has cost billions of pounds, in order to create a train route that hardly anyone will use (we need to slow down not speed up) and commuters could communicate by zoom? The fact that it will connect to airport hubs, shows that it won’t reduce climate change, as it will encourage flying? All experts say that it will do nothing for the planet.
Yet already the project has decimated huge swathes of Buckinghamshire countryside, pulled down England’s second-oldest pear tree (in Warwickshire) and killed countless birds and wildlife.
HS2 is planned to span hundreds of miles, including linking the south to the north. But all critics say the amount of money spent, would be far better used update rolling stock, improve northern and southwestern rail lines, re-open closed rural stations and improve community bus transport.
Why England doesn’t need HS2
Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper lives in Paris, and regularly ‘zips into London’ on TGV (France’s high-speed train). He says the UK version is a vanity project, as England is a quarter of the size of France or Spain, so London to Manchester is half the distance of most TGV journeys.
We can easily reach places without need for flying, so we don’t need a ‘replacement’ for something that’s not needed.
One of the few good policies of Reform UK is to simply scrap it as a bad idea, and use the money to do something useful instead.
Unfortunately most MPs (of all colours) voted for HS2 – see how your MP voted at TheyWorkForYou.
As well as not making a dent in reducing climate change emissions, once built, HS2 will (based on comparisons with other high-speed trains abroad) kill around 20,000 wildlife a year. Many will be swans and other birds that mistake rail lines for rivers, in heavy rain.
And by knocking down lots of ancient woodlands, this will contribute to more flooding (and less natural home for birds and native wildlife.
The Barn Owl Trust says that HS2 is a ‘very expensive way of killing owls. Join the campaign to Stop HS2.
A report by wildlife experts says that HS2 bosses have got their calculations wrong, and wants the existing work halted until updated methodology is used so new (correct) findings are assessed by government.
Wildlife campaigner Chris Packham took the government to court (and lost) to stop HS2 on the grounds that it would cause irreversible damage to ancient woodlands and habitats. He argued that the government was badly advised by vested interests, and did not take account of obligations under the Paris Agreement and Climate Change Act.
Many wildlife species also live near railways, which is why Network Rail employs ecologists to know how to least affect lizards, grass snakes, deer, water voles and slow worms (along with Pipistrelle bats that roost in trees, tunnels and bridges).
Interrail – how to discover Europe by train
Interrail is a service that lets you discover most of Europe, without ever having to get on a plane. Here is a summary of how it works, and where you can travel.
It’s unlikely most dogs are going to want to be getting on and off trains all over Europe. If you do take them with you, check policies of each operator before travel. If needing to take pets abroad (say emigration), Eurostar does not allow pets (bar guide dogs) from UK routes.
Le Shuttle offers a 35-minute crossing from Folkestone to Boulogne (your pets stay with you in the car, and there is a pet-friendly check-in, just follow the paw prints).
Explore the Interrail passes
Interrail offers a number of passes. You just plan your route, choose a pass and then activate it, for travel throughout the continent. Any European resident can use them, non-European residents must use a Eurail Pass.
- Interrail One Country Pass is obvious!
- Interrail Plus Pass lets you travel in 1 or more countries, often with reserved seats.
- Interrail Global Pass lets you travel throughout 2 countries. Choose from 33 countries.
The idea is that Interrail is an all-in-one pass (a bit like London’s Oyster card). So once purchased, you can use it within your country of choice to travel on nearly all trains (and sometimes ferry companies), by simply showing staff the Pass (or on your phone). There are 33,000 destinations covered across Europe.
Final Destination is a book to take you on a journey to the most obscure parts of Britain, on the 200th birthday of the world’s first passenger-carrying railway. From Wick to Penzance and many places in between, he stays onboard until the end of the line!
The 16 destinations visit very different stories. From ferry ports to abandoned resorts, and from tiny hamlets to towns being reclaimed by the sea. From Alan Bennett to Nigel Farage, and from John Betjeman to Charlotte Rampling’s dad, all human life is here.
