Lord Adonis gives four reasons why HS2 will actually benefit the UK

25 January 2020, 08:41

Lord Adonis, who is on the board of the HS2 commission, outlined why he thinks it will actually be good for the UK.

Lord Andrew Adonis answered a call on HS2.

He was asked to give 10 examples of how it might be good for the economy.

He said: "If we don't have enough transport capacity to move people between the major cities - London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds - our economy will seize up.

"It's not possible to have an advanced economy where people can't move around freely."

Lord Adonis offered a second reason.

He said: "If you take the high speed, the intercity trains, off the existing lines that then that frees up a lot more space to put local and regional services on, including commuter services and fleet services."

He continued with his third point.

Lord Adonis said: "Rail is green, it's low carbon and it doesn't involve flying."

His final reason was that "we are going to be building the trains here in Britain."

It will keep lots of people employed, he said.